Wolf Pack Fall to Bears 4-1

The Hartford Wolf Pack continued their season-long eight game road trip on Wednesday night. They visited the Hershey Bears for the first of six matchups between the Atlantic Division rivals this season.

The Wolf Pack simply couldn't get anything going in this matchup in Chocolatetown. The Bears took an early lead and never looked back, eventually cruising to a 4-1 decision and snapping Hartford's point streak at three games.

Tree's House

The Bears opened the scoring just over the five minute mark in the contest. A shot from Andrew Cristall clipped Josh Dunne during a net-front battle and dribbled over the red line. The goal gave the Bears a lead they wouldn't surrender as they took the 1-0 margin into the first intermission.

Louie Belpedio doubled the lead early in the second period. With Lucas Vanroboys in the box for tripping, Belpedio floated a shot past a screened Joonas Korpisalo to put the home side up by two.

Alex Suzdalev took out an insurance policy just over the 13 minute mark of the middle frame, tapping a power play goal home with Korpisalo out of position. The Bears took the 3-0 lead into the second intermission.

The Wolf Pack would get one back late in regulation time. Taylor Raddysh threaded a cross-ice feed to Liam Greentree, stationed in the right circle. Greentree uncorked a shot that zipped by Mitch Gibson to snap the shutout bid and give the Wolf Pack late life.

The goal was Greentree's sixth of the season, leading the Wolf Pack. Marc Del Gaizo picked up the secondary assist, extending the Wolf Pack captain's point streak to four straight games.

Bear Scare

The Wolf Pack continued to pressure with Korpisalo on the bench, but Petr Sikora hit the empty net to end the intrigue and hand the Bears a 4-1 decision.

Korpisalo, assigned to Hartford on a conditioning loan earlier today, stopped 34 of the 37 shots he faced in the game. You can't really fault him for any of the goals the Bears scored; one was during a net-front scrum, one was a power play goal where he was triple-screened, and one was another power play tally where the Wolf Pack conceded a wide-open back door. Korpisalo came up with some big saves when the Wolf Pack needed him to and likely deserved a better result.

Up Next

The Wolf Pack continue their eight game road trip on Friday, visiting the Rochester Americans for the only time this season. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm.