Unable To Overcome An Early Deficit, Pack Fall to Lehigh Valley, 5-1
Oct 28, 2016
By Henry Lucey
Greg Carey scored twice, and Jordan Weal and T.J. Brennan had a goal and two assists apiece Friday night at the XL Center, as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms defeated the host Wolf Pack by a score of 5-1.
After an early skirmish near the Lehigh Valley bench, Hartford landed the game’s first four shots, but was ultimately unable to carry this momentum into the remainder of the period. On just their second shot of the contest, Lehigh Valley’s Danick Martel put the Phantoms on the board with clever backhanded effort at 4:14. The period’s second score came at 14:17, when Jordan Weal threaded the puck past an outstretched Magnus Hellberg to give the Phantoms a two-goal advantage.
A second multi-player tussle sent Hartford’s Malte Stromwall and Tanner Glass, as well as the Phantoms’ Taylor Leier, to the penalty box at 6:58. Carey quickly capitalized on the man advantage, extending the Phantoms’ lead to 3-0 at the 7:50 mark. Penalties continued to plague the Wolf Pack, as Adam Tambellini’s two-minute minor for slashing at 9:48 resulted in another power-play goal for the Phantoms. The goal was scored by Brennan, with assists from Weal and Mark Zengerle.
Following a Hartford timeout, the Wolf Pack regained pieces of their early offensive rhythm. The highlight of this brief resurgence came on a penalty kill, when Nicklas Jensen found a streaking Marek Hrivik, who, with just the goalie to beat, fired a wrist-shot into the top-right corner of the net for a shorthanded goal at the 14:30 mark. However, the goal was largely over-shadowed by the Hartford’s four penalties in the period, two of which resulted in power-play goals for the Phantoms.
The third period was scoreless until Lehigh Valley’s Carey notched his second goal of the night at 16:08, on a shot from the top of the left circle.
Following the game, Hrivik, Hartford’s lone goal scorer, summarized the disappointing loss by saying, “We just have to be better.” He later added, “We’ve got to try to re-focus and get ready for tomorrow.”
The Wolf Pack are right back at the XL Center on Saturday night, hosting the Utica Comets in a 7:00 PM game. The first 2,000 fans into the game will receive the first of four sets of Wolf Pack 20th-anniversary trading cards that will be given away during this 2016-17 season, presented by KOTA Solutions. The set will be comprised of the first group of the players chosen as the top 20 all-time in franchise history.
Tickets for all Wolf Pack 2016-17 home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.
Season ticket information for the Wolf Pack’s 2016-17 AHL season can be found on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com. To speak with a representative about all of the Wolf Pack’s many attractive ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms 5 at Hartford Wolf Pack 1
Friday, October 28, 2016 - XL Center
Lehigh Valley 2 2 1 - 5
Hartford 0 1 0 - 1
1st Period-1, Lehigh Valley, Martel 3 (Conner), 4:14. 2, Lehigh Valley, Weal 1 (O'Neill, Brennan), 14:17. Penalties-Summers Hfd (roughing), 6:50; Martel Lv (slashing), 11:44.
2nd Period-3, Lehigh Valley, Carey 2 (Miele, Weal), 7:50 (PP). 4, Lehigh Valley, Brennan 2 (Weal, Leier), 10:14 (PP). 5, Hartford, Hrivik 3 (Jensen), 14:30 (SH). Penalties-served by Aube-Kubel Lv (bench minor - too many men), 4:14; Leier Lv (roughing), 6:58; Glass Hfd (roughing), 6:58; Stromwall Hfd (boarding), 6:58; Tambellini Hfd (slashing), 9:48; Brown Hfd (roughing), 12:37; Morin Lv (slashing), 17:16.
3rd Period-6, Lehigh Valley, Carey 3 (Miele, Brennan), 16:08 (PP). Penalties-Brennan Lv (roughing), 4:39; Martel Lv (roughing), 4:39; Paliotta Hfd (roughing), 4:39; Carey Hfd (cross-checking), 11:24; Brennan Lv (hooking), 12:48; Brown Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:58; Jensen Hfd (misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:58.
Shots on Goal-Lehigh Valley 11-9-19-39. Hartford 8-11-14-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Lehigh Valley 3 / 6; Hartford 0 / 5.
Goalies-Lehigh Valley, Stolarz 2-1-0-0 (33 shots-32 saves). Hartford, Hellberg 3-1-0-0 (16 shots-13 saves); Skapski 0-2-0-0 (23 shots-21 saves).
A-2,910
Referees-Stephen Reneau (34).
Linesmen-Nick Briganti (58), Brent Colby (7).