WOLF PACK WEEKEND PREVIEW: APRIL 4TH, 2024
Apr 4, 2024
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack will hit the road for their last true road trip of the 2023-24 season this weekend. The Wolf Pack pay a visit to North Carolina for the second and final time this season, taking on the Charlotte Checkers on both Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday, April 6th, 2024, (4:00 p.m.) & Sunday, April 7th, 2024, (1:00 p.m.) @ Charlotte Checkers: The Pack’s two-game weekend will take place at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte with a pair of afternoon tilts. These will be the sixth and seventh meetings in the eight-game season series.
The Checkers have already claimed the season series, winning each of the first five meetings between the foes. In all, the Checkers have won six straight games against the Wolf Pack dating back to the 2022-23 campaign.
This is the second and final trip this season to Charlotte for the Wolf Pack. The sides met on March 12th and 13th, with the Checkers taking a 2-1 overtime decision on the 12th and a 4-0 regulation decision on the 13th.
The Checkers have also won all three games in Hartford, including the most recent meeting on March 27th with a final score of 3-0. Charlotte opened the season series with a 4-2 victory on January 31st, and a 2-1 overtime decision on February 28th.
Connecticut natives Spencer Knight and Mackie Samoskevich have had a huge impact on the season series to this point. Knight is 4-0-0 against the Wolf Pack this season with a .964 save percentage. Knight has also collected two straight shutouts against the Wolf Pack, making 20 saves on March 13th and 19 saves on March 27th.
Samoskevich, meanwhile, has scored seven points (3 g, 4 a) in five games against the Wolf Pack. He’s also recorded two overtime game-winning goals.
Karl Henriksson has paced Hartford’s attack in the season series, scoring three points (2 g, 1 a) in four games. He missed the meeting on February 28th with an injury.
Hartford will be looking to solve the stingy Checker defense this weekend. The Wolf Pack have scored just four goals in the five games in the season series. The Checkers enter this weekend with a shutout streak of 151:48 against the Wolf Pack.
In their last six visits to Charlotte, the Wolf Pack have collected points in four of those meetings with a record of 2-2-2-0. The Wolf Pack’s last two victories against the Checkers came in Charlotte on January 10th and 11th, 2023. The Pack won 5-0 on January 10th, then completed the two-game sweep with a 3-2 victory the next night.
Quick Hits:
- The Wolf Pack’s magic number to clinch a Calder Cup Playoff berth is eight.
- The earliest the Wolf Pack could clinch a playoff berth is Sunday afternoon. To do that, the Wolf Pack would need to win both games in Charlotte against the Checkers and would need the Springfield Thunderbirds to lose both Friday at Belleville and Saturday at Laval in regulation time.
- The Wolf Pack’s next home game, Friday, April 12th, will be against the Thunderbirds.
# # #
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.