Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves for his third shutout of the season Saturday night at the XL Center, as the Wolf Pack defeated the Providence Bruins, 3-0, in both teams’ last game before the Christmas holiday.
The whitewash was Shesterkin’s second in the last two Wolf Pack home games, and the victory lifted the Wolf Pack (17-7-2-5, 41 pts.) into a first-place tie with the Bruins in the Atlantic Division standings.
“We played solidly offensively, and we got rewarded,” Wolf Pack winger Phil DiGiuseppe said. “It’s good to take this one before break, go into the post-Christmas run with confidence and swagger.”
Both goaltenders proved up to the task in the first period, as Shesterkin and Providence’s Max Lagace (18 saves) stopped all seven and six shots, respectively.
The Wolf Pack finally broke the stalemate 4:20 into the second period, when Di Giuseppe scored his ninth goal of the year, after Matt Beleskey settled down a stretch pass from Shesterkin during a power play.
“We have a lot of confidence in Shesterkin, hopefully he keeps giving me assists,” joked DiGiuseppe when asked about the play.
Beleskey shared his teammate’s confidence in their goaltender’s offensive capabilities, saying, “I think Shesterkin is going to score a goal at some point here, he’s come close.”
The score remained 1-0 until only 3:41 remained in the third, when Vitali Kravtsov, playing his third game since returning to the Wolf Pack from the KHL, scored his first career North American pro goal. Danny O’Regan and Vincent LoVerde assisted on the tally.
“Kravtsov has played well coming back,” said Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch. “He’s done everything we asked of him, and he’s working hard.”
Hartford put the game away when Beleskey scored into an empty net 1:02 later, at 17:21. Darren Raddysh had the lone assist on the goal.
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