TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: MARCH 21ST, 2024
Mar 21, 2024The Hartford Wolf Pack arrived in Toronto on Wednesday night following their 6-5 loss to the Rochester Americans. The club is enjoying a rare day off on the road in Toronto before returning to practice tomorrow ahead of their Saturday afternoon tilt against the Marlies.
For the Wolf Pack, this game has some real juice to it. It’s a Saturday in Toronto, which is always special. It’s also a chance for the Wolf Pack to get back into the win column. The team has lost a season-high six consecutive games and currently sits in fifth place in the Atlantic Division.
Just 13 games are remaining in the 2023-24 season for the Wolf Pack. Welcome to the stretch drive.
1.) Let’s start with the elephant in the room, shall we? The Wolf Pack have lost six consecutive games for the first time this season and have amassed just two of a possible 12 points during this stretch (0-4-1-1). That isn’t ideal, especially during the playoff push.
With that said, the positive side of things is that there are things to build on for the Wolf Pack from their last two losses.
The club played a strong game in Hershey on Sunday despite falling 4-0. They battled hard, were in on the forecheck, and until a few mistakes late in the game, they were right there with the defending Calder Cup Champions.
On Wednesday night, an offense that had scored just five total goals in the prior five games exploded for five goals against the Americans.
2.) With the offense seemingly back on track, the focus will need to turn to the defensive side of the puck this weekend. The Wolf Pack have allowed ten goals over their last two games and 14 goals over their last three games. To be quite frank, you aren’t going to win many games when giving up over four goals per game.
The task doesn’t get much easier this weekend. The Marlies are the most potent offense in the league, scoring 209 times as of this writing.
3.) Great to see Riley Nash on the scoresheet in Rochester on Wednesday night. Nash had been in and out of the lineup with a lower-body issue since late December before making his return full-time on March 13th.
Nash started to look like himself on Sunday in Hershey and then turned in a great effort in Rochester on Wednesday night. Nash would have certainly preferred that it came in a win, but he’s got a right to be pleased with his performance.
4.) Karl Henriksson’s third-period goal gave the Wolf Pack a 5-4 lead on Wednesday night. The goal was Henriksson’s eleventh of the season and his 20th point, both career-best marks.
Henriksson might just be the most underrated player on the Wolf Pack’s roster. Watch him play a game, and you’ll see a very strong 200-foot player who has found his game offensively this season. He’s a key cog for this Wolf Pack team, and he’s exactly the kind of player you want in playoff-style games.
5.) Defenseman Nate Knoepke did not make his Wolf Pack debut on Wednesday, but he did join the team in Rochester, and he will be an option for the club over the weekend. Knoepke has four AHL games on the ledger, coming with the Americans during the 2021-22 season.
With Defenders Connor Mackey and Ben Harpur still unavailable, and Brandon Scanlin recalled to New York, there is a chance we’ll see Knoepke at some point during this weekend’s back-to-back in Ontario.
6.) The parent New York Rangers agreed to terms with forward Jaroslav Chmelar on a three-year, entry-level contract on Wednesday morning. Chmelar’s deal begins next season, 2024-25.
The former Providence College forward will not be joining the Wolf Pack during their current road trip but could follow in the footsteps of goaltender Hugo Ollas by signing an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) early next week when the club returns to Hartford.
7.) Speaking of Ollas, he is on the current trip with the Wolf Pack and is serving as the third goaltender behind Dyland Garand and Olof Lindbom.
Ollas, who played his college hockey at Merrimack, is getting a taste of life in the AHL. That could have a big impact on him next season when he plays his rookie professional campaign.
8.) Don’t underestimate the impact of these few weeks for college and junior players. Brett Berard told me earlier this season that his short stint with the Wolf Pack last spring allowed him to understand what it took to have success at this level.
He took those lessons and applied them over the summer and came back as one of the most impactful rookies in the AHL this season.
It might not seem like much, but even a little taste of the AHL can go a long way for a prospect. Sometimes people can forget just how big of a jump it is from the junior and college level.
9.) Circling back to goaltending, Louis Domingue remains out day-to-day but will not be an option for the Wolf Pack this weekend against the Marlies and the Belleville Senators.
10.) Despite the loss to Rochester on Wednesday, the Wolf Pack’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot shrunk from 19 to 17. That’s because the Springfield Thunderbirds dropped a 3-1 decision to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA.
Even though the Wolf Pack have lost their last six games, the club is still sitting firm in a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
Alex Belzile told me on Sunday in Hershey that this team is too good and has too much talent for this to last much longer. Their overall body of work this season would agree with that statement.
My parting thought for you this week, during an understandably frustrating stretch? Listen to ‘Frankie Goes to Hollywood’ and relax. This team will turn this tide.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack are the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and play at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers newest faces including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.