Hartford Wolf Pack

Wolf Pack Sink Islanders In Preseason Overtime Win

The Wolf Pack capped off their preseason slate with a thrilling win over their in-state rivals.

Keegan Jarvis

03 Oct 2025 — 3 min read

Photo via Eric Sudhoff - Hartford Wolf Pack

The Hartford Wolf Pack concluded their preseason schedule with a matchup against the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday night. After falling 6-3 in Bridgeport on Wednesday, the Wolf Pack sought revenge at the Koeppel Community Sports Center at Trinity College in Hartford.

60 minutes would not be enough to decide a winner in this contest. In the bonus session, Jaroslav Chmelař tapped home the game-winner to secure a 3-2 victory for the Wolf Pack.

Syky Stars It Off

Photo via Eric Sudhoff - Hartford Wolf Pack

The Wolf Pack opened the scoring just 1:46 into the game. After a flurry of early chances for Bridgeport, the Wolf Pack finally got a faceoff in the offensive zone. Carey Terrance won the ensuing draw, with Anton Blidh corraling the puck. Blidh found Adam Sýkora in the slot and snapped him a pass. Sýkora promptly ripped a shot through traffic and by Bridgeport netminder Marcus Hogberg to give Hartford the game's first lead.

Jaro Joins In

Hartford extended the lead to two just over seven minutes into the game. Sýkora snapped a pass up the ice for Chmelař, who powered around a defenseman and into the Bridgeport zone. Chmelař cut to the net and put the puck on net, but Hogberg made the initial save. However, the puck trickled through the netminder and just over the red line. Bridgeport attempted to clear the puck, but officials ruled it a goal.

JARO GOAL 🚨 pic.twitter.com/1GRIElUtwa
— Hartford Wolf Pack (@HWPHockey) October 3, 2025

Adam Beckman cut the lead in half in the final minute of the first period. Beckman lasered a shot by Dylan Garand just as a four-on-four sequence came to an end, scoring a shorthanded goal and getting Bridgeport on the board just before the first intermission.

Battling in Connecticut

Things started getting chippy between the in-state rivals in the middle frame. The Wolf Pack had two power play bids, while the Islanders earned three. However, the penalty killing units kept their opponents at bay.

Talyn Boyko replaced Garand in net midway through the game. Garand made 13 saves on 14 shots.

Late in the second period, Gavin Hain set up Bryce McConnell-Barker on the back door. However, Hogberg went full extension and denied the bid with the pad to keep the deficit at one.

Neither team could find the twine in the second period, and the Wolf Pack carried the one-goal lead into the final frame.

However, Bridgeport simply would not go away. Just over seven minutes into the third period, Joey Larson tied the game, roofing a shot over Boyko to draw the teams even at two. The score remained the same at the end of regulation.

Jar-Overtime Hero

Both teams had chances in the extra frame, but it was the Wolf Pack who converted on theirs. Sýkora snapped a pass from the left wing to Chmelař on the back door. The Providence College product tapped the puck home to secure the overtime victory for the Wolf Pack.

It was Chmelař's second goal of the contest and Sýkora's third point on the night.

"[Sýkora and I] really have fun together," Chmelař told Blueshirt Banter following the game. "We spend a lot of time together. I feel like we just look for each other [on the ice], we know what to expect from each other."

"It’s a good sign to see those guys have such a big impact," Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told Blueshirt Banter when asked about the two forwards after the contest. "You see a lot of it in practice, but for it to translate [to the game] is the final step."