Marlies Pop Pack, 3-2

The Toronto Marlies topped the Hartford Wolf Pack,wrapping up
three-game swing through the Great White North for the Pack.

TORONTO—The Hartford Wolf Pack fell behind early in the game and were never able to quite dig themselves out of the hole, dropping a 3-2 decision to the defending AHL-champion Toronto Marlies before 4,233 fans at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Saturday. Trevor Moore scored twice inside the first eight minutes of the game for the Marlies, and Carl Grundstrom’s second-period power-play goal was the game-winner. Cole Schneider scored on a power-play for the Wolf Pack, and Rob O’Gara added a late shorthanded marker.

“I thought they did a real good job putting us on our heels, and we had to spend too much time defending,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said. “Obviously when you come into this building, against the defending Calder Cup champions, to go down 1-0, and shooting ourselves in the foot for the first two goals, doesn’t give you a recipe for success.”

Moore gave Toronto the jump only 55 seconds in, on the game’s first shot.  Grundstrom’s feed went off of Josh Jooris and came to Moore between the hash marks, and he turned to his forehand and snapped a shot into the top corner on the stick side of Wolf Pack goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (32 saves).

Moore struck again at 7:31, after Mason Marchment knocked the puck away from Wolf Pack defenseman Libor Hajek at the center red line and moved into the Hartford zone on the right side.  Marchment then fed over on the opposite wing to Moore, whose high shot beat a helpless Georgiev.

The Wolf Pack got an opportunity to get back into the game when the Marlies’ Griffen Molino was called for tripping at 17:59, and Calle Rosen for cross-checking 54 seconds later.

On the ensuing 5-on-3, Schneider got the Wolf Pack on the board with 45.9 seconds left in the period, snapping the puck up under the crossbar behind Marlie netminder Jeff Glass (22 saves), after he had stopped a Peter Holland bid.

The only goal of the second period came ten seconds into Toronto’s first power play of the game, after Hajek was called for tripping at 6:04. Chris Mueller worked the puck from the top of the right circle to Grundstrom at the side of the goal mouth, and he tried to pass to the front of the goal.  O’Gara, attempting to block the feed, had it go off of his skate and into the net.

That goal turned out to be the difference, as O’Gara brought the Wolf Pack back to within one with 2:45 left in the third, scoring his first Wolf Pack goal shorthanded.  With Vince Pedrie in the penalty box for tripping, Lias Andersson stickhandled into the Toronto zone on right wing, and ended up dropping the puck off for O’Gara, who was trailing the play. O’Gara made a move past the Marlies’ Jeremy Bracco, and then beat Glass with a high blast to the stick side.

The Pack were unable to use that momentum to get the equalizer, though, and fell to 4-3-1-0 on the season. It also wrapped up a three-game Canadian road trip for Hartford.

The Wolf Pack are back on home ice at the XL Center this Wednesday when they will entertain the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. First puck drops at 7 p.m. Fans are invited to take advantage of the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Family Value Pack”—two tickets, two sodas and two hot dogs for $40.

Tickets for all 2018-19 Wolf Pack home games are on sale at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at $13. All tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. Season ticket information for the Wolf Pack’s 2018-19 AHL season can be found on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.  To speak with a representative about all of the Wolf Pack’s ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.

—staff reports