Springfield, MA, February 22, 2014 – The Hartford Wolf Pack came back from a 3-1 deficit with three third-period goals Saturday night at the MassMutual Center, defeating the Springfield Falcons, 4-3.

Andrew Yogan scored the game-winner at 8:14 of the third period, and also added an assist, and T.J. Hensick also had a goal and an assist.  The Wolf Pack also got goals from Kyle Beach and Marek Hrivik, and David LeNeveu made 28 saves.  Ryan Craig, J.F. Jacques and Austin Madaisky scored for Springfield.

It was the Wolf Pack’s third consecutive win in the season series against the Falcons, after Hartford went 0-4-0-2 in the first six games between the two teams.

“We came back to the locker room and went back to our game plan,” Yogan said of the third-period comeback by the Wolf Pack, who had lost a 3-2 lead late in the third period of their 4-3 home defeat to Bridgeport the night before.  “We all talked about it, hard on the forecheck, and when we’re playing in the offensive zone and we’re protecting the puck and cycling, there’s not too many teams that can skate with us and handle our physical attributes, and we were able to capitalize on that.

“Whenever I can help out and contribute offensively, I’m going to do that, and I’m proud of the guys the way they responded in the third period.”

After a second period in which they were outshot 16-7, and trailing 3-1 going into the third, the Wolf Pack erupted for three scores in a span of only 2:57 in the third, starting with a goal by Hensick at the 5:17 mark.

Aaron Johnson headmanned the puck out of the Wolf Pack zone to Justin Vaive on right wing in center ice, and Vaive handed it off beautifully to Hensick.  Hensick got behind Andrew Joudrey, who was covering for the Springfield defense, and beat Falcon goaltender Mike McKenna (19 saves) on the glove side with a move to the backhand.

Just 2:26 later, at 7:43, Hrivik tied the game with his second goal in as many games, and his fourth in the last six games.  Hensick intercepted a Madaisky breakout pass on the right-wing boards and found Hrivik all alone in front, and Hrivik was able to make a move to the forehand and slip the puck past McKenna.

Then, only 31 seconds after that, at 8:14, Yogan scored what turned out to be the winner, after he jumped on a fumble by Joudrey.  Moving laterally at his own blue line, Joudrey coughed the puck up to Yogan, who burst down the left side and gunned a shot that McKenna got a piece of but could not stop.  The goal was Yogan’s fourth of the season, all of which have been game-winners.          

The Wolf Pack controlled much of the play in the first period, and outshot the Falcons 8-6, but Springfield got the only goal.

Craig put the Falcons on top at 13:42, firing a high shot off of left wing past LeNeveu on the stick side, after Trent Vogelhuber worked the puck away from Shawn O’Donnell just outside the Wolf Pack blue line.

The Wolf Pack tied the game at 7:32 of the second period, taking advantage of Falcon goaltender Mike McKenna losing his stick.  Yogan worked the puck to Beach in the left-wing corner, and Beach got it past McKenna, as the Falcon netminder scrambled to try to recover the stick.

Springfield came back with a pair before the end of the period, though, the first on a power play at 11:49.  With Dylan McIlrath off for interference, Tim Erixon moved down the left-wing boards and fed a pass into the slot to Jacques, who ripped a shot past LeNeveu for a 2-1 Springfield lead.

Madaisky then made it 3-1 at 16:53, with an unassisted goal.  Madaisky prevented a Wolf Pack clearing attempt at the right point, and then unloaded a slap shot that deflected off the Pack’s Darroll Powe and past LeNeveu on the glove side.

The Wolf Pack’s next action is this Tuesday night, February 25, when they travel to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine to take on the Portland Pirates.  Faceoff is 7:00 PM, and all of the action 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 Friday, February 28, a 7:00 PM contest against the Hershey Bears.  All Wolf Pack Friday-night home games feature $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period, presented by Marc’s Appliance Warehouse, located at 75 Prospect Ave., Hartford, CT.

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.

Hartford Wolf Pack 4 at Springfield Falcons 3
Saturday, February 22, 2014 – MassMutual Center

Hartford 0 1 3 – 4
Springfield 1 2 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Springfield, Craig 8 (Vogelhuber), 13:42. Penalties-Miller Hfd (fighting), 0:02; Boyce Spr (fighting), 0:02; Marchessault Spr (slashing), 10:52.

2nd Period-2, Hartford, Beach 6 (Yogan, Lindberg), 7:32. 3, Springfield, Jacques 9 (Erixon, Marchessault), 11:49 (PP). 4, Springfield, Madaisky 3   16:53. Penalties-McIlrath Hfd (interference), 10:42.

3rd Period-5, Hartford, Hensick 5 (Vaive, Johnson), 5:17. 6, Hartford, Hrivik 9 (Hensick), 7:43. 7, Hartford, Yogan 4   8:14. Penalties-Miller Hfd (hooking), 8:59; St. Denis Spr (holding), 14:27.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 8-7-8-23. Springfield 6-16-9-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 2; Springfield 1 / 2.
Goalies-Hartford, LeNeveu 4-6-0 (31 shots-28 saves). Springfield, McKenna 15-7-0 (23 shots-19 saves).
A-4,891
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Frank Murphy (29), Luke Galvin (2).

