TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: NOVEMBER 3RD, 2022
Nov 3, 2022The Wolf Pack are in the win column! The final weekend of October was a thrilling one, as the Pack got more treats than tricks in their two home games. A 4-2 victory over the Hershey Bears on Friday night and 3-2 overtime decision over the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday has the club at .500 heading into the first full month of the campaign.
You can clearly see chemistry building with the Wolf Pack, and two most recent games showed an improvement over the early season outings for the club. It takes time for teams to mesh, and this past weekend showed signs that Hartford is starting to come together after a busy summer of movement.
Now, onto the blog!
Milestone Weekend
Two key cogs for the Wolf Pack celebrated milestones this past weekend. On Friday night, Tim Gettinger recorded his 100th career point in the AHL when he deflected a Brandon Scanlin shot home for his first goal of the season against the Bears. All 100 of Gettinger’s AHL points have come in a Wolf Pack uniform, and it could be the first of many milestones this season for the veteran.
Gettinger is currently at 191 career AHL games and could hit the 200 mark later in November. In addition, if he plays in all 72 games with the club this season, he will be at 257 career games played with the Wolf Pack. That would be the tenth most in franchise history. As it stands, Gettinger is on pace to become the 25th player in franchise history to play 200 games with the club.
Jonny Brodzinski also collected a milestone this weekend, notching the 200th point of his AHL career. Brodzinski was credited with the secondary assist on Andy Welinski’s overtime winner on Saturday night, his fourth helper of the year. Of the 200 points he has scored in the AHL, 62 of them have come with the Pack. 108 of his points came with the Ontario Reign, the team he began his career with during the 2015-16 campaign.
There are more milestones to look forward to for the Wolf Pack. Defenseman Blake Hillman currently sits at 99 career AHL games and could suit up in number 100 this weekend. Both Brodzinski and Turner Elson sit at 96 career AHL goals, while Elson is on pace to hit the 500 game mark as a pro later this month.
Of course, we’ve already seen Gustav Rydahl and Karl Henriksson make their AHL debuts, and Matt Rempe and Ryder Korczak make their professional debuts this season. Rydahl also scored his first AHL goal, breaking the ice on Friday against the Bears.
A Look Ahead
With their first two victories of the season under their belt, the Pack head back out on the road this weekend for two rivalry matches. On Friday, it’s the first installment of the ‘I-91 Rivalry’ for the 2022-23 season. Last season, the sides played a relatively even series, with Hartford posting a 5-6-1-0 record and Springfield holding a 7-4-0-1 mark. Springfield took the last meeting, 3-2, on March 25th in Hartford, but the Wolf Pack scored a 3-1 victory in their last visit to the MassMutual Center on February 25th.
While the Pack come in feeling good about themselves, the T-Birds will be feeling good too. After a sluggish start to the season, Springfield has won four of their last five games, and currently has a 4-3-0-1 record.
Of course, in Hartford’s win in Springfield last February there was a large contingent of Wolf Pack fans in the house that certainly had an impact on the result. I look forward to seeing the faithful in enemy territory again tomorrow night as our season ticket holders make the trek to Western Mass. Want in next time? Become a season ticket holder!
On Saturday night, round two of the ‘Battle of Connecticut’ takes place in Bridgeport. The Islanders scored a 5-2 triumph in the first meeting, but the score didn’t indicate how close of a game that really was. Remember, Hartford tied the game in the final seven minutes at 2-2 before the Islanders pulled away late.
These are the kinds of games that the Wolf Pack will use to measure themselves against the rest of the division. The Islanders currently have a points percentage of .813 and are one of the hottest teams in the league in the early going. The T-Birds may have started slow, but they are the defending Eastern Conference Champions and made big splashes this summer with the additions of Josh Leivo and Martin Frk.
This is the kind of challenge that the Wolf Pack will certainly embrace. It’s a good early test for the club.
This N’ That
Yes, the Wolf Pack surrendered two powerplay goals this past weekend, but the penalty kill is starting to really round into form for the club. Hartford killed three of four penalties against the Bears on Friday night, then killed five of six on Saturday. Saturday night was even more impressive when you factor in that the club killed two five-on-three situations in the third period, including one that went the full two minutes. Oh, and the goal they surrendered on Saturday? That was the rare six-on-four advantage in the final minute of regulation for the Checkers.
Congrats to Dylan Garand on his first professional win on Saturday night. Garand entered the weekend with a record of 0-2-0 but was solid in both of his prior outings. Garand tossed aside 14 shots in the third period on Saturday night, and both goals that beat him were tough to pin on the netminder. As Patrick Williams of the AHL tells us, Garand has the potential to be next in a line of great young goaltenders to come through Hartford.
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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.