The Hartford Wolf Pack gave themselves a chance to steal one in Rochester, but the rally came up short Friday night as they dropped a 4-2 decision to the Americans.
Hartford was chasing the game for most of the night after Rochester built a 3-0 lead, yet the Wolf Pack made things interesting late in the third period before Trevor Kuntar sealed it with an empty-net goal. The loss came on the next stop of Hartford’s season-long eight-game road trip, following Wednesday’s tough outing in Hershey.
The opening period had a much better feel for Hartford than the one in Hershey, with the Wolf Pack coming out strong early. Still, former Wolf Pack goaltender Talyn Boyko shut the door in the first, turning aside 11 shots and keeping the visitors off the board.
Rochester grabbed the lead late in the period when Lucas Vanroboys was called for tripping and the Americans cashed in on the power play. Caleb Jones sent a shot through traffic and past Spencer Martin’s pad to make it 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
The Americans stretched the margin in the second when Matthew Peca battled in front and finished a feed from Conor Sheary to put Rochester up 2-0. Hartford pushed late in the frame, but Boyko held firm again and sent the game to the third with the home side still in control.
Aidan McDonough added another Rochester power-play goal just under five minutes into the third, pushing the Americans ahead 3-0 and leaving Hartford with a steep climb.
That’s when the Wolf Pack finally found some life.
With Matteo Constantini in the box for high-sticking about 11 minutes into the period, Liam Greentree buried a power-play chance off a feed from Justin Dowling to get Hartford on the board. It was Greentree’s team-leading seventh goal of the season, and that total also leads all AHL rookies.
Three minutes later, the Wolf Pack were right back in it. Justin Nachbaur tracked down a loose puck below the right circle and sent it toward the net front, where it clipped Vanroboys and bounced past Boyko to make it a one-goal game.
Nachbaur picked up his first point with Hartford on the play, while Marc Del Gaizo earned the secondary assist and extended his point streak to five games. Over that stretch, the Wolf Pack captain has six points, with one goal and five assists.
Hartford kept pressing for the equalizer, but Rochester weathered the push and Kuntar’s empty-netter finished off the 4-2 result.
The Wolf Pack finish the weekend Saturday in Syracuse, where they’ll visit the Crunch for the only time this season. Puck drop is set for 5 pm.
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