HARTFORD, Conn. — After two scoreless periods the Hartford Wolf Pack took the lead on goals by Ryan Haggerty and J.T. Miller and held on for a 2-1 win over the Portland Pirates in front of a crowd of 7,389 in their home opener Saturday night at the XL Center.
The Pirates outshot Hartford 8-4 in the first period. Portland had two power plays in the period that came less than one minute apart but were unable to take advantage.
The Wolf Pack (2-0) turned things around in the second period, outshooting the Pirates 19-7, but Mike McKenna made a number of big saves.
Hartford continued to put the pressure on in the third and was able to break through 6:45 into the period when Haggerty scored a power-play goal on assists from Oscar Lindberg and Ryan Potulny.
Miller extended the lead to 2-0 when he scored with an assist from Chris Bourque with 7:12 left in the period.
Portland (1-2) cut the deficit to 2-1 on a goal by Alexandre Bolduc with 5:09 left in the game. The Pirates appeared to tie the game on a goal by Dylan Reese later in the period, but the goal was taken away due to goalie interference.
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