By Zack Grenier

Hartford, CT, January 2, 2015 – A shorthanded goal by Tommy Hughes started a Hartford Wolf Pack comeback from a 2-0 deficit Friday night at the XL Center against the St. John’s IceCaps, and fellow defenseman Conor Allen scored the third-period game-winner in a 4-2 Hartford victory.

Michael Kostka added an empty-net goal and an assist for the Wolf Pack, and Chad Nehring also scored.  Mackenzie Skapski made 18 saves.  Scott Kosmachuk and Kyle MacKinnon scored for the IceCaps, and Peter Budaj made 27 saves.

It was the first-ever home victory for the Wolf Pack over St. John’s in the four-year history of the IceCaps franchise.  Hartford had been 0-5-1 in six previous home games in the all-time series.

The IceCaps struck first, on a power play at 14:36 of the first period, when Chase Balisy sent a blind backhand pass across the crease to Kosmachuk for his fourth goal of the season.

The next goal didn’t come until there was only 2:26 left in the second period.  It was MacKinnon who gave the IceCaps a 2-0 lead, when he came in on a two-on-one and beat Skapski on a straight shot over his blocker.

“We started slow, taking a lot of penalties which doesn’t help our team game,” said Nehring.  “We got that late goal in the second and it gave us a little bit of life and we just came out in the third and took over the game like we should have.”

That late shorthanded goal came with just 5.1 seconds remaining in the second period.  Chris Bourque turned his back to the defenseman and left the puck for Hughes, who was trailing the play, and Hughes fired the puck at the net.  The shot beat Budaj five-hole to cut the IceCaps lead to just one.

“Good strong shot, just putting it on net,” said Hartford coach Ken Gernander.  “I think that was good.  It gave us a little bit of a boost and some momentum going in to the third.”

Nehring was the man who tied the game up for the Pack in the third.  The puck bounced in to the right-wing corner and Nehring just threw the puck at the net.  His shot caromed off of Budaj’s skates and bounced in at 2:53, for Nehring’s third goal of the season.

“When that line scores for us good things are going to happen,” said Allen.  “I thought that line had a great night.  (Chad) Nehring, (Dallas) Jackson, and (Shawn) O’Donnell played really hard for us.  Yeah, that was a big goal and it just kind of got the momentum going right away in the third, and we just took it from there.”

At the 8:42 mark, Allen fired a slapshot at the net with traffic in front.  The shot went straight over Budaj’s glove to give the Pack their first lead of the game at 3-2.

“We took a lot of penalties and it was kind of disrupting how we want to play hockey,” said Nehring.  “We play fast in 5-on-5 hockey, and when we stayed out of the box in the third we got our chances, and we capitalized on them and got a big two points.”

The Pack added another goal to the lead when Kostka fired a full rink slap shot at an empty net with 15.9 seconds left in the game.

The Wolf Pack and IceCaps tangle again at the XL Center Saturday night, with faceoff at 7:00 PM.  The first 2,000 fans into the game will receive a free Wolf Pack 2015 calendar, presented by LAZ Parking.

Tickets for 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, or click here to request more info.

St. John’s IceCaps 2 at Hartford Wolf Pack 4
Friday, January 2, 2015 – XL Center

St. John’s 1 1 0 – 2
Hartford 0 1 3 – 4

1st Period-1, St. John’s, Kosmachuk 4 (Balisy, O’Dell), 14:36 (PP). Penalties-Haggerty Hfd (hooking), 2:08; O’Neill Stj (tripping), 9:34; Malone Hfd (cross-checking), 9:54; Crabb Hfd (holding), 13:23; Lipon Stj (instigating, fighting, misconduct – instigating), 17:25; Hughes Hfd (interference, fighting), 17:25; Melchiori Stj (interference), 18:18.

2nd Period-2, St. John’s, MacKinnon 2 (Riley, O’Neill), 17:34. 3, Hartford, Hughes 1 (C. Bourque, Hrivik), 19:54 (SH). Penalties-Melchiori Stj (cross-checking), 3:47; Cornell Stj (roughing), 5:34; McIlrath Hfd (interference), 9:30; Lindberg Hfd (hooking), 12:41; Bodie Hfd (cross-checking), 15:12; Olsen Stj (roughing), 18:46; Mueller Hfd (tripping, roughing), 18:46.

3rd Period-4, Hartford, Nehring 3 (Jackson, Kostka), 2:53. 5, Hartford, Allen 5 (Kristo, R. Bourque), 11:18. 6, Hartford, Kostka 3   19:44 (EN). Penalties-Brassard Stj (slashing), 3:32; O’Dell Stj (holding), 13:15.

Shots on Goal-St. John’s 9-6-5-20. Hartford 8-14-9-31.
Power Play Opportunities-St. John’s 1 / 7; Hartford 0 / 6.
Goalies-St. John’s, Budaj 0-6-1 (30 shots-27 saves). Hartford, Skapski 8-6-1 (20 shots-18 saves).
A-4,248
Referees-Olivier Gouin (66).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Luke Galvin (2).

HARTFORD, January 1, 2015: Hartford Wolf Pack general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the Wolf Pack has signed goaltender Yann Danis to a Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement.

