HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack surrendered the first goal for the fourth straight game on Friday afternoon at the XL Center. After gaining points in each of the first three games in which they surrendered the first goal, the Wolf Pack were unable to battle back this time, falling 4-0 to the Providence Bruins.
Jesper Froden opened the scoring 4:57 into the hockey game, tapping a puck into an empty net after a perfect pass from Oskar Steen on the powerplay. The goal gave the Bruins a lead they would not lose on this New Year’s Eve.
Steen would pad the Bruins lead to two at 19:36 of the opening period, blasting a one-time shot home for his team-leading tenth of the season. Urho Vaakanainen and former Wolf Pack captain Steven Fogarty collected the assists on the goal.
Fogarty would extend the lead to 3-0 at 11:44 of the middle frame. Froden sent a pass into the far circle that Fogarty quickly collected and sent towards the goal. The shot zipped by the glove of François Brassard for Fogarty’s sixth goal of the season.
Just under three minutes later, at 17:25, Cameron Hughes put an exclamation point on the scoring with a shorthanded marker for his fourth of the season. Alex-Olivier Voyer forced a turnover and skated the puck into the Hartford zone shorthanded before dropping the puck back to Hughes. Hughes snapped a quick shot home for the third special teams’ goal of the afternoon for the Bruins.
The Wolf Pack pushed in the third period but were unable to beat Bruins netminder Troy Grosenick. Grosenick made 17 saves in total for his first shutout as a member of the Bruins.
You must be logged in to post a comment.