Rangers Goalie Surge Suddenly Feels More Real Than Expected

Rookie goaltender Callum Tung stands out with a flawless performance, leading the Hartford Wolf Pack to a victorious shutout against the Providence Bruins in their season series opener.

Callum Tung had himself a night in Providence, and the Hartford Wolf Pack kept rolling.

Hartford opened its first three-in-three of the 2026-27 season on Friday by visiting the Providence Bruins in the first of 12 meetings between the New England rivals. The Bruins were still searching for their first win, while the Wolf Pack were trying to keep their early momentum going. They did exactly that, skating away with a 2-0 victory behind Tung’s 28-save shutout.

The Wolf Pack got on the board midway through the opening period. Glenn Gawdin carried the puck into the offensive zone and slid it over to Taylor Raddysh on the left side. Raddysh fired a shot toward the net that deflected off Nathan Aspinall and dropped into the slot, where Gawdin jumped in and backhanded it past Jiří Patera to make it 1-0.

It was Gawdin’s first goal of the season, and both Aspinall and Raddysh collected their first assists.

The first period also got chippy. Justin Nachbaur and Navrin Mutter dropped the gloves late in the frame in a fight that marked Nachbaur’s second in Wolf Pack colors.

Neither side found the net again before the intermission, and Hartford carried its one-goal edge into the break.

The second period turned into a parade to the penalty box, with the teams combining for eight minor penalties. That created plenty of power play chances, but the penalty kills on both sides held firm. Tung stopped 12 shots in the period, while Patera turned aside 10, and the Wolf Pack went to the second intermission still up 1-0.

Providence kept pressing in the third, but Tung shut the door. With the Bruins down to an empty net and time winding down, Hartford cleared the puck to center ice. Raddysh won the race, worked the puck away from Lukas Reichel, and kicked it back to Justin Dowling, who buried the empty-netter to finish things off.

It was Dowling’s first goal of the season, and Raddysh logged his first multi-point game as a Wolf Pack player.

The final horn sealed a 2-0 Hartford win and a 3-0-0-0 start to the season.

For Tung, it was his first AHL shutout. He had already turned in a strong performance last Sunday, stopping 38 of 40 shots in a 3-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Through two games this season, he has stopped 66 of 68 shots for a 1.00 GAA, a .971 SV%, and two wins.

Hartford is back home tomorrow night for its 2026-27 opener, hosting the Penguins at PeoplesBank Arena. Puck drop is set for 6 pm.

In Other News...

Rangers Suddenly Face A Brutal Igor Shesterkin Question

Igor Shesterkins night against the Capitals ended abruptly when the Rangers No. 1 goaltender had to leave with a lower-body injury and did not return, a scary development for a team that has leaned heavily on him. Dylan Garand stepped in and handled the workload after Shesterkin exited, giving New York at least a steady stopgap while the bench waited for word on the starters condition.

The concern goes beyond one game because the Rangers are already dealing with injuries in goal, which has thinned out their options at a position that rarely allows for much margin. New York is still waiting for a fuller update on Shesterkin, and with another game looming, the teams depth chart could be pushed into uncomfortable territory if he is not available. [Read more 🡒]

Rangers Affiliate Is Building Early Momentum Behind An Intriguing Goalie Start

The Hartford Wolf Pack kept their early-season roll going with a 2-0 win over the Providence Bruins, giving the Rangers AHL affiliate three straight victories to open the year. Glenn Gawdin supplied one of the goals, and the result continued a start that has put Hartford in a good place before the calendar really settles into the grind of the season.

Callum Tung was at the center of it, turning aside 28 shots to give Hartford the kind of steady goaltending every affiliate hopes to find early. The Wolf Pack now head toward their home opener against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on October 10, with the early question being whether this start is the beginning of something more substantial. [Read more 🡒]

Rangers Suddenly Face A Crease Crisis They Can't Easily Fix

The Rangers goaltending picture has gone from uneasy to alarming in a hurry, with Igor Shesterkin now sidelined by a season-ending injury for the 2026-27 season. Joonas Korpisalo is also out for about four weeks with a lower-body injury, leaving New York with a crease situation it did not expect to be navigating this early and forcing the club to lean harder on its depth than planned.

The timing only makes the roster math more complicated, because Joe Veleno is expected to miss three to three-and-a-half months with a similar injury, and the Rangers are moving into LTIR to handle the cap fallout. To help with that process, the team has already shuffled personnel with Cole Beaudoin heading to AHL Hartford and Juuso Parssinen coming back up, but the bigger question is how long New York can keep the lineup and the net stable while the injuries keep stacking. [Read more 🡒]