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Gabe Perreault Impresses Despite Wolf Pack's Challenges
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- Gabe Perreault Impresses Despite Wolf Pack's Challenges
Hartford Wolf Pack weekly: Gabe Perreault impresses despite 3-game skid
The Hartford Wolf Pack opened the 2025-26 American Hockey League season with three straight losses, including a pair of 5-2 defeats this past weekend. The New York Rangers AHL affiliate fell to 0-3-0-0 after a 5-2 home loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday and by the same score on the road Saturday against Providence. Those defeats came on the heels of a 2-1 road loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the season opener Oct. 11.
Brett Berard is already minus-5, and Carey Terrance , Brendan Brisson , and Jackson Dorrington each is minus-4. Veteran Anton Blidh is pointless with only three shots on goal in three games. You get the idea, it hasn't been pretty, even though the roster has more talent than last season, when Hartford missed the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first in three years.
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Better days are ahead, you would think. Perhaps a turnaround happens this week, when the Wolf Pack play three games.
Hartford Wolf Pack News-n-Notes
Photo courtesy Hartford Wolf Pack
Gabe Perreault impresses
After Gabe Perreault recorded his first professional point (primary assist) in the season opener, the 20-year-old rookie scored his first professional goal in Hartford's home opener Friday. Perreault, a first-round pick (No. 23) by the Rangers in the 2023 NHL Draft, isn't the biggest guy (5-foot-11, 179 pounds) but he works hard along the boards and goes to the dirty areas in front of the net. In fact, his first goal was a deflection in the slot on a shot by Blake Hillman .
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The highly-skilled forward can do fancy. But this wasn't fancy, though he did show excellent hand-eye coordination.
Perreault is one of four players (Trey Fix-Wolansky, Connor Mackey , Derrick Pouliot ) leading Hartford with two points. He only has two shots on goal in three games, so it'd be nice to see Perreault shoot more. But he's certainly impressed, so far.
Fix-Wolansky has two goals in three games for Hartford. And Adam Sykora and Jaroslav Chmelar also scored last weekend
Turnovers Prove Costly
In a three-game sample, Hartford's puck management is a major concern. The Wolf Pack conceded multiple goals and are struggling to find offense in large part to chasing the puck and turning it over after they gain possession.
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On Friday, turnovers dictated Hartford's performance. The Penguins extended their lead to 2-0 in the first after Casey Fitzgerald sent a pass through the defensive zone, intended for Justin Dowling . However, the Penguins intercepted and turned it into a costly goal. Later in the game, Pouliot fumbled the puck at the blue line and created a short-handed breakaway for the Penguins. The same story continued on Saturday against Providence when the Bruins capitalized to on two turnovers in the opening period.
It's going to be a long season if Hartford doesn't manage the puck better. That includes connecting on simple passing plays, too, something that appeared to be a chose for the Wolf Pack this past weekend.
Lack of Discipline Returns
The Wolf Pack were short-handed 270 times last season, tied for fourth most out of 32 teams in the AHL. This season, the lack of discipline continues for Hartford, which has been short-handed 12 times already, four times in each game.
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The bright side is that the Hartford penalty kill looks much better than last season. The Wolf Pack killed off 11-of-12 power plays, so far, including perfect 4-for 4 performances in their first and third games.
Notes
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Trey Fix-Wolansky has two of Hartford's five goals through three games.
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Veteran defensemen Connor Mackey and Derrick Pouliot recorded an assist in back-to-back games this past weekend.
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The Wolf Pack are one of six winless teams in the AHL. In the Atlantic Division, they are the only team without a victory.
Upcoming Games
All games can be viewed on AHLTV and heard on Mixlr .
Wednesday, October 22 vs Springfield Thunderbirds (St. Louis) at 7:00pm, PeoplesBank Arena
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This is the first of 10 meetings in the season series. Hartford lost the series (3-7-0-0) in 2024-25.
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Springfield is 1-2-0-0 with two points. They are seventh in the Atlantic Division.
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Nikita Alexandrov leads the Thunderbirds with seven points (one goal, four assists).
Friday, October 24 vs Bridgeport Islanders (New York) at 7:00pm, PeoplesBank Arena
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This is the first of 12 meetings between the rivals. Hartford won the season series a year ago (8-2-0-0).
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Bridgeport is 1-2-1-0 and has three points. They are tied for fifth (with Hershey) in the Atlantic Division.
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Marshall Warren leads the Islanders with five points (two goals, three assists).
Saturday, October 25 vs Springfield Thunderbirds (St. Louis) at 7:05pm, MassMutual Center
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This is the second of 10 meetings in the series. Hartford recorded one win in Springfield last season (1-4-0-0) and was outscored 17-15 at MassMutual Center.
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