Wolf Pack End Three-Game Skid, Snap Checkers' Five-Game Streak

Trey Fix-Wolansky scored twice and Connor Mackey reached 100 career AHL points as the Hartford Wolf Pack handed the Charlotte Checkers a 5-2 defeat at Bojangles Coliseum on Tuesday, ending both Charlotte's five-game winning streak and Hartford's three-game skid in the same evening.

Fix-Wolansky opened the scoring at 12:30 of the first period when his shot from the slot deflected off a Charlotte defender and beat goaltender Cooper Black. The goal, his 24th of the season, also punctured the Checkers' home shutout streak at 237:02, a run dating to February 14 that Charlotte's release noted was the second longest in AHL regular-season history. Casey Fitzgerald and Brendan Brisson generated the rush, with Brisson slipping the puck to Fix-Wolansky at the top of the offensive zone before the deflection did the rest.

Hartford pushed to 2-0 at 4:59 of the second period when Aidan Thompson scored his first goal as a Wolf Pack player. The lead grew to three at 12:48 when Fix-Wolansky converted on a four-on-three power play, the opportunity created after Jack Studnicka took a roughing minor that compounded earlier penalties by Morrow and Ben Steeves. Connor Mackey set up Fix-Wolansky at the top of the left-wing circle, and the Edmonton native's 25th goal of the season made the assist Mackey's 100th career AHL point.

Charlotte mounted a third-period comeback behind Studnicka, who lit the lamp 67 seconds in after Dylan Garand could not cover a loose puck, then scored again seven minutes later to pull the Checkers within one. Checkers coach Kinnear noted afterward that Studnicka's opener was shorthanded, the second consecutive game Charlotte scored a shorthanded goal. "It's how we kill," Kinnear said. "Obviously he's been a really good penalty killer at our level. It was a big goal and I'm glad we got the rest of the kill, but we wanted to see that third one go in. You can't be satisfied." It was Studnicka's first multi-goal game of the season.

Hartford answered decisively. Mackey and Brody Lamb scored two goals in 52 seconds to restore a three-goal margin and seal the 5-2 final. Lamb's goal was the first point of his professional career. Garand earned the win in goal for Hartford.

Fix-Wolansky's two-goal night extended what has been the Wolf Pack's most productive individual stretch of the season. He was named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March 8, having scored five goals and added two assists in three games that week, including a two-goal, two-assist performance in a 6-0 win over Bridgeport and two more goals in a 5-2 win over Hershey. In 55 games this season, Fix-Wolansky leads Hartford with 23 goals and 41 points, figures that preceded Tuesday's brace. He has totaled 300 points across 344 AHL games over seven professional seasons.

The Wolf Pack return to Bojangles Coliseum Wednesday night for the second half of a back-to-back, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. Hartford then hosts Charlotte at home on Saturday, March 28, with a 6:00 p.m. start.