Once again, it’s time for your weekly look at the Rangers American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack. This weekend, they had two away games, which they lost both, in the shootout going 0-0-2 for the weekend, while still showing some growing pains when it came to their offensive and their powerplay.
It started, yet again in Laval, and missing from both the weekend games was winger Ty Ronning, who seemingly did not have a lot to bring to this Wolfpack team, Wednesday in Laval and defenseman Sean Day, whos costly turnover Wednesday, started the beginning of the end for the Wolfpack’s regulation streak without a loss.
The game Friday, was against the you guessed it, Laval Rocket. Once again the Wolfpack were really missing the offensive punch that they had the previous nine games with Filip Chtyil in the lineup. They’re going to need to make adjustments to their game offensively, because with the way Chytil is playing, he’s not going down to Hartford anytime soon. Yet, the Wolfpack defensively were fine. They played well in front of Adam Huska, who besides a first period goal, looked really good and played one of his best games of the season. You’ll notice that the shootout is a problem for the suddenly offensively anemic Wolfpack, as they went 0 for 2 in the shootout, in a 2-1 Laval victory.
They then went over to Belleville Saturday, and played the Senators, where defensively, both teams wished they had their best foot forward on, and both goaltenders wish they played better. Igor Shesterkin had probably his worst start as a Wolfpack goaltender, really not being able to settle into the game and play like we’ve seen him play that got him Goaltender of the Month honors by the AHL. The offense though was strong all around getting 4 goals in the game, but yet again when it came to the shootout the Wolfpack went 0 for 2, and lost 5-4.
Some more thoughts from this past weekend:
- Sorry for not being active on Twitter this week during the games, busy weekend that I had some stuff to take care of, but seemed like besides Saturday’s game people were covered.
- To me, Day’s time as a Ranger and especially a Wolfpack, is coming to an end. Getting scratched again this past weekend just proves to me, that his heart isn’t it in and probably should get moved to a team that sees what he sees.
- Ronning being out wasn’t seen as a shock to me. He looked very lost out there Wednesday at Laval, and just seemed like he wasn’t really ready to take his reps out there. The second year pro, will get his time in Hartford, as injuries are bound to happen and sometimes you’re going to want Ronning’s energy in the game.
- Shesterkin, I think is trying to do too much. And for a young goaltender that could mess him up a bit and slow his growth, to me. You saw him making plays that he normally doesn’t and trying to do a bit much. Needs to get back to basics.
- The powerplay is also another thing that needs to get back to basics. They had some success with setup during the game at Belleville but other than that, they really weren’t generating any chances as well as they normally could. They’re missing a true facilitator and because of that, it’s going to be hard for them to have a positive impact on the powerplay.
- Joey Keane, continues to impress. I really feel with Keane, he’s got a great offensive game, and as the season progressed his defensive game has hit its stride as well. He’s becoming a more well rounded defensive prospect for the Rangers, and if someone else goes down and they need more defensive options on the Rangers roster, Keane could easily see some time.
- Matt Beleskey looked to get hurt during the second period in the game Saturday at Belleville. In his place, Ryan Dmowski got recalled from the Maine Mariners in the ECHL.
- Seems like Ryan Gropp officially reported to Maine, as he is now listed on their roster and the suspension has now officially been lifted.
The Wolfpack have a 3 game weekend this weekend coming up, as they have two home games Friday against the Hershey Bears at 7:15PM, and on Saturday against the Belleville Senators at 7:30PM. They’ll finish the weekend in Providence as they face the Bruins at 3:05PM. As always you can follow me on Twitter, @HanginPack and listen to the show every Friday as it releases at 7AM!
