HERSHEY, PA – The Hartford Wolf Pack turned in a strong effort on the road Saturday night, but dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to the Hershey Bears in overtime at the Giant Center.
Pierrick Dubé forced a turnover deep inside the Wolf Pack’s zone, gaining puck possession and then feeding Alex Limoges. Limoges let a quick shot go that beat Dylan Garand 1:01 into the extra session to give the Bears the second point.
Casey Fitzgerald opened the scoring 10:39 into the hockey game, burying his fifth goal of the season. Blake McLaughlin won puck possession in the left-wing corner and swung a pass to Fitzgerald at the top of the right-wing circle. From there, the captain snapped home his first goal in 19 games to break the ice.
The Bears countered at 12:08, however, tying the game 1-1. Bogdan Trineyev rushed down the right-wing side and fired a shot that Garand denied. The rebound popped to the left-wing side, however, where Luke Philp picked up possession. There, the veteran tapped home his third goal in as many games.
Just over five minutes later, at 17:37, David Gucciardi lit the lamp in his professional debut. Matt Strome poked the puck to Gucciardi in the slot. The former Michigan State Spartan fired a shot into traffic that beat Garand to make it 2-1.
The goal was Gucciardi’s first career tally.
The Wolf Pack turned in a solid road period in the second, but were unable to solve Garin Bjorklund to tie the game. Jake Leschyshyn was denied on a backhand chance in front of the net, while Connor Mackey was stopped on a breakaway bid.
The sides combined for 15 penalties in the second period, resulting in four separate occasions in which they played four-on-four.
Late in the third period, the Wolf Pack elected to go with a six-on-five attack, pulling Garand in favor of the extra skater. Nathan Sucese found Mackey at the left-wing point, who stepped into a shot that Dylan Roobroeck deflected home. The goal, scored at 18:34, was Roobroeck’s 16th of the season and forced overtime.
In the extra session, however, the Bears outshot the Wolf Pack 3-0 and ended the proceedings at 1:01 with Limoges’ strike.
Despite the loss, the Wolf Pack have five of a possible six points (2-0-1-0) against the Bears this season and points in five of their six games overall (3-1-2-0).
The Wolf Pack continue their road trip tomorrow with the weekend finale against the Bears. The puck drop is set for 5:00 p.m. Coverage is available on AHLTV on FloHockey and Mixlr.
The Pack is back at the XL Center on Friday, Apr. 11, when the Bruins come to town! Join us for $2 drafts and $2 hot dogs until the end of the first intermission.
The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
With Wolf Pack match report
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