HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack earned their first win of the season on Wednesday night, defeating the rival Springfield Thunderbirds 3-0 at PeoplesBank Arena.
The Wolf Pack’s penalty kill was the story of period one, when they killed three power plays for the Thunderbirds. This included a five-on-three series in which goalkeeper Dylan Garand made three spectacular saves.
Garand twice denied Dalibor Dvorsky from the right circle and stopped a shot from the slot of Samuel Johannesson’s stick.
In total, Garand made 13 saves in the opening frame.
Nikita Alexandrov looked to open the scoring in the final minute with a low drive, but his backhand attempt went off the post and never crossed the line.
Bryce McConnell-Barker opened the scoring with 7:40 left in the middle frame, scoring his first goal of the season to make it 1-0. McConnell-Barker made his way into the left circle and fired a shot over Georgi Romanov’s right shoulder.
Carey Terrance then extended the lead to 2-0 (8:38) in the final stanza. Anton Blidh won a battle in the left corner and sent a puck to Terrance at the top of the crease. The rookie forward quickly fired a shot that beat Romanov for his first professional goal of his career.
Adam Sýkora hit an empty net at 19:38 and scored his second goal of the season to end the intrigue. The goal was the Wolf Pack’s second of the night.
Garand made a total of 28 saves in the win, including 12 in the final period. The win was his 50e career AHL victory, and the shutout was the ninth of his career.
The Pack is back in the newly renovated PeoplesBank Arena on Friday night when the Bridgeport Islanders come to town for the ‘Battle of Connecticut’! Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are available here.
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