Wolf Pack Defeat Charlotte in Dramatic Fashion

On Saturday, the Hartford Wolf Pack hit the ice to face off against Atlanta Division opponent Charlotte Checkers in downtown Hartford. Hartford’s Captain Jonny Brodzinski opened the scoring after he lit the lamp on the powerplay just 10 minutes into the game. The Wolf Pack’s top powerplay unit was quick and smart with the puck as they made the correct passes, and it was just a matter of time before Brodzinski’s shot beat goalie Mack Guzda.

However, the momentum would quickly be flipped as the Checkers fired shots left and right a goalkeeper Dylan Garand, but he stood tall. The Checkers were able to draw two penalties on one play, putting them on a 5-3 powerplay, and they quickly went to work toying with the Wolf Pack’s defenders. Hartford’s top defenders were able to get the job on the penalty kill, but minutes later, John Ludvig got an off-angle shot that got deflected, and Grigori Denisenko was right there to tap in the loose puck to tie the game at 1, only 9 minutes into the second period. Hartford would not be silenced less than 7-minutes later; Blake Hillman took a shot from the point deflected in front of the net by Lauri Pajuniemi, who beat Guzda.

The Wolf Pack regained their one-goal lead with less than 5 minutes remaining in the game. However, Charlotte would not go down without a fight again, as they pulled their goalie in the game’s final minute. Logan Hutsko found the puck and fired in past Garand, tying the game at two and sending it to overtime. Hartford’s forward Andy Welinski wasted zero time as he scored just 47 seconds into overtime, giving the Wolf Pack a 3-2 win in heroic fashion.

The Wolf Pack will hit the road to face the Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday, November 4th, and will return to the XL Center on November 9th as they will host the Thunderbirds. For all Hartford Wolf Pack news, make sure to follow the Wolf Pack on all social media accounts and check Hartfordwolfpack.com.