A slew of Hartford Wolf Pack veterans and New York Rangers prospects had big nights Wednesday to help lead the Wolf Pack to a 6-1 win against the Bridgeport Islanders.
Hartford’s first win in five games (1-3-1-0) was fueled by Alex Belzile, who recorded his second hat trick of the season, and Bo Groulx, who contributed four assists. But the kids stepped forward, too. Matt Rempe and Bryce McConnell-Barker each scored his third goal and Victor Mancini had three assists.
Belzile (seven goals, 12 assists) and Groulx (eight goals, 11 assists) are tied for the Wolf Pack scoring lead with 19 points. Each veteran forward recently passed Brett Berard (13 points; seven goals, six assists) after the 22-year-old was recalled by the Rangers. Berard has two points — including his first NHL point and goal — in four games, but is currently day to day with an upper-body injury.
Belzile, a 33-year-old forward, has eight points (three goals, five assists) on a four-game point streak, and 11 points and two hat tricks in his past six games. He scored each of his goals on the power play Wednesday, one in each period, to make it 1-0, 2-1 and 4-1.
Groulx, a 24-year-old forward who played all of last season with the Anaheim Ducks, also has eight points (two goals, six assists) in a four-game point streak.
Mancini’s three points were a professional career high. He now has five points (two goals, three assists) in six games since the Rangers assigned the 22-year-old defenseman to the American Hockey League.
Matt Rempe, Bryce McConnell-Barker part of Wolf Pack explosion
Belzile’s third goal at 8:47 of the the third period opened the floodgates for two Rangers forward prospects to bust through and pile on goals of their own, all in a 52-second span.
Rempe stationed himself in front of the net to deflect a Casey Fitzgerald shot into the cage at 9:32 for his third goal in 13 games with Hartford this season. Then McConnell-Barker beat everyone down the ice to bury a loose puck seven seconds later, and the rout was on.
Let’s just say the Rangers will love Rempe using his size and soft hands to score. And they’ll delight in that effort by McConnell-Barker — a third-round pick in 2022 — just as much.
Speaking of Rangers prospects, goalie Dylan Garand stopped 31 of 32 shots in the win and is sitting on a solid .910 save percentage in 10 games this season. It’s only a quarter of the way through the season, but it appears that in his third pro campaign, Garand is finding the consistency he lacked the past two seasons.
Two other prospects found the score sheet Wednesday. Adam Sykora and Dylan Roobroeck each had an assist. Sykora, the 20-year-old forward, is tied with Fitzgerald for fourth on the Wolf Pack with 11 points (three goals, eight assists). Roobroeck, a rookie pro, is right behind with eight points (four goals, four assists).