“It’s Been a Two-Game Epidemic for us.” Wolf Pack Season Is Unraveling Fast
The Hartford Wolf Pack missed the playoffs last season and were hoping to bounce back this season. There was a determination in the preseason from this group to avoid falling into the same traps that cost them. The Wolf Pack entered the season with high hopes and plenty of talent to bounce back. They are 0-2 to start the season and look like a defeated team.
It was reflective in the postgame. The Wolf Pack head coach, Grant Potulny, looked like a coach searching for answers and coming up empty. “I’m trying to temper myself, but it’s been a two-game epidemic for us,” Potunly opened his presser following the 5-2 Oct. 17 loss to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. That sentiment is usually reserved for crises, and if the Wolf Pack are in a crisis after two games, then this season will be a long one.
The losses are one thing: it’s how they are losing that’s another. The goal of the offseason was to clean up the issues, to look like a team that could compete with their division, even the top teams like the Penguins. The issues remain and look more prevalent than before. The Wolf Pack looks like a team that is likely to finish with the worst record in the Atlantic Division, which would mean changes for everyone involved. The New York Rangers changed their coaching staff in the summer, and the American Hockey League (AHL) team might go through significant turnover as well if things don’t improve.
Penalties & Poor Penalty Kill Keep Costing Wolf Pack
Great teams don’t take penalties, or more accurately, they know how to play physical hockey without it costing them. The Broad Street Bullies, Dynasty Islanders, and the Florida Panthers of late are masters of playing that way without getting called.
The Wolf Pack has taken eight penalties through two games. It’s prevented them from building up much, if any, momentum in games and allowed the opposition to crawl back into games or take them over entirely. The first game of the season saw them boast a 1-0 lead after the first period but they lost 2-1, and the penalties didn’t help.
In their Oct. 17 game against the Penguins, they took a penalty in the second period, and the penalty kill, which was a bright spot, gave up a goal on a costly mistake. Instead of clearing the puck deep into the zone, they held on to it and allowed the Penguins an odd-man rush the other way and a dagger goal by Avery Hayes.
Taking penalties is one issue. Then there’s allowing the mistakes to come back to haunt them. That’s what happened last season and two games in the Wolf Pack season. They don’t look like a better team, and in a division that got better, it’s a warning sign for them.
Wolf Pack Turnovers & Puck Management
A common sight in the AHL is to see a defenseman try to move the puck up the ice and instead hand it over to the other team for an easy scoring chance. Elite puck handlers are a rarity in this league, and it’s why they usually make it to the NHL. It’s why turnovers are commonplace. Yet, the Wolf Pack have taken this weakness to another level.
The second goal of the game was scored largely because the Wolf Pack mismanaged the puck. Casey Fitzerald sent a pass across the defensive zone to Justin Dowling, and the errant pass bounced off the boards right to the slot, where two Penguins had an open look at the net. The Wolf Pack played a dangerous game with their puck movement in the defensive zone and struggled to exit throughout the night. It cost them early and had them chasing the game from the first period.
It wasn’t just their turnovers in the defensive zone. The Few times they cleared the blue line, the puck would zip past the Wolf Pack skaters and result in icing. “When you come out in your own end, having outlets allows you to have a rush offense,” Potulny noted after the game, and the Wolf Pack never provided those outlets. They stayed in their zone for most of the night, and it caused their struggles across the board.
A Non-Existent Offense
“It’s hard to tell someone they gotta score,” Potulny stated in frustration after another hapless night on the offensive end. The Wolf Pack scored two goals in their latest loss, and one of them came late in the game when they were playing with a sense of urgency. Otherwise, the offense was shooting the puck on the net and hoping for the best, which isn’t a great plan against Sergei Murashov, who was stopping the direct shots with ease.
The culprit wasn’t puck movement. It was the inability to win puck battles. “Offensive zone play, you have to win some fights so that you can spread the zone, then you can get into your offensive structure,” Potulny stated about a team that didn’t seem to have that fight. This is coming two games into the season, where they have only three goals. Or to put it bluntly, “We’re not coming out of our end clean enough, we’re not transitioning fast enough, and we’re most certainly not winning enough fights.”
The Wolf Pack have the talent, at least on paper. Brennan Othmann, Brett Berard, Dylan Roobroeck, and Gabe Perreault are in the top six. But this game isn’t played on paper; it’s played on ice, and the ice is tilted against the Wolf Pack to start the season. The offense is bad, and things might get worse if the Rangers end up trading Othmann, a winger who Elliotte Friedman reported could be on the move.
The Bright Spots For Hartford
To be fair to the Wolf Pack, they played a Penguins team that will make plenty of teams around the AHL look silly. The Penguins stomped the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in Allentown on Sunday afternoon with a 4-1 win, and the Phantoms are a competent team early on. The Wolf Pack played a great team that is ready to compete right now, and it’s understandable to see two losses in the standings because of it.
The other good sign is that Gabe Perreault found the back of the net. For a smaller skater who isn’t fast, he sure has a nose for the goal. A Blake Hillman shot from the point was deflected by the screening Perreault into the top shelf, and at the time, it was the only Wolf Pack goal. In two games, the winger has a goal and an assist and is emerging as a key part of this roster.
The Wolf Pack head to Providence to face the Boston Bruins’ AHL affiliate on Saturday (on chicken parm night, nonetheless). The Bruins, like the Penguins, look like one of the best teams in the AHL early on, so the Wolf Pack have an uphill battle that will only intensify. “It’s early in the season and I understand that but it’s a very important game for us and I expect our best effort,” Potunly added to wrap up his availability. It’s a long season to figure things out. That said, if they can’t do that, then it’s just a long season and a painful one to watch at that.
