Oct 18, 2024
HARTFORD, CT – The 50th season of professional hockey in Hartford opened with a bang on Friday night. On the strength of three points each from Brett Berard and Jaroslav Chmelař, the Pack held on for a wild 6-5 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds at the XL Center.
The win marked the first career victory for Grant Potulny as the Head Coach of the Wolf Pack.
Berard’s second goal of the season proved to be the game-winning goal on this night. Chmelař’s strong play along the boards paved the way to the front of the net for the rookie forward. Vadim Zherenko denied Chmelař’s hat trick bid, but a trailing Berard buried a feed from Chmelař from behind the net to make it a 6-4 game at the 10:47 mark of the third period.
Reminiscent of the battles between these foes last season, the goal-scoring was plentiful. The Thunderbirds got to work quickly off a turnover in the Hartford zone. Nikita Alexandrov walked down the right wing before beating Louis Domingue above the left shoulder for his second tally of the season, giving Springfield the early 1-0 lead at 2:01.
The Wolf Pack responded swiftly, as Brennan Othmann potted home a pinballing puck from the side of the net past Zherenko at 4:27 to knot the game at one apiece. Bo Groulx earned his first point in a Wolf Pack uniform with the primary assist on the marker.
A Thunderbirds bench minor gave the Wolf Pack their first power play of the night, giving them a chance to grab the lead. Othmann crept to the backdoor and buried a backhand pass for his second of the game at 6:31, making it 2-1.
One of Springfield’s new faces, Tarun Fizer, evened the score at 12:31 with a rifle of a shot that beat Domingue up high.
It would be Chmelař getting the last laugh of the first period however, tucking home a power play goal at 17:05 and a buzzer-beating rebound at 19:55 to give the Wolf Pack a 4-2 cushion heading into the intermission.
Adam Erne notched his first point of the year on Chmelar’s second goal, which ricocheted off Chmelař’s skate and by Zherenko seconds after the Pack’s third power play of the night expired.
The Wolf Pack continued their offensive push in the opening several minutes of the middle stanza.
Brandon Scanlin sped to the left-wing circle and buried a shot for his first of the season on a one-timer off a needle-threading cross-ice pass from Connor Mackey to make it 5-2 at 5:50.
The Thunderbirds had their answer just 37 seconds…
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