A NIGHT TO REMEMBER 

Devan Dubnyk and Glenn Fisher would have been perfect candidates to film a Southwest Airlines commercial. The one with the tag line, “Wanna get away?” After a pre-game scrum and giving up a goal on a weak play in the first :54 seconds, the Hartford Wolf Pack absolutely annihilated the Springfield Falcons scoring ten unanswered goals en route to a 10-1 victory in front of a boisterous crowd of 7,156 at the XL Center on Saturday night.

The Pack (45-19-2-7) played as close to perfect a game as a hockey team can play. Everyone on the roster, except for defensemen Brad Brown and Jake Taylor, got on the score sheet. Ivan Baranka also didn’t register a point but he left the game early in the second period after he was hurt on a very hard check into the boards.

For the red-hot Wolf Pack winners of four straight and 8-1-0-1 in their last ten, this was a breakout night on a number of fronts.

Andrew Hutchinson, who’s already established that he is the Pack’s MVP, is making a strong case for league MVP, as he surpassed Thomas Pock’s 2005-2006 single season scoring record for defensemen with his 62nd point of the season potting a goal and assisting on two others. Hutchinson’s goal gave him 17 on the season which had earlier bested Pock’s team record of 15 from the same season.

Harvard graduate Mike Taylor, playing in only his second game after signing an Amateur Try-Out contract Thursday, was named the “First Star of the Game” with his first professional points and first multi-point game. Taylor scored twice and got his first AHL point on a beautiful give-and-go play setting up Mike Ouellette’s goal in the second period.

Here’s a video of Taylor’s goal.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khRuuFaQaKI&hl=en] In addition to Hutchinson’s record breaking night, the Pack also established a new team record. The nine goal margin of victory broke the previous record of eight which was set on March 30, 2003 against Sunday’s opponent, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The Pack also tied a number of team records as well. The ten goal output matched a Dec 18 2002 against the (now ECHL) Utah Grizzles. The team’s second period total of five goals has been done 12 times previously, the last time coming earlier this season in a 7-5 win against at Providence against the Bruins. With two shorthanded tallies on the game, a season high, they tied the team record which has been done 11 times before. Ironically, the last time they had two “shorties” was also against these Falcons on March 11, 2007 in a 5-0 shellacking when Jarkko Immonen and Ryan Callahan tallied.

The scoring started at :54 seconds when Jake Taylor mishandled a puck at the point and fell down. Stephen Werner picked up the loose puck and beat Michael Sauer back and beat David LeNeveu (24 saves). It would turn out to be the only highlight for the Falcons on the evening.

With T.J. Kemp in the penalty box on a tripping penalty, the Pack got on the board with a beautifully executed tic-tac-toe passing play. P.A. Parenteau on the left wing sent a pass across ice to the right side and hit Lauri Korpikoski right on the tape. Korpikoski slid the puck across the crease to Greg Moore who tapped it into the net for his 25th of the season at 7:05.

Just as a power play expired on Theo Peckham’s holding penalty, Hutchinson fed Parenteau on the right wing this time and again with is incredible hands put a puck across ice hitting Corey Potter breaking in on net from the left point. Potter beat Dubnyk (22 saves on 29 shots) low to the stick side giving the Pack the lead for good.

The second period the Pack came out fired up. The team killed off a couple of penalties and then a series of back and forth calls made by referee Terry Koharski found the Pack on the man-advantage when Liam Reddux took a ridiculous cross-checking penalty putting the Pack’s second rated power play unit back on the ice. 1:26 in they capitalized again as Dane Byers, who had enormous chances stopped by Dubnyk to that point, finally beat the Calgary Alberta native when Hutchinson’s shot from the point off a Thomas Pock feed, rebounded in front. Byers kept swatting away at it until it popped in over Dubnyk’s leg.

Dubnyk got pulled 32 seconds later after surrendering the fourth goal to Hugh Jessiman. Moments earlier Jessiman had come down right wing totally untouched and was stopped by Dubnyk. This time Jessiman came down left wing untouched and past Kemp, who moved like he was in line at the DMV, and scored.

Springfield Head Coach Kelly Buchberger brought in Glenn Fisher (5 saves). It didn’t help. Just over two minutes later Taylor assisted Ouellette who scored on a low shot from the slot. An assist on the goal also went to former Falcon, Mitch Fritz who played in only his second game after being injured in the second game of the year with a shoulder injury and missing the next 69 games.

