After a pair of opening-night wins, Hartford’s first real grind of the 2026-27 season arrived fast: a three-in-three, all packed into one weekend. The Wolf Pack opened it on the road against the Providence Bruins, then came back to Hartford for the home opener against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before closing things out with the Laval Rocket.
The trip started well. The homecoming did not.
The weekend’s first stop also brought Jay Leach back to Providence. It was his first game there since leaving after four seasons as the P-Bruins’ head coach, and Hartford made the most of the setting with a road win to start the stretch.
Glenn Gawdin got the Wolf Pack on the board first, slipping in a backhand for his first goal in a Hartford sweater. Nathan Aspinall picked up the primary assist after Taylor Raddysh’s shot clipped ricocheted off Aspinall and landed right on Gawdin’s stick. Those kinds of assists always have a little comedy to them.
Matthew Robertson was back in Wolf Pack colors for the first time as well, after being assigned to Hartford on Tuesday once he cleared waivers. He lined up on the top pair with Marc Del Gaizo, and the two of them were strong together.
The night in Providence also marked Robertson’s 251st regular-season game with Hartford. If he gets into five more, he’ll move past Dane Byers and Brandon Scanlin, who are tied at 255 games, and crack the top 10 in franchise games played. And if the season keeps going the way Hartford hopes, Robertson could even climb as high as eighth by year’s end, which would mean passing Bryce Lampman at 258 games and Derek Armstrong at 265.
In Other News...
Rangers Bottom Six Decision Just Sent A Tough Message
The Rangers have made another change to the bottom of their lineup, sending forward Cole Beaudoin to the AHLs Hartford Wolf Pack and bringing up Justin Dowling in his place. It is the sort of transaction that can look routine on paper, but for a young player trying to stick, it often says plenty about where he stands in the pecking order.
Beaudoin had just gotten his first taste of the NHL with New York before heading back to Hartford, where he has also played this season. Dowling, meanwhile, comes back with more league experience and a brief stint in Hartford already behind him, giving the Rangers a more established option as they keep sorting through the back end of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Are Backing Up Contender Talk With A Start Fans Will Love
The early return on the Rangers opening month has been hard to ignore, especially at Madison Square Garden, where theyve won their first five home games and suddenly look every bit like a team backing up the preseason contender chatter. New York has jumped to the top of the league in wins, and the broader profile is just as encouraging, with the Rangers showing up near the top in goals against, goals scored and penalty kill percentage.
A strong team start can hide a lot of individual stories, but this one keeps producing them. Alexis Lafrenire has been one of the most visible finishers, while Dylan Garand, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox, Will Cuylle, J.T. Miller and Tye Kartye have each added their own marks to the first stretch of the season. The bigger question now is whether this fast start is the foundation for something lasting, or just the kind of hot October that gets a lot louder once the schedule starts to bite. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Suddenly Have A Big Crease Question After Shesterkin Injury
Igor Shesterkins season-ending injury has left the Rangers with a crease issue that suddenly matters a lot more than it did a few weeks ago, and Dylan Garand has been thrust into the conversation at just the right time. The young goaltender has handled the opening stretch well enough to give New York some reason for optimism, even as the larger reality remains that the team has had to pivot quickly after losing its No. 1 option.
Garands early work has helped steady things, but the situation still feels fragile for a Rangers team trying to keep its season on track without its star goalie. The organization now has to decide how much trust to place in a netminder who was not long ago viewed as depth, and the answer could shape how the rest of the year unfolds in front of him. [Read more 🡒]