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Hartford, CT, February 21, 2014 – A pair of late third-period goals by Anders Lee gave the Bridgeport Sound Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday night at the XL Center.

Lee tied the game at three on a Bridgeport power play at 17:35 of the third period, after Marek Hrivik had given the Wolf Pack a 3-2 advantage with a man-advantage goal with 4:52 remaining.  Lee then struck again for the game-winner with 30.2 seconds on the clock.

Ryan Bourque and Justin Vaive also scored for the Wolf Pack, and Brett Gallant and Joel Broda had the other Bridgeport goals.

“We had opportunities to kill penalties, instead we got outworked and they stripped us from behind,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said.

With the score tied 2-2 and Bridgeport’s Joe Finley in the penalty box for boarding, Hrivik spun into the left-wing circle and fired a shot that hit Sound Tiger defenseman Scott Mayfield’s leg and deflected past Bridgeport netminder Anders Nilsson at 15:08 of the third.

Wolf Pack captain Aaron Johnson took an interference minor at 16:12, though, and Bridgeport capitalized for its second power-play goal of the game.  Ryan Strome fed a pass from along the goal line on the left-wing side to Lee at the left side of the slot, and Lee drilled a hard shot past Wolf Pack goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris (22 saves) at 17:35.

Then, with the game appearing headed for overtime, Lee took a pass from Mike Halmo, rushed down right wing and attempted to center the puck.  The Wolf Pack’s Dylan McIlrath blocked the pass, but the puck came back to Lee near the goal line, and he batted it off of Grumet-Morris’ left pad and into the net for the winner.

The Wolf Pack controlled most of the territorial play in the first period, outshooting Bridgeport 16-7, but the Sound Tigers led for most of the session, after Gallant scored his first goal in 38 games on the season at 3:12.

The Wolf Pack misfired on an attempted breakout on the left-wing side, and Bridgeport’s Chris Langkow fed the puck to Gallant, who was all alone in front of Grumet-Morris.  Gallant waited Grumet-Morris out, before putting a forehand shot into the net.

That lead lasted until there were only 2.3 seconds remaining in the period, when Bourque scored his 14^th goal of the season and his fourth in the last four games.  Nilsson stopped an initial try by Bourque, but a Sound Tiger clearing try up the middle ended up right back on Bourque’s stick, and Bourque snapped it past Nilsson’s catching glove.

After that last-second goal in the first period, the Wolf Pack got the game’s next score with only 2:02 remaining in the second.  It was Vaive scoring his first goal in 14 games since joining the Wolf Pack, to give Hartford its first lead.  Kyle Beach worked the puck out of the left-wing corner to the opposite point to Bretton Stamler, whose shot went wide.  Vaive got his stick on the carom, though, to Nilsson’s left and knifed it into the net.

The Sound Tigers were able to tie the score at 6:22 of the third period on a power-play goal by Broda, playing his first game in a Bridgeport uniform after joining the Sound Tigers on Wednesday.  Strome passed across the slot from the left side to Broda, and he was able to send the puck between Grumet-Morris and the post to his left.

The Wolf Pack are right back in action Saturday night, traveling to Springfield to meet the Falcons for a 7:00 PM game.  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 Friday, February 28, a 7:00 PM contest against the Hershey Bears.  All Wolf Pack Friday-night home games feature $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period, presented by Marc’s Appliance Warehouse, located at 75 Prospect Ave., Hartford, CT.

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.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4 at Hartford Wolf Pack 3
Friday, February 21, 2014 – XL Center

Bridgeport 1 0 3 – 4
Hartford 1 1 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Gallant 1 (Langkow), 3:12. 2, Hartford, Bourque 14 (Fast), 19:57. Penalties-Clark Bri (holding), 8:09; Lee Bri (interference), 16:41.

2nd Period-3, Hartford, Vaive 1 (Stamler, Beach), 17:58. Penalties-Strome Bri (slashing), 7:09; Miller Hfd (slashing), 9:03; Strome Bri (cross-checking), 19:12.

3rd Period-4, Bridgeport, Broda 2 (Strome, Pistilli), 6:22 (PP). 5, Hartford, Hrivik 8 (Hensick, Johnson), 15:08 (PP). 6, Bridgeport, Lee 20 (Strome, Donovan), 17:35 (PP). 7, Bridgeport, Lee 21 (Halmo, Finley), 19:29. Penalties-Bourque Hfd (hooking), 4:36; Finley Bri (roughing), 9:54; Finley Bri (boarding), 13:54; Johnson Hfd (interference), 16:12.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 7-10-9-26. Hartford 16-9-8-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 2 / 3; Hartford 1 / 6.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Nilsson 10-14-2 (33 shots-30 saves). Hartford, Grumet-Morris 8-11-5 (26 shots-22 saves).
A-4,607
Referees-Dave Lewis (46).
Linesmen-Jim Briggs (83), Kevin Redding (16).

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.