Springfield, MA, October 5, 2014 – Shawn O’Donnell scored a pair of goals to bring the Hartford Wolf Pack back from a 2-0 deficit Sunday afternoon at the MassMutual Center, but the Springfield Falcons prevailed 3-2 in a shootout, in the Wolf Pack’s preseason finale.
Mike Hoeffel and Hubert Labrie scored in regulation for Springfield, and T.J. Tynan scored the only goal of the shootout. Anton Forsberg made 24 saves in the Springfield net and went three-for-three in the shootout. Jason Missiaen started in goal for the Wolf Pack and stopped nine of the ten shots that he faced, and Jeff Malcolm allowed one goal on 22 shots.
After a scoreless first period, Springfield jumped on top 3:29 into the second. Hoeffel skated down left wing and snapped a shot through a screen past Missiaen, up under the crossbar.
The Falcons struck again at 11:34, just 1:20 after the Wolf Pack made a goaltending change, replacing Missiaen Malcolm. Labrie took a drop pass from Trent Vogelhuber and fired the puck past Malcolm’s catching glove, from just inside the left faceoff dot.
The Wolf Pack got on the scoreboard with 3:57 remaining in the period, on O’Donnell’s first of the game. Nick Tarnasky, a former Falcon, slid the puck across the slot from the left side of the goalmouth, and O’Donnell poked it past Forsberg.
O’Donnell scored again at 11:26 of the third period to lift the Wolf Pack into a tie, off a setup by Andrew Yogan. Yogan played the puck out of the right-wing corner to O’Donnell in the circle, and O’Donnell beat Forsberg with a high shot.
That sent the game to overtime, and the extra session never got to the new three-on-three segment, as there wasn’t a single stoppage after the three-minute mark.
In the shootout, Tynan scored on a backhand shot into the top shelf on Springfield’s first attempt, and that would turn out to be all the Falcons needed. Forsberg stopped Ryan Bourque and O’Donnell, and Mat Bodie hit the post on the stick side.
The Wolf Pack, who finished the preseason 1-1-0-2, begin regular-season play on Sunday, October 12, traveling to Syracuse to battle the Crunch in a 5:00 PM game. The Pack open the home portion of their 2014-15 AHL regular season Saturday, October 18 at the XL Center, hosting the Portland Pirates at 7:00 PM. Tickets for that game, and all 2014-15 Wolf Pack home games, are now on sale at the XL Center ticket office, 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 Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451.
