Wolf Pack lose 5-1 in Toronto

The Hartford Wolf Pack jumped out to a lead on Saturday afternoon in Toronto but couldn’t hold off a push from the AHL’s highest scoring product. The Toronto Marlies scored five unanswered goals to pull away and beat the Wolf Pack 5-1 at the Coca-Cola Coliseum. The loss was Hartford’s seventh in a row.

Topi Niemelä notched the game-winning goal for the second time in as many meetings between the foes. Niemelä took a centering pass from Tate Singleton in the slot and snapped a shot over the glove of Dylan Garand at 14:42 to push Toronto ahead 2-1 at the time. The goal was Niemelä’s seventh of the season and his third in three career games against the Wolf Pack.

A strong opening road period by the Wolf Pack was rewarded at 19:44, as Nic Petan broke the ice with his first goal as a member of the club. Mac Hollowell fired a shot from the right-wing wall that Luke Cavallin denied, but the rebound popped right to Petan. The veteran forward wasted no time burying the rebound for his 13^th goal of the season and first since February 17^th.

The Wolf Pack penalty kill started off the middle frame with two big kills, keeping the 1-0 lead intact. The penalty kill started the afternoon three-for-three, limiting chances against.

The Marlies finally broke through at 13:37, as Josiah Slavin took advantage of a turnover to bury his ninth goal of the season. Slavin intercepted a pass in the offensive zone and then tried to feed Ryan Tverberg at the backdoor. The pass went off a Wolf Pack defenseman and trickled by Garand to even the affair 1-1.

Just 65 seconds later, the Marlies took their first lead of the afternoon on Niemelä’s goal.

Dylan Gambrell extended the lead to 3-1 at 6:17 of the third period. Gambrell dumped the puck into the Wolf Pack zone from center ice, but the puck took a wild bounce and ended up finding the back of the net.

Nick Abruzzese struck short-side at 9:49, labelling a shot over the shoulder of Garand for a powerplay goal that ballooned the lead to 4-1. Alex Steeves wrapped up the scoring with his 21^st goal of the season at 11:56 of the final frame, ripping a shot top shelf off a faceoff win by Gambrell.

The Wolf Pack conclude their four-game road trip tomorrow when they visit the Belleville Senators. The puck drop is set for 2:00 p.m.

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