Danis, 33, who is in his 11th season of pro hockey, played 11 AHL games earlier this season with the Norfolk Admirals, posting a 5-6-0 record with a 2.72 goals-against average and a 91.4% save percentage. Two of his five victories were by shutout, including a 35-save effort against the Wolf Pack November 28 at the XL Center, in a 2-0 Norfolk win.

Danis spent last season with the Adirondack Phantoms, suiting up for 31 games and going 9-11-4, with a 3.01 GAA, an 89.7% save percentage and two shutouts.

A 6-0, 185-pound native of Lafontaine, Que., Danis has seen action in 53 career NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers, compiling a record of 17-21-4, with a 2.75 GAA, a 91.0% save percentage and three shutouts.

Danis’ AHL career has included 318 total games, with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Oklahoma City Barons, Phantoms and Admirals. His cumulative AHL record is 154-116-30, with a 2.65 GAA, 91.0% save percentage and 18 shutouts. Danis won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s top goaltender in 2011-12, when he was 26-14-2 with a 2.07 GAA, a 92.4% save percentage and five shutouts with Oklahoma City. He also won a Calder Cup championship in 2006-07 with Hamilton.

Danis was originally signed as a free agent by Montreal March 19, 2004, after a four-year career at Brown University.

The next action for the Wolf Pack is tomorrow night, Friday, January 2, with the St. John’s IceCaps visiting the XL Center for a 7:00 game.  All Friday-night Wolf Pack home games feature $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period.

Tickets for 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, or click here to request more info.

Portland, ME, December 31, 2014 – A second-period power-play goal by Brendan Shinnimin stood up as the game-winner Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Arena, in a 3-1 victory by the Portland Pirates over the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Chris Bourque scored the only Wolf Pack goal, increasing his team-leading total to 13, and Mackenzie Skapski made 27 saves, but Eric Selleck also scored for Portland, Lucas Lessio added an empty-net goal, and Andrew Campbell assisted on all three Pirate scores.

Mike McKenna stopped 22 out of 23 shots in the Portland net, handing the Wolf Pack (17-11-2-2, 38 pts.) only its second regulation loss in the last ten games (6-2-0-2).

“Through the first two periods we only had 13 shots,” Bourque said. “We had a lot of (offensive) zone time, but not too many shots at the net. You’re not going to score too many goals when you don’t have many shot attempts. In the third I thought we did a better job of getting the puck towards the net, and we’ve just got to keep on working on doing the ‘dirty’ things, little things that add up to goals.”

After a scoreless first period, Portland would build a 2-1 lead in a second period in which they outshot the Wolf Pack 13-8.

Selleck gave the Pirates the game’s first lead at 7:34, converting on a two-on-one with Campbell. Corey Trivino started the play, and Skapski got a piece of Selleck’s shot from the left circle, but could not keep it out of the net.

The Wolf Pack answered back only 1:44 later, at 9:18, as Bourque broke over the blue line and headed up the slot, beating McKenna to the stick side with a shot from about 35 feet out.

“I just put the puck toward the net,” Bourque said of the goal, which ended a five-game drought without a point for the Wolf Pack’s leading scorer (13-14-27). “It was good location, and luckily it went in.”

The Portland power play capitalized at 11:57 to put the Pirates on top to stay, with Tommy Hughes in the penalty box for slashing. Shinnimin capped furious Portland pressure by rapping a shot through Skapski from the right circle, for the eventual game-winner.

The third frame was a standoff, with shots even at ten apiece, and the Wolf Pack’s comeback effort was hampered by a hooking penalty called against Mat Bodie with 1:43 left. Hartford pulled Skapski while shorthanded and had some decent pressure, but Lessio was credited with an open-net goal at 19:55, when Conor Allen broke Lessio’s stick with a slash, after Lessio had stepped past the Wolf Pack defenseman.

The next action for the Wolf Pack is back home at the XL Center this Friday, January 2, with the St. John’s IceCaps visiting for a 7:00 game. All Friday-night Wolf Pack home games feature $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period.

Tickets for 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, or click here to request more info.

Hartford Wolf Pack 1 at Portland Pirates 3
Wednesday, December 31, 2014 – Cross Insurance Arena

Hartford 0 1 0 – 1
Portland 0 2 1 – 3

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-O’Donoghue Por (interference), 3:07; Crabb Hfd (roughing), 7:15; Szwarz Por (roughing), 7:15; Oberg Por (tripping), 13:32; Spinell Hfd (tripping), 19:00.

2nd Period-1, Portland, Selleck 4 (Campbell, Trivino), 7:34. 2, Hartford, C. Bourque 13 (Hrivik), 9:18. 3, Portland, Shinnimin 6 (Campbell, Oberg), 11:57 (PP). Penalties-Hughes Hfd (slashing), 10:19; Bodie Hfd (slashing), 18:24.

3rd Period-4, Portland, Lessio 8 (Campbell, McKenna), 19:55 (PP EN). Penalties-H. Samuelsson Por (interference), 1:35; Kristo Hfd (roughing), 15:37; Campbell Por (roughing), 15:37; Bodie Hfd (hooking), 18:17.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 5-8-10-23. Portland 7-13-10-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 3; Portland 2 / 4.
Goalies-Hartford, Skapski 7-6-1 (29 shots-27 saves). Portland, McKenna 12-12-0 (23 shots-22 saves).
A-4,686
Referees-Michael Mullen (18).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Jack Millea (23).