WOLF PACK WEEKEND RECAP: FEBRUARY 4th, 2025
Feb 4, 2025HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack played two highly entertaining games over the weekend in Laval against the top team in the North Division, the Laval Rocket.
Despite a pair of strong efforts, the Wolf Pack came up empty handed and saw their losing streak extend to a season-high six games (0-4-2-0).
Friday, January 31st, 2025, at Laval Rocket (1-3 L): The Wolf Pack opened the weekend with a strong effort at Place Bell in Laval.
Owen Beck opened the scoring 2:22 into the game, scoring on the first shot of the night for the Rocket. Jared Davidson intercepted a pass deep in the Hartford zone, then sent a centering feed to Beck from the left-wing corner.
Beck’s tap-in broke the ice, his eleventh goal of the season and second against Hartford.
Alex Belzile tied the game 8:02 into the third period, scoring his second goal of the season against his former club. While the sides battled four-on-four, Belzile picked up a loose puck and worked his way through the right-wing circle and into the slot area.
There, he beat Cayden Primeau with a backhander for his 14th goal of the season.
Just 1:40 later, however, the Rocket regained the lead on the ensuing power play. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard fired a shot that was denied by Louis Domingue, but the rebound sat to the goaltender’s right. Florian Xhekaj located the puck and lifted the rebound over Domingue’s right pad at 9:42 of the third period.
Laurent Dauphin cemented the two points at 19:58, hitting the empty net for his 14th goal of the season.
Saturday, February 1st, 2025, at Laval Rocket (4-5 OTL): The Wolf Pack jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 on Saturday afternoon, but ultimately saw their losing streak extended to six games.
Lucas Edmonds scored his first goal with the team 4:31 in, jamming home a loose puck. Brandon Scanlin fired a shot that Anton Blidh tipped by Primeau. With the puck sitting behind the netminder, Edmonds poked it home to break the ice.
Brennan Othmann extended the lead to 2-0 at 11:00, lifting a loose puck over the left pad of Primeau for a power play goal. During a five-on-three advantage, a shot from Matthew Robertson hit a defender and came right to Othmann. The second-year forward’s goal was his eighth of the season and fifth in his last six games.
Edmonds’ second goal of the night came at 12:50, as he perfectly deflected a centering pass from Chad Ruhwedel over the right shoulder of Primeau.
Sean Farrell got the Rocket on the board at 16:41, finding a rebound in the slot and rifling home a power play goal to make it a 3-1 game through 20 minutes.
4:13 into the second period, Casey Fitzgerald muscled his way from the left-wing corner to the front of the net and stuffed a puck by the glove of Primeau for his fourth goal of the season.
The Rocket were awarded a penalty shot at the 11:00 mark, when Dylan Roobroeck closed his hand on the puck in the crease. Davidson took the penalty shot and beat Dylan Garand, bringing over 10,000 fans to their feet and creating a tidal wave of momentum.
3:10 after the penalty shot goal, Farrell took a centering pass from Alex Barré-Boulet and ripped home his second goal of the game.
Later in the period, Blidh was assessed a four-minute, double-minor for high-sticking. Just eleven seconds after the penalty, Barré-Boulet tied the game when he collected a rebound and beat Garand over the left pad at 19:36.
After the third period failed to produce a winner, the sides went to overtime for the first time this season. With just under ten seconds left in the overtime frame, Xhekaj rifled a shot from the right-wing circle that beat Garand to complete the weekend sweep.
The goal was Xhekaj’s second game-winning goal of the weekend.
Quick Hits:
• With this weekend’s defeats, the Wolf Pack are 1-6-1-1 all-time at Place Bell.
• The Wolf Pack finished their road trip with a record of 0-2-2-0.
• With his goal on Saturday, Othmann has scored in five of his last six games. He has five goals during that span.
• On Saturday, New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced that defenseman Erik Brännström will join the Wolf Pack following the All-Star Break. Brännström was acquired by the Rangers from the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.
• Following his two assist performance on Saturday, Belzile currently sits second in the AHL in points with 43 (14 g, 29 a). He is two points behind San Jose Barracuda forward Andrew Poturalski, who has 45 points.
• Belzile’s career-high in points is 54, set during the 2018-19 season as a member of the Rocket.
The Week Ahead:
• Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, Vs. Charlotte Checkers (7:00 p.m., XL Center)
• Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at Lehigh Valley Phantoms (7:05 p.m., PPL Center)
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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.