HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack and Springfield Thunderbirds played a wildly entertaining edition of the ‘I-91 Rivalry’ on Saturday night at the XL Center in Hartford. The Wolf Pack stormed back from a 3-0 hole to tie the game 3-3, but the T-Birds would pull away with three unanswered goals of their own to take a 6-3 decision in front of 8,670 fans.
Zach Dean would get the game-winner for Springfield, deking his way to the front of the net before beating Dylan Garand on the backhand to put the T-Birds up 4-3 at 13:47 of the second period. The goal was Dean’s first since December 22nd and countered a three-goal stretch from the Wolf Pack.
The Pack came out with good energy, testing Malcolm Subban early on. Matt Rempe was denied on a wraparound try that almost gave Hartford a quick lead. Later on in the shift, Rempe went off for boarding, giving the T-Birds the first powerplay of the contest.
Hartford was able to get the kill, but mere seconds after the powerplay expired, Hugh McGing hit Jakub Vrana with a pass at the top of the right-wing circle. Vrana blasted a one-timer by Garand for his seventh goal of the season to make it 1-0 T-Birds at 9:05.
Springfield added a second goal just under two minutes later, as Ryan Suzuki intercepted a cross-ice pass before beating Garand under the glove on a breakaway to make it 2-0 Thunderbirds. Suzuki’s fourth of the year came at 10:59.
The Thunderbirds continued to press, eventually extending the lead to 3-0. Mikhail Abramov hit Vrana with a stretch pass that sent the forward in on a breakaway. Vrana snapped his second goal of the night and eighth of the season by Garand at 13:59, completing a stretch of three goals in 4:54.
Late in the first period, Jake Leschyshyn caught a puck that was flying over the T-Birds’ net, quickly wrapping it around the cage. Subban denied both Leschyshyn and Adam Sýkora’s bids before a crease-crashing Alex Belzile finished the job to put Hartford on the board at 17:04, making it a 3-1 game heading to the intermission.
The Pack was shot out of a cannon in the middle stanza, taking just 55 seconds to cut Springfield’s lead in half. A pinching Brandon Scanlin knocked home a setup feed from Ryder Korczak to make it a 3-2 game. The goal was Scanlin’s seventh of the season, continuing a career year for the defenseman.
It took under two minutes for Hartford to tie the game up, as Korczak fired a shot that Subban could not corral. Rempe crashed the net and potted the rebound at 2:46, making it 3-3.
Dean’s go-ahead goal to make it 4-3 came after a stalemate, in which both sides began to register equal scoring opportunities. The Pack came inches away from taking the lead just moments before. Artem Anisimov’s cross-ice feed to Matthew Robertson was blocked by a Thunderbirds’ defenseman who made a brilliant defensive play with his stick.
The Thunderbirds picked up the insurance marker 7:54 into the third period, as their captain extended the lead. Matthew Peca’s shot was denied by Garand, but the rebound popped into the air, hanging for a moment. When the puck finally dropped down, it found its way to the back of the net to make it 5-3.
Will Bitten iced it with an empty netter at 18:08, a goal that made it 6-3. McGing notched his third assist of the night on the play, giving him a season-high three points.
Wolf Pack hockey returns on Friday, February 9th for the 2,000th game in franchise history against the Bridgeport Islanders! Be sure to join us for $2 beers and $2 hot dogs until the end of the first intermission.
Tickets are available at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.
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