Hartford, CT, March 14, 2014 – Dov Grumet-Morris made 24 saves, and went five-for-five in the shootout, Friday night at the XL Center, helping the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 2-1 shootout win over the Adirondack Phantoms.
The victory, the Wolf Pack’s seventh in their last nine games, lifted them to 26-28-0-6 for 58 points and into a third-place tie in the Northeast Division with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who lost 7-0 in Manchester.
Hartford trailed Friday’s game 1-0 until late in the third period, when a Danny Syvret power-play goal tied the game, and Danny Kristo had the only goal of the shootout. Chris VandeVelde scored the only Adirondack goal, and Yann Danis made 32 saves.
“It was a good win, obviously it took all sixty minutes-plus to win the game but we played hard, had some good chances and eventually we prevailed,” Kristo said.
The Wolf Pack outshot the visitors 10-3 in the first period, but the Phantoms got the only goal of the frame, a VandeVelde tally at 5:36. Jason Akeson was able to thread the puck from below the goal line to VandeVelde at the left side of the slot, and VandeVelde fought off a check and flicked a shot past Grumet-Morris on the far side.
That was the only goal of the game until only 3:44 remained in the third period, when Syvret finally pulled the Wolf Pack into a tie.
With Akeson in the penalty box for hooking, Syvret unleashed a shot from the middle of the blue line that went through a screen, set by Ryan Bourque and Jesper Fast, and flew high into the net behind Danis.
After a scoreless overtime, the goaltenders dominated the shootout. Danis stopped J.T. Miller, Fast, Marek Hrivik and T.J. Hensick in the first four rounds, while Grumet-Morris denied Akeson, VandeVelde Tye McGinn and Nick Cousins. Then Kristo, the Wolf Pack’s fifth shooter, was able to snap a low shot underneath Danis, and Grumet-Morris, who is now 11-1-1 in his last 13 decisions, stopped Kyle Flanagan, with a pad save, for the win.
The Wolf Pack travel to Albany on Saturday for another Northeast Division game, taking on the Devils at 5:00 PM at the Times Union Center. All of the action of that battle can be heard live on Fox Sports Radio 1410, and on-line at www.foxsportsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.
The Wolf Pack’s next home game is this Wednesday, March 19, a 7:00 PM contest against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. That’s a Wolf Pack “Winning Wednesday”, meaning that if the Wolf Pack win, each fan can get a free ticket to the next Wolf Pack home game, which is Friday night, March 21 against the St. John’s IceCaps.
Tickets for all Wolf Pack 2013-14 home games are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499. Wolf Pack tickets start as low as $12 for youth 12 years old or younger. To speak with a representative about season or group tickets, call (855) 762-6451.
Adirondack Phantoms 1 at Hartford Wolf Pack 2 (SO)
Friday, March 14, 2014 – XL Center
Adirondack 1 0 0 0 – 1
Hartford 0 0 1 0 – 2
1st Period-1, Adirondack, VandeVelde 10 (Akeson, McGinn), 5:36. Penalties-Powe Hfd (boarding), 0:21; Delisle Adk (boarding), 15:13.
2nd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Syvret Hfd (interference), 6:58; Alderson Adk (tripping), 14:12.
3rd Period-2, Hartford, Syvret 8 (Miller), 16:16 (PP). Penalties-Mathers Adk (cross-checking), 3:07; Akeson Adk (hooking), 15:41; Delisle Adk (boarding), 17:23.
OT Period- No Scoring. Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout – Adirondack 0 (Akeson NG, VandeVelde NG, McGinn NG, Cousins NG, Flanagan NG), Hartford 1 (Miller NG, Fast NG, Hrivik NG, Hensick NG, Kristo G).
Shots on Goal-Adirondack 3-9-11-2-0-25. Hartford 10-6-16-1-1-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 0 / 2; Hartford 1 / 5.
Goalies-Adirondack, Danis 8-10-4 (33 shots-32 saves). Hartford, Grumet-Morris 14-11-5 (25 shots-24 saves).
A-3,826
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Paul Simeon (66).
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