The Wolf Pack and Lias Andersson break out on offense

One positive about this season was that the New York Rangers top farm club was playing well and in first place.   In the last week the Hartford Wolf Pack slipped into second place, but this weekend they broke out offensively for the first time in weeks and are back on top.

The Hartford Wolf Pack have spend most of this season in first place in the Atlantic Division of the AHL.  They did it on the shoulders of their goaltenders, especially future New York Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin.  The team is not an offensive powerhouse and it finally caught up to them.

The Wolf Pack were in first place when they went into a tailspin on November 20, losing five games in a row, losing two of them in overtime.   In the five losses, they scored eight goals while allowing 19.

To add to the  concern about Hartford, assistant coach David Cunniff left the Wolf Pack to take over as GM/Coach of the ECHL Worcester Railers, an Islander farm team.  Hartford coach Kris Knoblauch still has Gord Murphy as associate coach, but the loss has to affect the Rangers development process.  Cunniff did get permission to talk to Worcester, but his departure had to be seen as unexpected.

A big offensive weekend

The Wolf Pack were looking to break out and they did it this weekend when they played three games in three days.  Friday night they defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds 5-2. Igor Shesterkin stopped 23 of 25 shots, allowing one goal at event strength as Hartford matched its season high with five goals.  Danny O’Regan scored  two goals to give him six on the season.

Yegor Rykov finally made his North American debut after recovering from an ankle injury he suffered in the Traverse City tournament and notched an assist on the Pack’s final goal.  Even though he didn’t get an assist, Lias Andersson won an offensive zone draw that directly led to the game winning power play goal by Vinni Lettieri.

Saturday night, Hartford took on the last place Binghamton Devils and cruised to another 5-2 win, led by the Steven Fogarty line.  Fogarty notched four points and Lias Andersson contributed two goals and an assist.  With Adam Huska in goal, the Pack jumped out to a two goal lead in the first period and never looked back.  Andersson scored the Hartford opening goal, added an assist on Fogarty’s second period score and then he scored on the power play.  Andersson was named the second star of the game.

In seven games since being sent to Hartford, Andersson has four goals and one assist along with 14 penalty minutes.  He is second on team in penalty minutes already, only behind tough guy Mason Geertsen.  On the offensively challenged Wolf Pack, his four goals already rank seventh on the team.

Sunday afternoon the Wolf Pack took on the Providence Bruins who had taken over first place. Not any more.  The Pack defeated the Bruins 4-1 to move into a tie for first in the Atlantic Division with the Bruins.

It was another excellent performance by Igor Shesterkin who stopped 32 Bruins shot and allowed only one power play goal.  Vinni Lettieri scored two goals with Phil Di Giuseppe and Patrick Newell getting the other two.   Newell was the second star with a goal and an assist and has three points in three games.   He was a free agent signee from St. Cloud State, the top team in the NCAA last season.  The 23-year old is starting to have an impact with Hartford.

Igor Shesterkin  picked up his first point when he assisted on Di Giuseppe’s second period goal.

Looking ahead

In the three game winning streak, the Wolf Pack scored 14 goals while allowing only five. It was the biggest offensive output in three games in the entire season and it came against teams ranging from among the worst to the best.

With the goaltending of Shesterkin and Huska, the Wolf Pack always have a chance to win.  When the offense is clicking, they get results like they did this weekend.

The Wolf Pack are back in action on Wednesday versus Binghamton.