TOTAL TEAM EFFORT

Wolf Pack goaltender Matt Zaba‘s brilliant sprawling save with just 9.8 seconds remaining preserved a 3-2 preseason win over the Worcester Sharks before an enthusiastic crowd at the Koeppel Community Sports Center at Hartford’s Trinity College Tuesday night.

With the Sharks trailing and with their goaltender on the bench, Zaba stopped defenseman Jamie VanderVeeken on the left doorstep. The puck rebounded and squirt free to the right post where Shark center Gino Guyer was all alone. Guyer went for a stuff in attempt but Zaba dove to his left and caught the puck in midair assuring the Pack victory.

“He had some great saves,” Head Coach Ken Gernander said of his young netminder. “That last one with 9 seconds left certainly got people out of their seats.”

Despite the close score and shot total (32-26), the Pack dominated this game right from the outset.
“Collectively as a group I thought we played really hard, ” Gernander said. “All of the kids acquitted themselves pretty well and were up to the challenge. I thought they played a decent game.”

The Pack only played two of their regular team from last season, forwards Jordan Owens and Mike Ouellette who both wore an Alternative Captain “A.” Tommy Pyatt, who spent part of the season with the team last season also wore the “A.”

The fireworks started early on when rookie Will Bodine, a 6′ 4″ 225 pounder, dropped the mitts for a battle with the Sharks’ 6′ 2″ 215 pound forward, Brett Westgarth. Bodine fared very well in the fight landing a number of bombs before slamming Westgarth hard to the ice.

The fight revved up an already motivated Pack team as the game picked up in tempo and intensity. Both Zaba and Sharks netminder Derek MacIntyre were superb in the first

In the second period after a great play by defenseman David Urquhart to keep the puck in the zone, his defensive partner Chris Murray fired a hard shot from the right point. Rookie forward Sergei Demagin deflected Murray’s shot past MacIntyre giving the Pack a 1-0 lead at 8:07.

“He’s shown marketed improvement over what we’ve seen in Traverse City,” Gernander said of Urquhart. ” It’s great that kids can pick things up that quickly and we hope that he continues to pick things up at that pace.”

1:23 later, Pyatt then took the puck away from Shark D-Man Brian O’Hanley and broke in on the Shark net. He put a great fake as he went to the left side of the goal which got MacIntyre to turn his back. Pyatt then bounced a puck off the Michigan natives back for the 2-0 lead.

The team let down a little as the Sharks pressed the game and a Pack turnover to Shark forward Gino Guyer led to former Pack defenseman Rory Rawlyk all alone with the puck in front of Zaba. Rawlyk waited out Zaba and lifted one over the outstretched netminder at 14:39.

In the third period Owens got what proved to be the game winner at 12:07 when he took an Ouellette pass from behind the net and followed his own shot putting the loose puck behind 20 year old Ryan Daniels, who had replaced MacIntyre after Pyatt’s second-period goal for a 3-1 margin.

Ashton Rome of Worcester brought the score to where it would end with just 3:30 left in the third period when he was left all by himself in the left wing circle and blasted it past Zaba.

Penalties were a major part of this game. The Pack were whistled by referee Jaime Koharski seven times while Worcester was in the box nine times. Neither team managed a power play goal. Apart from Zaba’s heroics at the end of the game, the turning point of this game came in the third period when the Pack were shorthanded five-on-three for 1:36. Owens, Bobby Sanguinetti and one-time Pack D-Man, Maxim Kondratiev were outstanding in keeping the puck out of the net.

The Pack also took three goaltender interference penalties, one of which by Urquhart, wiped out a goal by Murray. “You teach kids to go to the net hard and stop in front to look for loose pucks and rebounds and we get a couple of goaltender interference calls for being a little overzealous. Their hearts in the right place.”

In assessing what he saw on the ice, Gernander was pleased. “We asked our guys at the very least to outwork their opponent.” He said and told his players, “if you have something that sets yourself apart, make sure it comes to the forefront. I thought it was a good team performance. Collectively I thought we worked very hard and they did everything we asked of them.”

Gernander acknowledged that some of the players that were on the roster last year would be back again but that there were still plenty of things yet to be decided upon. “We don’t have any set lines yet…we’ve left some spots open for guys who’ve shown themselves well and will try to get as many of the guys at least a game so we can evaluate them all as well.”

LINES
Owens – Ouellette – Nelson
Tsimkalis – Leveille – Rutherford
Hillier – Pyatt – Ford
Demagin – Corsi – Bodine

Busto – Kondratiev
Sanguinetti – Radke
Murray – Urquhart

Zaba

NOTES
* Gernander discussed prospect Joe Barnes who sustained his third concussion in three years in the last prospect game in Traverse City. “We’ll leave it to the professionals. ” Gernander said “We’ll err on the side of caution.

* Bodine got into a second scrape and just pummeled Shark Frazer McLaren

* Wednesday’s night’s game raised $2,245 for the Ryan Gordon / Wolf Pack Community Scholarship Fund. If you’d like to make a contribution call 800-771-6184

* According to Sportsnet.ca, one-time New York Ranger and Hartford Wolf Pack forward Brad Isbister’s time with the Ottawa Senators organization has come to an end. The veteran forward did not report to the Binghamton Senators, despite being assigned to the AHL farm club last week.

* The Pack will next take the ice on the road Friday, October 3rd at 7pm vs. the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Northford Ice Pavilion in Northford, CT. They’re back on the ice for a game Saturday, October 4th in Worcester against the Sharks for a 7:00 game at Loring Arena in Framingham, MA. Howlings will not be at either game but will have a game summary afterwards.

* Howlings will be at the team’s final preseason home game against Bridgeport on Sunday, October 5th. That game will be played at Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, with faceoff at 4:30 PM. If you’re thinking of attending, admission for that one is $5, with proceeds benefiting the Connecticut Clippers Youth Hockey. Champions Skating Center is located at 6 Progress Drive in Cromwell.

(Matt Zaba photo courtesy of Christ Rutsch via hartfordwolfpack.com)