TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: DECEMBER 29TH, 2022
Dec 29, 2022
Another year has come and is almost gone. Before we get to the hockey this week, I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season! Whether you celebrated Christmas or Hanukkah, or are currently celebrating Kwanzaa, I hope you all did so with family, friends, and great health.
The holiday break was a short one for the Wolf Pack, who have played four games since we last spoke. The club has a chance, on New Year’s Eve, to end the month of December with a winning record. It would be their first month doing so this year and would be a good reward for the strong play the club has recently put forth.
Onto the blog!
Atlantic Battles
After a stretch of games against Central Division opponents, the Wolf Pack returned to the Atlantic Division last Thursday night when they hosted the Springfield Thunderbirds. Despite a 4-2 loss, there were plenty of positives to take from that game. Wolf Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblauch told the media on Friday that he felt the process was good on Thursday and that he was proud of the effort the team put forth in both games. In fact, Knoblauch thought the Wolf Pack did enough good things to get a win in that game on Thursday.
On Friday, the club was rewarded with a 4-3 win over the Bridgeport Islanders in their final game before the break. In their first game following the break, it was a 7-3 victory over those same Islanders. It was the first time this season in the ‘Battle of Connecticut’ that the Wolf Pack led the entire night, and it was by far their best performance against their in-state rival.
Wednesday night started off with great promise. The Wolf Pack played a perfect road period in the opening frame, taking a 1-0 lead into the locker room. They even extended the lead to 2-0 just 62 seconds into the middle stanza and had a 3-1 lead four minutes into the period. Unfortunately, the Pack couldn’t hold off the Thunderbirds, who scored six unanswered goals and eventually won by a final score of 7-4.
For Hartford, the key to this week is Saturday’s home game against the Thunderbirds. A victory will give Hartford a winning December (7-6-0-0) and will move them to within a game of .500. It also keeps with the recent trend of stringing together wins and taking two out of every three games.
Despite the rough final forty minutes on Wednesday, a win on Saturday gives Hartford two wins in three games this week. That should be the goal for every three-game segment from here on out. Do that, and you’ll be in a good spot come April.
The Dynamic Trio
The Wolf Pack have found some real consistency with their forward lines as of late. One line, however, has stood out in a dominant way. Ryan Carpenter has recently been centering wingers Turner Elson and Austin Rueschhoff, and the line has been unstoppable.
Carpenter has scored goals in three consecutive games, the longest stretch by a Wolf Pack player this season. He’s got six goals in those three games and has scored eight goals in just nine games since being assigned by the Rangers. Elson, meanwhile, has four points (1 g, 3 a) in his last three games, while Rueschhoff has five points (1 g, 4 a) in that same span.
The trio went +2 together on Wednesday night in Springfield, despite the Wolf Pack surrendering seven goals. They’ve been dominant at both ends of the ice and have emerged as one of the best trios in the entire AHL.
Knoblauch has recently mentioned this and pointed out that since the trio was put together in the Midwest, all three have played their best hockey of the season. Carpenter agreed and said pregame on Wednesday night that he feels the trio has great chemistry and works off each other quite well.
All good teams need that dominant line they can rely on. For the moment, Hartford has found theirs.
This N’ That
Carpenter’s hat-trick was the first by a Wolf Pack player since April 7th, 2021. On that day, Tim Gettinger had three goals against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Hartford went the entire 2021-22 season without a hat-trick.
Speaking of Gettinger, Knoblauch recently told the media that the current expectation is a return in January for the veteran forward.
Stick taps to Karl Henriksson, who scored the first goal of his North American career on Tuesday night in Bridgeport. Henriksson had a goal waved off in the opening frame but snuck a backhand shot by Jakub Skarek in the waning moments of the eventual 7-3 victory. Henriksson has had some good looks lately and has been playing some strong two-way hockey. It was nice to see a terrific young man rewarded with his first goal in the AHL.
Hartford’s recent stretch of good play should be encouraging to fans. Not only are the wins coming, but the Wolf Pack are doing this in a sustainable manner. The club has been one of the better five-on-five teams in the AHL recently, both outscoring and outshooting their opponents. Right now, the team is winning the most important of the three game states. If that continues, the wins will keep rolling in and Hartford will be a serious player in the playoff chase.
We’ve got one more home game in 2022! This Saturday, New Year’s Eve, will see the Wolf Pack and Thunderbirds battle it out for the third time in just nine days. Kick off your New Year’s celebration at 5:30 p.m. at the XL Center! The first 1,500 fans will receive a 2023 Wolf Pack team calendar, so be sure to get there early!
Tickets are available at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack are the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and play at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers newest faces including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.