At 16:31 Hugh Jessiman was sent to the box for roughing when he again stood up for Artem Anisimov after Anisimov was knocked to the ice in front of the net. On the ensuing penalty kill, Greg Moore stole the puck and made a mad shorthanded rush up left wing again beating Kemp and swung to the right side. Moore saw Mike Taylor breaking in alone at the left doorstep and fed the Harvard grad who easily tapped in his first AHL goal shorthanded at 17:08.

1:40 later, Hutchinson established the new scoring record when he slipped a hard shot under Fisher’s arm for the team’s seventh goal.

Buchberger mercifully ended Fisher’s night as the third period started after the rookie surrendered three goals on eight shots, but it wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding.

Opening the third period the Pack went right back on the attack. Just 55 seconds in Parenteau again makes a tremendous pass to Moore this time all alone in the slot. Dubnyk made a magnificent glove save robbing Moore of a certain goal.

Three minutes later Ouellette returned the favor to Mike Taylor with a terrific pass from behind the net that found Taylor alone. Taylor fired the shot high past Dubnyk. On every shift following all of the Pack players on the ice tried to find Taylor to give the young man a shot at a hat trick but it never materialized.

The Pack got their ninth goal after Anisimov’s shot was deflected in the air and grabbed by Jessiman and while falling down slid the puck in front of the net. Josh Gratton won the footrace to the loose puck and fired a backhander that beat Dubnyk who was screened on the play.

It looked like that might be the final, but with 21.5 left on the clock Anisimov put forecheck pressure on Kemp who coughed up the puck and fell down. Anisimov came in on Dubnyk alone and put on a number of fakes and dekes and just waited for Dubnyk to react. When he did reach for it, Anisimov lifted it over his shoulder for the final tally on a spectacular play.

Bruce Berlet has reaction from inside the locker room in his Hartford Courant column while Fran Sybek tries to sort it all out at Masslive.com.

For the stats on this one their is the http://stats.theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1004549 and the lengthy Official Scorer’s Sheet.

*****NOTES*****
* The scrum started before the game when Mitch Fritz and other Wolf Pack players were taking exception to comments made by Theo Peckham.

* Rangers goaltender coach Ben Allaire was in attendance and said he was, “very pleased” with the performances of his two young netminders, LeNeveu and Wiikman.

* The Pack out shot the Falcons 37-25 on the game.

* The Pack’s magic number to clinch the second was reduced to four when Portland lost to Providence 7-1. The game was delayed by an hour after the Pirate bus caught fire en route to the game.

* Should the Pack win this afternoon in Bridgeport, and the Pirates should lose at home to Albany the Pack would clinch second place in the division. However, the Pack still have a chance at catching Providence who plays at home against Worcester, as they only trail the first place Bruins by six points with seven more to play (including this afternoon). The two teams face off one more time in Providence on April 4th.

* The crowd chanted “WE WANT FRITZ” on three different occasions throughout the remainder of the game after the score became 5-1 in the second period.

* HOWLINGS obtained this super top-secret video (sorry no sound was available) taken of Devan Dubnyk and his Falcons teammates from inside the Springfield locker room at the end of the second period.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvMX1Yan0Es]

*****LINES*****
Korpikoski – Moore – Parenteau
Byers – Ouellette – Gratton
Fritz – Anisimov – Jessiman
M. Taylor – Pock

Baranka – Brown
Taylor – Sauer
Hutchinson – Potter

LeNeveu

*****SCRATCHES*****
Alex Bourret – Indefinite – Concussion
Brodie Dupont – Day-to-Day – Facial Injuries
Dave Liffiton – Concussion – Season
Francis Lessard – Knee – Season
Jordan Owens – Healthy Scratch
Mark Lee – Healthy Scratch

*****THREE STARS*****
1. HFD – 45 Mike Taylor
2. HFD – 5 Andrew Hutchinson
3. HFD – 27 Hugh Jessiman

*****OFFICIALS*****
Terry Koharski (10), Referee
Jim Briggs (83), Linesman
Marty Demers (79), Linesman

(Mike Taylor photo courtesy of thecrimson.com, All Wolf Pack photos courtesy of Rich Zacher via Hartfordwolfpack.com)