Wolf Pack fall to Islanders 6-3 in preseason opener

The Hartford Wolf Pack opened their 2025 preseason slate on Wednesday afternoon at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, CT. Despite taking early leads of 1-0 and 2-1, the Wolf Pack were unable to hold on as the Bridgeport Islanders claimed a 6-3 victory.

Gavin Hain opened the scoring 8:09 into the hockey game, potting the club’s first goal of the preseason. Kyle Jackson made a nice pass along the left-wing boards, finding Chongmin Lee. Lee fired a shot that Parker Gahagen denied, but Hain collected the rebound and stuffed a backhand shot by the netminder’s left pad to make it a 1-0 game.

The Islanders responded at 12:27, however, potting a shorthanded goal to make it a 1-1 affair. Eetu Liukas had a pass hit his right skate just inside of the Wolf Pack zone. He was able to kick the puck to his stick, before finding his way to the net and backhanding a shot by Hugo Ollas for the Islanders’ first goal of the preseason.

The Wolf Pack restored their lead at 15:09, as Sullivan Mack rifled his first goal of the preseason by Gahagen. Mack collected a loose puck in the slot and drifted toward the left-wing side before roofing a shot over the right shoulder of the netminder to make it 2-1 in favor of the Wolf Pack.

Defenseman Theo Calvas and forward Brett Budgell collected the assists on the goal, their first points of the preseason.

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Early in the second period, Calle Odelius again drew the Islanders even. The defenseman took a pass from Hunter Drew just inside the left-wing circle and blasted a shot through traffic that beat Ollas. Joey Larson also picked up an assist on the equalizer.

Larson then put the Islanders ahead 5:41 into the period, quickly releasing a shot from the left-wing circle that beat Ollas. Larson was set up by Matthew Maggio, who tapped a pass to Larson on his left before the rookie snapped home his first of the preseason.

Midway through the period, Callum Tung came in to replace Ollas in net. Ollas made seven saves on ten shots.

Adam Beckman extended the lead to 4-2 at 10:33 of the second period, pouncing on a rebound in the left-wing circle. Sean Day’s initial shot was denied, but Beckman was in the right spot to collect the puck and score the Islanders’ third straight tally.

At 19:13, Beckman made it a 5-2 spread with his second goal of the afternoon. This time, the veteran forward was sprung in on a shorthanded breakaway and beat Tung by the right pad.

The goal was Bridgeport’s second shorthanded tally of the game.

Shane Ott snapped the stretch of four unanswered goals by the Islanders 15:38 into the third period. Ott drove down the right-wing side before cutting to the goal. His initial backhand bid was denied by Gahagen, but Ott was able to collect the rebound and make it a 5-3 spread.

Cam Berg hit the empty net for the Islanders at 19:29 to cement the victory.

The sides conclude their preseason slate on Friday night on the campus of Trinity College.

The game will take place at the Koeppel Community Sports Center, which is located on Trinity’s campus at 175 New Britain Avenue, Hartford, CT. The contest will be open to the public, with doors opening at 5:15 p.m.

While the game is free of charge, all fans attending are encouraged to make a $5 charitable donation when entering the arena. This charitable donation is cash only.

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Wolf Pack fall to Islanders 6-3 in preseason opener