Rochester Americans 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 2

By Chris Kohler

Hartford, CT, February 4, 2017 – Justin Fontaine scored shorthanded for the Hartford Wolf Pack, and Philip McRae had a power-play goal, Saturday night at the XL Center, but Evan Rodrigues’ two scores led the Rochester Americans to a 4-2 victory.

The loss snapped a two-game Wolf Pack winning streak.

An injury and illness-depleted Wolf Pack team played a strong first period against the Americans, but trailed 1-0 going into the second.

Captain Mat Bodie and Chris Brown were injured Friday night against Utica, and Marek Hrivik was ill, forcing Wolf Pack head coach Gernander to use a limited bench in Saturday night’s game.

The Pack had two power play opportunities in the first period. The first one came at 8:39, when Paul Geiger was called for a trip, and the second on Dan Catenacci at 13:26 for slashing.

The best chance during the power plays came when Fontaine hit Steven Kampfer with a pass from across the ice, but Linus Ullmark, who had eight saves in the period, ultimately denied Kampfer.

With just under five minutes remaining, Tanner Glass and Justin Vaive were booked five minutes for fighting. Just twenty seconds after the penalties, Rodrigues fired a shot past Wolf Pack goaltender Magnus Hellberg to make the score 1-0.

At 5:34 of the second period, Rodrigues took the puck down the center of the ice and beat Hellberg one on one, to tally his second goal of the game and increase Rochester’s lead to 2-0.

Just over halfway through the second, Kampfer was whistled for holding, which led to the Americans’ third goal of the night. Nick Baptiste scored at 12:05, on assists from Cal O’Reilly and Patrick Mullen.

With 17.2 seconds remaining in the second, Fontaine was assisted by Tanner Glass to score a shorthanded goal and cut the deficit to 3-1.

At the 12:00 mark of the third period, the Wolf Pack had their chance to gain some momentum when Jean Dupuy was called for delay of game. Rochester managed to stay strong and kill the penalty to get back to even strength.

With 4:11 remaining in the contest, Cole Schneider took a pass from Baptiste down the left side of the ice before firing a shot short side that found its way past Hellberg to increase the lead to 4-1.

Hartford’s final goal of the game came with only 41.8 seconds left to play. Just eight seconds prior, Rochester’s Tim Kennedy was assessed a penalty for tripping, giving the Wolf Pack a man advantage. McRae ended up with the goal, after he collected a rebound off a shot from the left point by Kampfer, to cut the lead to 4-2.

It was not enough to mount a comeback, however, as the Americans held off the Wolf Pack for the remainder of the game to clinch the 4-2 victory.

Glass noted, “At times we tried to do a little too much individually, and that’s a product of not having the full line up around and playing against a team that’s playing well.”

The Wolf Pack are now off until this Friday night, February 10, when they travel to Springfield to take on the Thunderbirds. Faceoff is 7:05 PM, and all of the action can be heard live on News Radio 1410 WPOP, and on-line at www.newsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.

The next Wolf Pack home game is also against the Thunderbirds, Sunday, February 19. That is a 5:00 game, and it’s “Sonar Saves Pet Adoption Night”. Fans can take a look at a number of Sonar’s lovable little friends who are in need of good homes with loving families. That is also another “Click It or Ticket Family Value Pack” game. The Family Value Pack includes two tickets, two sodas and two hot dogs, all for just $40.

Tickets for all remaining Wolf Pack 2016-17 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 2016-17 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.

Rochester Americans 4 at Hartford Wolf Pack 2
Saturday, February 4, 2017 – XL Center

Rochester 1 2 1 – 4
Hartford 0 1 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Rochester, Rodrigues 8 16:18. Penalties-Geiger Rch (tripping), 8:39; Catenacci Rch (slashing), 13:26; Vaive Rch (fighting), 15:59; Glass Hfd (fighting), 15:59.

2nd Period-2, Rochester, Rodrigues 9 (Mullen), 5:34. 3, Rochester, Baptiste 18 (O’Reilly, Mullen), 12:05 (PP). 4, Hartford, Fontaine 7 (Glass), 19:42 (SH). Penalties-Kampfer Hfd (holding), 11:36; Fogarty Hfd (tripping), 18:08.

3rd Period-5, Rochester, Schneider 17 (Baptiste, O’Reilly), 15:49. 6, Hartford, McRae 7 (Kampfer, Gilmour), 19:18 (PP). Penalties-Dupuy Rch (delay of game – faceoff violation), 12:00; Kennedy Rch (tripping), 19:11.

Shots on Goal-Rochester 8-7-9-24. Hartford 8-5-7-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Rochester 1 / 2; Hartford 1 / 4.
Goalies-Rochester, Ullmark 18-16-2 (20 shots-18 saves). Hartford, Hellberg 10-10-5 (24 shots-20 saves).
A-5,779
Referees-Guillaume Labonte (35).
Linesmen-Kevin Briganti (39)

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