WOLF PACK WEEKEND PREVIEW: FEBRUARY 20th, 2025
Feb 20, 2025HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack return to the XL Center for a four-game homestand. The key stretch of home games kicks off with a pair of Atlantic Division tilts this weekend against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Providence Bruins.
Friday, February 21st, 2025, Vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7:00 p.m.): The Wolf Pack and Penguins will meet for the fourth of six times this season on Friday night. It is the second of three meetings at the XL Center.
The Penguins have won all three of the head-to-head meetings to this point, most recently taking a 5-0 decision on Jan. 4 at the Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Rutger McGroarty struck twice, putting the Penguins ahead 2-0 by the 5:11 mark of the second period. McGroarty opened the scoring at 13:44 of the first period, notching his fourth goal of the season. He then popped home his fifth goal at 5:11 of the middle stanza.
Vasily Ponomarev made it 3-0 at 18:25, while Emil Bemström struck twice in the third period to help the Penguins pull away.
Filip Larsson made 33 saves to collect the shutout in net.
The Penguins also took a 2-1 decision on home ice on Nov. 2, then defeated the Wolf Pack 6-2 on Dec. 7 at the XL Center.
The Penguins will return to Hartford on Mar. 7, while the season series concludes on Mar. 26 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, Vs. Providence Bruins (6:00 p.m.): The Wolf Pack and Bruins will battle for the seventh time this season on Saturday night. The Bruins hold an edge in the series, having won four of the first six meetings. The Wolf Pack are 2-4-0-0 against the Bruins this season.
The Bruins took the last meeting, 4-1, on Dec. 28 at the XL Center. John Farinacci struck just 1:40 into the hockey game, notching his fifth goal of the season to give the Bruins the lead for good. Georgii Merkulov made it a 2-0 game 55 seconds into the second period, scoring the eventual game-winning goal.
Max Jones had the Bruins ahead 3-0 2:11 into the second period, scoring on a long-range shot from the top of the zone.
Jake Leschyshyn struck at 13:12 of the third period to get the Wolf Pack on the board, but Matthew Poitras ended the intrigue with an empty net tally at 16:00.
In addition to their win on Dec. 28, the Bruins took a 1-0 decision at the XL Center on Dec. 20. They’ve also claimed victories of 4-2 on Nov. 10 and 5-2 on Dec. 15 in Providence.
The Wolf Pack downed the Bruins 4-2 on Nov. 16 at the XL Center, and 4-2 on Dec. 21 in Rhode Island.
Quick Hits:
• Forward Alex Belzile recorded two points (1 g, 1 a) on Wednesday night in the Wolf Pack’s loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds. He now sits tied for fifth in scoring in the AHL.
• Forward Anton Blidh extended his career-high in goals with his 16th tally of the season on Wednesday night at the MassMutual Center.
• With the loss, the Wolf Pack dropped to 20-24-5-1 on the season. They sit in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with 46 points, seven points back of the Thunderbirds for the final playoff spot in the division.
• With an assist on Wednesday night, forward Lucas Edmonds has points in back-to-back games. He scored on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte.
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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.
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