Wolf Pack Stun T-Birds in Wild 7-5 Comeback Win

The Hartford Wolf Pack played their final home game of the 2025-26 season on Friday night. They welcomed the Springfield Thunderbirds to the PeoplesBank Arena for the penultimate matchup in the I-91 Rivalry this season.

The Wolf Pack trailed by three goals after two periods, but they refused to let a raucous Hartford crowd go out with a loss. The Wolf Pack tallied five unanswered goals to stun the T-Birds by a 7-5 final score and send the Hartford faithful home happy.

Thir-Trey for Thir-Trey

The Wolf Pack broke the ice just over 14 minutes into the game. Carey Terrance found a loose puck at the top of the offensive zone and chipped it to Trey Fix-Wolansky along the left wing wall. Fix-Wolansky worked in with Brendan Brisson and elected to shoot, ripping a shot through the five-hole of Vadim Zherenko to put Hartford in front first.

The goal was Fix-Wolansky's 29th of the season, tying his previous career high, set in the 2022-23 season with the Cleveland Monsters.

Hugh McGing tied the contest, stuffing a loose puck past Callum Tung to even the score at one just over two minutes later. The 1-1 tie carried into the first intermission.

Simon Robertsson gave the T-Birds their first lead of the night, potting a big rebound just under two minutes into the second period.

However, the Wolf Pack would tie the score once again. Connor Mackey sent a stretch feed to Zakary Karpa, who tapped the puck to Fix-Wolansky as he entered the zone. Fix-Wolansky dangled through a pair of Springfield defenders before beating Zherenko on the short side to even the score at two.

The goal was Fix-Wolansky's 30th of the season, setting a new career high. Fix-Wolansky is the first Wolf Pack player to score at least 30 goals in a season since Nicklas Jensen found the net 32 times during the 2016-17 season.

However, the Thunderbirds would take over from there. A questionable double minor for high sticking against Anton Blidh gave the visitors a four-minute power play bid. They'd capitalize twice, with Aleksanteri Kaskimäki and Akil Thomas each finding the net to stretch the score to 4-2 in favor of Springfield. McGing capped off the scoring in the waning seconds of the frame, finding the loose change and poking it home to give Springfield a 5-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

Lamb of God

The comeback started just 35 seconds into the final frame. With Calle Rosén in the box for slashing, Scott Morrow sent a shot into traffic that pinballed around in the slot. Brody Lamb corralled it before tucking it home on the back hand to cut the lead to two.

The goal was Lamb's fourth of the campaign, and it gave the Wolf Pack the momentum they needed to start the comeback.

Jack of All Trades

The Wolf Pack drew within one just over the three minute mark in the frame. Hartford had an extended sequence in the offensive zone, wearing down the Springfield defense. Eventually, Morrow danced through a pair of defenders and looked like he was about to shoot. Instead, he dished the puck to Kyle Jackson, who nailed the open cage to make it a 5-4 game.

The goal was Jackson's first of the season, as well as his first in the AHL, while Morrow picked up his second point of the contest.

Perfect Fitz

The Wolf Pack tied the game 7:43 into the frame. Another extended sequence ended with the puck on the stick of Casey Fitzgerald at the top of the zone. The captain fired a long shot that sailed through traffic and into the net to draw the teams even at five.

The goal was Fitzgerald's fourth of the campaign, as well as his career-high 23rd point of the season.

Carey Comeback

Hartford took the lead for good 15:30 into the period. Fix-Wolansky took a shot that went wide. Terrance grabbed the rebound and sent it to Jackson Dorrington, but the rookie blueliner swung and missed on the bid. Terrance grabbed the loose change and banked a shot from an impossible angle into the net to put the Wolf Pack back in front.

The goal was Terrance's eighth of the season, as well as his third game-winning tally of the campaign, tying him for first on the team.

Hats Off to Trey

The Thunderbirds lifted Zherenko in the waning minutes of regulation, desperately searching for the equalizer. However, they turned the puck over to Terrance, who sent it forward to Fix-Wolansky. The veteran forward was all alone as he nailed the empty net to cap off the scoring and send the hats flying in Hartford.

The goal gave Fix-Wolansky his second hat trick of the campaign; Fix-Wolansky previously notched three goals on January 20th in a 5-4 overtime win against the Bears in Hershey.

"Just wanted to give the crowd something to cheer about and go off with a bang," Fix-Wolansky told Blueshirt Banter about the comeback win. "I think those first two periods didn't go the way we wanted [them] to, but we got the win in the third and that's the most important thing."

"I said to them [after the second period], believe it or not, I like how we're playing," Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told Blueshirt Banter following the game. "I felt like we were playing pretty good. And then, you know, get a power play goal and all of a sudden it just started to snowball. They just never took their foot off the gas."

The three-goal comeback marks the largest comeback win by the Wolf Pack this season.

"There's no question in our minds going into the third period that we can score three, four, five like we did," Terrance told Blueshirt Banter about the victory. "Let's go out there, play with some confidence, and obviously it went our way."

The comeback ends the Wolf Pack's home slate with an electrifying win.

"It was nice that we could get [the crowd] into the game in the third period and use their energy and momentum to push," Potulny told Blueshirt Banter.

Up Next

The Wolf Pack finish the 2025-26 season tomorrow night, taking on the Thunderbirds in a rematch in Springfield. Puck drop is set for 6:05 pm.