It had to happen at some point. The Wolf Pack dropped, what turned out to be a very dirty played game by the visiting Worcester Sharks 4-2 in front of 1,896 at the XL Center.
Howlings was only able to catch the first period due to scheduling conflicts, but our friend and mentor, Bruce Berlet was on the scene and saw all the action. Berlet posted this report at Hartfordwolfpack.com.
Tom Cavanagh scored twice as the Worcester Sharks rallied from a pair of
one-goal deficits for a 4-2 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday night at
the XL Center in a game that deteriorated into a street brawl in the final
minutes.
With 3:08 left, Sharks coach Roy Sommer got into a shouting match with Wolf
Pack assistants Pat Boller and J.J. Daigneault. Then after the final horn
sounded, the Wolf Pack’s Justin Soryal and Brodie Dupont fought Brett Westgarth
and Frazer McLaren.
Lauri Korpikoski, assigned to the Wolf Pack by the Rangers on Wednesday, made
his presence felt on his first shift as he rushed into the Sharks zone and
dropped a pass to P.A. Parenteau, whose snap shot from the right circle beat
Thomas Greiss (20 saves) to the glove side at 1:10.
The Wolf Pack (4-4-0-1), who had a three-game winning streak halted, killed
three consecutive Sharks power plays and nearly took a 2-0 lead on their first
man advantage before Greiss slid across to rob Korpikoski. But moments later,
Cavanagh blocked Greg Moore’s shot at the blueline, outraced the Wolf Pack
forward down the ice and put a backhander past Miika Wiikman (38 saves) to tie
it with 3:08 left in the period. It was the first shorthanded goal allowed by
the Wolf Pack this season.
The Wolf Pack regained the lead at 4:24 of the second period as Potter
cleared a pass to the far blueline to Dane Byers for a 2-on-1 with Parenteau,
who broke in alone to score his team-high fifth goal.
After the Wolf Pack’s Tommy Pyatt hit the post at 7:58, the Sharks scored two
quick carom goals to take their first lead while amassing a 13-3 shot advantage
in the period. First, Kyle McLaren, who has played 719 NHL games, shot wide, but
Riley Armstrong picked up the puck behind the net and banked in a shot off
Wiikman at 13:36. Then 44 seconds later, Cavanagh passed to the blueline to
Derek Joslin, whose shot deflected in off Wolf Pack defenseman Chris Murray.
Greiss kept the Sharks in front with brilliant stops on Moore and Dale Weise
early in the third period. Then with 10:07 left, the Sharks got a 5-on-3 for two
minutes and a potential 5-minute power play when Wolf Pack defenseman Vladimir
Denisov was given a minor, major, misconduct and game misconduct for pummeling
former Wolf Pack center Corey Larose, who had elbowed Bobby Sanguinetti to the
head.
Cavanagh stuffed his second goal past Wiikman at 11:46 for a 4-2 lead, then
Wiikman stopped Steven Zalewski’s breakaway during a 4-on-4 with 5:24 left
before the game turned ugly.
For the stats lovers there are always the Game Summary and the Official Scorer's Sheet.
From the "What-Game-Were-You-Watching" department, Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette puts his spin on the game. Based upon what was written here, Ballou, who's been a reporter longer than paper has existed, must be looking to land a job in the Sharks PR department.
NOTES
* Bob Crawford has a very interesting piece about former Wolf Pack making their presence felt in NY at AHL.com
* The Charlotte Checkers won their home opener against the Augusta Lynx 5-0 behind solid performances from Peter Tsimikalis and Andreas Jamtin.
LINES
Dupont – Anisimov – Weise
BYERS – Korpikoski – PARENTEAU
Moore – Pyatt – Soryal
Sugden – Ouellette – DiDiomete
Denisov – Fahey
Murray – Graham
Sanguinetti – POTTER
Wiikman
(Alternate Captains in BOLD)
SCRATCHES
Sauer – Knee Injury
Owens – Injured
THREE STARS
1. WOR – 9 Tom Cavanagh
2. WOR – 25 Derek Joslin
3.
HFD – 17 Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
ON-ICE OFFICIALS
Chris Ciamaga (41), Referee
David Spannaus (8),
Linesman
Frank Murphy (29), Linesman
