Hartford, CT, – Alexandar Georgiev stopped 38 Charlotte Checker shots Saturday night at the XL Center for his second shutout in four games, as the Hartford Wolf Pack defeated Charlotte 4-0, in the last action before the AHL All-Star break.
The win extended the Wolf Pack’s season-high winning streak to five games, and lifted the Wolf Pack to the .500 mark, at 20-20-3-3. The Wolf Pack swept a back-to-back set of games against the Checkers, whom they had bested 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night at the XL Center.
“I’ve just been working on some things that I have struggled with in the past,” Georgiev said. “I was just trying to be patient out there, especially on breakaways.” Georgiev also added that his team helped him defensively. “Guys are going 100%,” he said. “It really helps me out.”
The game was decided in the second period, when the Wolf Pack scored three power-play goals
Scott Kosmachuk struck first with a goal 1:43 into the period, off of a feed from Filip Chytil on a 5-on-3, which was ultimately the game-deciding goal.
Vinni Lettieri added to the Wolf Pack’s second period lead with a wrist shot from the left dot at 2:54, for his 13th goal of the season. Lettieri, along with Anthony DeAngelo and Peter Holland, were recently assigned to the Wolf Pack roster, as the parent New York Rangers head into the NHL All Star break.
Adam Tambellini added to the Wolf Pack lead with a wrist shot of his own at 11:12, after the puck had rebounded off of the pads of Charlotte’s starting goaltender, Jeremy Smith. Tambellini scored his ninth goal of the season, off of an assist from Chytil, who had a very productive night distributing the puck.
After Tambellini’s goal, the Checkers decided to change goaltenders, after Smith had allowed three goals on thirteen shots on goal. Alex Nedeljkovic entered the game 11:12 into the second period and did not allow a goal for the remainder of the game.
To finish off the Checkers, Dan Catenacci scored his third goal of the season into an empty net at 14:26 of the third period, after Charlotte had pulled Nedeljkovic in an attempt to shift the momentum. The Wolf Pack had a productive second period offensively, and a dominant defensive showing in the third.
Head Coach Keith McCambridge believed that the Wolf Pack showed maturity to get this big win. “I thought in the second half of the game, we did a better job managing pucks,” he said. “It speaks volumes of the character in that room, when guys are out there with a 3-0 lead and they are blocking shots.”
This type of defense has been critical for the Wolf Pack in the last week, helping them string together the streak of five straight wins, of which Saturday’s was the first in regulation. That was after the 3-2 shootout victory over the Checkers on Friday night, and three previous overtime victories.
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