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| Filip Chytil (72), the youngest player in the AHL since 1974, had a field day Saturday night with a goal and two assists to lead the Wolf Pack to a 4-3 victory over the Thunderbirds in Springfield on Saturday.
Photo by Danny Baxter
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SPRINGFIELD–Filip
Chytil scored the game-winning goal and picked up two assists to lead the
Hartford Wolf Pack past the Springfield Thunderbirds, 4-3, before 6,793 fans at
the MassMutual Center Saturday night. It was the first points scored in North
America for Chytil, an 18-year-old center from the Czech Republic.
The game was tied 1-1 after two periods, but the Wolf Pack
erupted for three goals in the first 9:41 of the third to put the game away.
Boo Nieves scored his second goal of the year, and second in
as many games, just 11 seconds into the third. With the Wolf Pack on a
power play that carried over from the second period, Scott Kosmachuk rushed up
the middle in the Springfield end and fired a shot that was stopped by
Thunderbird goaltender Harri Sateri (34 saves). Nieves drove to the net,
though, and backhanded the rebound in.
Hartford made it a 3-1 lead at 6:49, on a shot from the
right point by John Gilmour. Chytil won a faceoff back to Gilmour and
screened Sateri, and Gilmour’s wrist shot found its way through for his first
goal of the season.
Chytil then scored his first North American pro goal less
than three minutes later, at 9:41. Lettieri set Schneider up in front for
a close-in shot, and this time it was Chytil, the youngest player to suit up in
the AHL since 1974, who jumped on the rebound. It was 4-1 Wolf Pack at that point, but that goal would turn
out to be the winner, as the T-Birds would come back with a pair of scores
in the final 3:47 of the game.
Reece Scarlett cut the lead to 4-2 at 16:13, after the Wolf
Pack failed to get the puck out of their zone near the blue line. Juho
Lammikko passed off the boards to Scarlett, who moved down the left side and
snapped a shot past Hartford netminder Chris Nell (33 saves).
Springfield got to within one goal with 15.7 seconds left,
with Sateri on the bench for an extra attacker and Lettieri in the penalty box
for slashing. A shot by Curtis Valk deflected to Lammikko at the right
side of the goal mouth, and Lammikko flicked it in. The Thunderbirds were unable to threaten again, however, and
the Wolf Pack earned their third straight victory.
Springfield outshot the Wolf Pack 15-11 in the first period,
but the Wolf Pack came out of it leading 1-0. The T-birds put solid pressure on the Wolf Pack net early aided by a pair
of power plays, and Ryan Horvat put a shot off of the crossbar behind Nell at
the 11-minute mark, but the Wolf Pack would finish a rush at 15:05 to open the
scoring.
Lettieri tallied his first professional goal to put Hartford
in front, speeding down the left side and putting a backhand shot over the
right shoulder of Sateri and just under the crossbar.
The Thunderbirds scored the only goal of the second period,
the first of the year for Jayce Hawryluk at 7:50. After a Wolf Pack power
play expired, Springfield hemmed the Wolf Pack in their own zone, and Denis
Malgin maintained puck possession until he found Hawryluk at the middle of the
blue line. Hawryluk uncorked a hard slap shot that got by Nell on the
glove side.
The Wolf Pack are now off until Friday night when the
Belleville (Ontario) Senators visit the XL Center. First puck drops at
7:15 p.m., and, as with all Friday-night games, hot dogs are $1 and beers are
$2 through the start of the second period, presented by Dave & Buster’s.
Tickets for all Wolf Pack 2017-18 home games are on sale now
at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com
and by phone at (877) 522-8499. Season ticket information for the Wolf Pack’s
2017-18 AHL season can be found on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.
To speak with a representative about all of the Wolf Pack’s many attractive
ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451.
—Staff Reports
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