Hartford, CT, March 21, 2014 – Carl Klingberg had two goals and an assist, and Josh Lunden also scored twice, to lead the St. John’s IceCaps to a 6-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday night at the XL Center.
Andrew Gordon and Jerome Samson added a goal and an assist for St. John’s, which was 3/6 on power plays, and Will O’Neill had three assists. Danny Syvret scored the only goal of the game for the Wolf Pack, who had a six-game home winning streak snapped.
“Hats off to them,” Wolf Pack forward Shawn O’Donnell said, “I think they’ve only lost a handful of games here in the New Year and we got to see why first hand here tonight. Hopefully we can learn from this game and move forward.”
Penalties hurt the Wolf Pack in the first period and allowed the IceCaps, who came into the game winners of 10 of their last 11 games, to build a 3-0 lead.
Lunden opened the scoring only 2:37 into the game with an even-strength goal, rapping the puck high into the net from right on top of Wolf Pack goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris, after Austen Brassard forechecked it away from the Wolf Pack’s Aaron Johnson in the right-wing corner.
Then, at 9:21, Johnson and Jesper Fast both received minor penalties, Fast for tripping and Johnson for boarding. St. John’s capitalized on the five-on-three, when Gordon fired a shot from the left point and it hit traffic in front of the net, and deflected right to Samson in the left circle. Samson buried it at 9:48 for a 2-0 IceCap lead.
With Fast still in the box, Johnson was sent off for tripping at 10:21. The Wolf Pack got the 60 seconds of two-man disadvantage killed off, but St. John’s scored on the five-on-four at 11:44.
Grumet-Morris came out to his left to try to clear a loose puck, and Klingberg blocked his attempt. Klingberg slid the puck toward the front of the net, and Lunden fought off a check and slid it in, before Grumet-Morris could get fully re-set.
The two teams traded goals in the second period, with the Wolf Pack’s Syvret and St. John’s’ Klingberg scoring only 1:11 apart.
Syvret got the Wolf Pack on the scoreboard at 9:16, flinging a shot from the left point through a Kyle Jean screen past the stick side of IceCap goaltender Tyler Beskorowany (26 saves).
Klingberg restored the three-goal margin at 10:27, though, after some strong Wolf Pack pressure. After the puck got past Hartford’s Dylan McIlrath at the St. John’s blue line, Klingberg grabbed it and raced toward the Hartford zone. With McIlrath hustling to cut him off, Klingberg cut from left to right and wired a backhanded shot over sprawling Grumet-Morris and into the top shelf.
The IceCaps would get two more in the third period, the first on a power play created by a roughing penalty against Micheal Haley at the 20:00 mark of the second period. O’Neill set Gordon up for a one-timer at the left point, and Gordon’s shot cleanly beat Grumet-Morris at the 40-second mark.
Grumet-Morris was shaken up and left the game at 8:42, after Brassard headed hard toward the net and was met in the goalmouth by the Wolf Pack’s Bretton Stamler, who fell hard into Grumet-Morris (17 saves). David LeNeveu entered the game at that point, and he would surrender the IceCaps’ sixth goal to Klingberg at 14:05.
Klingberg moved down the left side and got a step on Johnson, before powering a backhand shot up under the crossbar on LeNeveu’s stick side.
The Wolf Pack travel to Glens Falls, NY Saturday night for their next game, taking on the Adirondack Phantoms at 7:00 PM. 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 night, March 28, a 7:00 PM contest against the Springfield Falcons. 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.
St. John’s IceCaps 6 at Hartford Wolf Pack 1
Friday, March 21, 2014 – XL Center
St. John’s 3 1 2 – 6
Hartford 0 1 0 – 1
1st Period-1, St. John’s, Lunden 2 (Brassard, O’Neill), 2:37. 2, St. John’s, Samson 21 (Gordon, Jaffray), 9:48 (PP). 3, St. John’s, Lunden 3 (Klingberg), 11:44 (PP). Penalties-Samson Stj (hooking), 6:21; Fast Hfd (tripping), 9:21; Johnson Hfd (boarding), 9:21; Johnson Hfd (tripping), 10:21; Schnell Stj (fighting), 14:39; O’Donnell Hfd (fighting), 14:39; Chiarot Stj (roughing), 18:26.
2nd Period-4, Hartford, Syvret 9 (O’Donnell), 9:16. 5, St. John’s, Klingberg 17 (O’Neill, MacQueen), 10:27. Penalties-Powe Hfd (roughing), 15:06; Haley Hfd (roughing), 20:00.
3rd Period-6, St. John’s, Gordon 22 (O’Neill, Samson), 0:40 (PP). 7, St. John’s, Klingberg 18 (MacKinnon), 14:05. Penalties-Brassard Stj (high-sticking), 11:28; Haley Hfd (slashing), 16:48; Brassard Stj (fighting), 19:56; O’Donnell Hfd (fighting), 19:56.
Shots on Goal-St. John’s 7-12-7-26. Hartford 7-15-5-27.
Power Play Opportunities-St. John’s 3 / 6; Hartford 0 / 3.
Goalies-St. John’s, Beskorowany 3-0-0 (27 shots-26 saves). Hartford, Grumet-Morris 15-14-5 (22 shots-17 saves); LeNeveu 4-8-0 (4 shots-3 saves).
A-5,113
Referees-Tom Chmielewski (43), Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Kevin Redding (16), Derek Wahl (46).
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