Game Preview: Wolves Get Third Crack at Danbury as Hat Tricks Visit on Veterans Day

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — The Watertown Wolves are back home Wednesday night, and the opponent is a familiar one. Watertown hosts the Danbury Hat Tricks on Wednesday, Nov. 11 — Veterans Day — with puck drop at 7:05 p.m. at the Northern Credit Union Community Arena, the third meeting of the season between the clubs and the first since opening weekend.

The Wolves are still hunting their first win of the season at 0-7-2, but they are not coming into this one empty-handed. The power play struck twice in Saturday's 6-3 loss to Indiana, Donovan Powell leads the team with 12 points, and Dustin Henning now holds the FPHL's regular-season games-played record outright at 534 — a milestone reached on home ice Saturday night, when he was named first star.

Why Wednesday matters

Danbury has already beaten Watertown twice this season, both times in Watertown on opening weekend — 9-5 on Oct. 16, then 5-4 in overtime on Oct. 17. The Hat Tricks are the team that opened the Wolves' home schedule, and they are the team standing between Watertown and its first win for the third time.

It is also a winnable game on paper. Danbury comes in at 3-5-0 with six points, having split its weekend set with Motor City — a 5-0 loss Friday, then a 3-2 win Saturday. The Hat Tricks have been outscored 38-24 in eight games. The Wolves, with four days to reset after the Indiana series, get Danbury back on home ice.

The matchup

Danbury's attack runs through Eli Rivers, who has 12 points in eight games (3 goals, 9 assists) — tied with Powell for the scoring lead in this matchup. Genaro Fronduto and Grady Friedman each have 8 points, and Stefan Miklakos, who scored twice in the Oct. 16 opener, has 7. Kevin Johnston, who completed a hat trick in his professional debut in that same 9-5 game, is another name to watch.

For Watertown, the scoring has been there in spurts. Powell has 5 goals and 7 assists in nine games, Bret Parker has 9 points in seven games, and Brendan Hussey — who scored again Saturday, on a feed from Henning — also has 9. Jake Schultz has 7 points from the blue line. The power play, which went quiet at times early in the season, produced twice against Indiana on Saturday, with Parker and Matthew O'Shaughnessy both scoring on the man advantage.

In goal, the Wolves' tandem has carried a heavy load: Sam Zgiet (.884 save percentage, 4.48 goals-against average) and Anthony Shrum (.885, 5.71) have faced 50 goals against in nine games, and both have had nights — Zgiet's 39-save effort at Port Huron, Shrum's 45-save night there the day before — that kept Watertown in games it had no business being in. Danbury, meanwhile, has ridden one goaltender all season: Kyle Penton has started all eight Hat Tricks games (3-5-0, 4.63 GAA, .897 save percentage, 322 saves), including a 37-save win over Motor City on Saturday.

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Tickets are available online at Clubhouse Cards.  The Watertown Wolves are offering a game day special - all tickets are Buy One, Get One Free in honor of all who served for Veterans Day.  Be sure to use code VET26 at checkout to take advantage of this great deal!