WJC update and Hartford back in action

Shesterkin, Kravtsov and Rykov going strong in Hartford

The Hartford Wolf Pack were back on the ice after a lengthy holiday break, splitting their two weekend games.  Adam Huska was in goal for the first game, a 5-1 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  Vitali Kravtsov had four shots on goal, but didn’t get on the scoreboard.

Saturday night it was Igor Shesterkin in net  and that meant a win for Hartford as they defeated the Providence Bruins 4-1.  Shesterkin notched 30 saves and his goals against average dropped below 2.00 to a league leading 1.98.  With the win the Wolf Pack leapfrogged into first place in the Atlantic Division over the Bruins who had won on Friday night.

The win meant that Hartford coach Kris Knoblauch will coach the Atlantic Division squad at the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic in late January.

The big news for Ranger fans was the play of Vitali Kravtsov who scored his second goal since returning to North America five games ago.  He has also gotten an assist so his totals are two goals and three points in five games.  Kravtsov has to be glad to be back in Hartford, playing meaningful minutes.

In the video below, the Kravtsov goal comes about a minute into the highlights.

Perhaps even more encouraging is the play of defenseman Yegor Rykov.  He was named second star of the game on his two assists and now has five points in 11 games.  Rykov’s season was delayed by an ankle injury he sustained in Traverse City and aggravated in training camp.

At 22, Rykov is older than most of his fellow prospects and going into Traverse CIty the thought was that he would contend for a roster position after three full seasons in the KHL. Depending on what happens at the trade deadline, we could see Rykov in the NHL before the end of this season.

Other goal scorers against Providence were Phil Di Giuseppe, Tim Gettinger and Matt Beleskey.  Boo Nieves had two assists and was the number one star.

In other news the Pack signed forward Dillan Fox to a tryout.  He’s  a 28 year old forward who has shown a scoring touch in the ECHL.  Ostensibly he will replace Steven Fogarty who was called up to the Rangers to replace the injured Brendan Lemieux.

The Wolf Pack will be busy with three games in five days starting New Year’s Eve.  The Rangers have to be very gratified by the play of their three young Russians.   We’ll see if they can keep it up.