Wolf Pack Lose Lead Late, Fall to Phantoms 3-2

Fresh off a statement win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night, the Hartford Wolf Pack continued their six-game home stand at the PeoplesBank Arena on Saturday night. They hosted the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the final time this season.

The Wolf Pack carried a two-goal lead into the third period. However, a flurry of goals in the third period sunk the Wolf Pack, and they dropped a winnable game by a 3-2 score.

A Little Like Briss

The Atlantic Division rivals played a quiet first period. The Wolf Pack took the edge in shots by a 6-4 margin, but strong play from Dylan Garand and Carson Bjarnason kept the opening frame scoreless.

The Wolf Pack finally broke the ice just over the halfway point in the middle frame. Garrett Wilson took a hooking call, sending the Wolf Pack to their first power play bid of the contest. On the ensuing power play, Jaroslav Chmelař attempted to set up Justin Dowling in the slot, but the veteran center's stick was tied up. Dowling poked the puck over to Brendan Brisson, who slipped a quick shot through traffic and by Bjarnason to give the Wolf Pack the game's first lead.

The goal was Brisson's third of the season and his first on home ice.

Gabe's Got Goals

The Wolf Pack doubled their lead just over four minutes later. Chmelař carried the puck into the offensive zone, but he had it poked away by a pair of Phantoms. Wilson corralled it behind the net and attempted to clear, but he put the puck right on the stick of Gabe Perreault. The rookie forward fired a quick shot that Bjarnason denied, but Perreault pounced on the rebound and buried it to put the Wolf Pack up by two.

The goal was Perreault's sixth of the season, tying him with Trey Fix-Wolansky for the team lead. The Wolf Pack carried the two-goal margin into the second intermission.

Old Ghosts

The Wolf Pack's early-season issues came back to haunt them in the final frame. Dowling took an offensive-zone holding call, sending the Phantoms to the power play. Christian Kyrou sniped a shot from the blue line that went off the post and in to cut the lead in half.

Carl Grundström tied the contest just over three minutes later, potting a rebound off a Karsen Dorwart shot.

Denver Barkey capped off the scoring just over the seven minute mark of the frame, beating the backcheck and tipping a feed from Alex Bump by Garand. The Wolf Pack pushed for the equalizer late, but they couldn't beat Bjarnason, cementing the 3-2 loss.

"We took our third offensive zone penalty of the game. That goes in. The second one is net front, don't get under sticks. The third one, we stopped backchecking," Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told Blueshirt Banter after the game. "Honestly, it's maddening."

Wolf Pack captain Casey Fitzgerald expressed his frustration after the contest, telling Blueshirt Banter, "It's frustrating right now. We have to figure out how to win a third period and to close out games."

Up Next

The Wolf Pack cap off their six-game home stand on Wednesday, November 26th, hosting the Springfield Thunderbirds in the latest installment of the I-91 Rivalry on Thanksgiving Eve. Puck drop is set for 7 pm.