NORFOLK, Va – – Mackenzie Skapski made 19 saves for his second shutout of the season Saturday night at Norfolk Scope, as the Hartford Wolf Pack defeated the Norfolk Admirals 3-0, for a sweep of a back-to-back series between the two teams.
The Wolf Pack had won the first of the two Friday night at Scope, 3-2 in overtime.
Chris Bourque’s second-period power-play goal was the only offense the Wolf Pack would need, and Marek Hrivik scored early in the third. Chris Mueller created the final margin with an empty-net goal. Jason LaBarbera, the former Wolf Pack star, had a strong night in the Admiral net, stopping 25 of the 27 shots he faced.
“I would say it’s one of our best in a while,” Skapski said of the Wolf Pack’s team effort. “Our defensive game, they closed guys out and made it easy, and the stops I needed to make, in timely situations, I made. Our defense played really well tonight, as well as our forwards.”
The Wolf Pack controlled most of the play in the first period, outshooting the Admirals 10-3, but were thwarted by LaBarbera, who made several challenging saves.
Hartford finally solved LaBarbera on a power play at 13:06 of the second period, with ex-Connecticut Whale defenseman Brendan Bell in the penalty box for hooking. Oscar Lindberg passed from the top of the right circle across to Bourque in the left circle, and Bourque’s snap shot went past LaBarbera’s stick side, off the goal post and in.
The Wolf Pack doubled the lead at 1:47 of the third period, on Hrivik’s fourth goal of the season. After taking a pass from Ryan Haggerty, Hrivik carried into the Norfolk zone and fired a shot that hit Admiral defenseman Nathan McIver’s stick and deflected high into the net past LaBarbera.
Norfolk had more pressure in the third, with 12 shots on goal, than in the first two periods but couldn’t crack Skapski, and, after the Admirals pulled LaBarbera with over three minutes remaining, Mueller iced the game with an empty-netter at 18:46, hitting the open net from the right-wing boards inside his own zone.
With the win, the Wolf Pack improved to a season-best ten games over .500, at 22-12-3-2 for 49 points. Hartford has at least a standings point in five straight games (4-0-1-0), tying a season high, and is 11-3-1-2 in its last 17.
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