“We bent a bit but we didn’t break.”

VERSUS

The words of Wolf Pack head coach Ken Gernander to reporters after Lauri Korpikoski’s third of the night gave the home team a much needed 4-3 win over the visiting Springfield Falcons in front of 6,472 at the XL Center Saturday night.

The young Finnish forward has been nothing short of brilliant since returning from New York after starting the season with the parent Rangers. In the four games since joining the Wolf Pack, Korpikoski has six points (4g, 2a) as well as having posted an impressive plus-7. He’s playing in all situations and has been getting better in each game.

“Korpi gave us a big effort tonight just like he has all season.” Gernander told the press. “He’s been a mainstay on our specialty teams and has great conditioning habits and as he showed tonight is very reliable.”

Korpikoski’s game winner with just 4.1 seconds remaining in the extra period was not a solo effort. With 12 seconds remaining, rookie defenseman David Urquhart handed off the puck to the Pack’s leading scorer, P.A. Parenteau (5g, 5a, 10pts in 12 games) behind his own net. Parenteau then rushed the puck through the collapsing Falcon defense and saw Korpikoski all alone in the right face off circle. Korpikoski then send a rising laser of a shot, that might have been deflected off a Falcon stick, past the glove of Falcon starting netminder, Devan Dubnyk (27 saves) and sent the water bottle flying out of the opposing corner.

Heroics aside, the game would never have gotten that far if not for the Herculean effort by Wolf Pack netminder, Miika Wiikman (31 saves).

For the Pack, it has been the second period of late that has caused them the most trouble. In this one, it was the first frame as the team came out sleepwalking. They also could not avoid the whistle of referee Mark Lemelin who sent the home team to the penalty box for four sloppy penalties in the first period.

“The amount of penalties we took is worrisome,” Gernander told the media. “It is something we’ve been addressing all season and will have to continue to address moving forward. We also need to make corrections at even strength as well.”

Wiikman lifted his team and carried them on his back. His huge save just 1:36 into the game when he made a huge stop on Ryan Potulny and then a few minutes later when stopped Tyler Spurgeon right in front of the net. Then with just 25 seconds left in the first period, Wiikman made his best stop of the period stoning Gilbert Brule with a acrobatic stop as the rookie forward sought to send the Falcons into the locker room with a lead.

If the Pack needed a wake up call, Vladamir Denisov gave them one early in the second period. Denisov pummeled Falcon Bryan Young after the 6’1″ 191 pounder simply steamrolled over the 5’11” 195 pound Parenteau who never saw the hit coming.

The Pack responded 8:10 later when Greg Moore simply pinned down the Falcons deep in their own end while the Pack made a line change. When Justin Soryal and Mike Ouellette joined in, Moore wound up with the puck behind the Falcon net with Sebastien Bisaillon hanging on him like a cheap suit. Moore simply outworked the second year defenseman and got himself out to the left side of the slot. Moore spun around and put a perfect shot through traffic that beat Dubnyk high to the stick side for the Pack’s first lead of the night 1-0.

The lead didn’t last long however as the Falcons answered back just 47 seconds later. Brule got his first of two on the night when a Carl Corazzini shot form the right circle was stopped by Wiikman. The resulting rebound flipped out to the left doorstep where Brule tucked it into the empty net as Wiikman had not chance to get back on such a quick bang-bang play.

The Pack regained the lead on Korpikoski’s first of the night. Moore, who had a great game (1g, 1a, +2) took a shot from the right half boards which ricocheted to Jordan Owens on the left side of the net. Owens attempted to stuff it back in, but Dubnyk was able to kick it away. Unfortunately for the Falcons, the puck kicked right out to the streaking Korpikoski who fired it into the net from the low slot.

Wiikman had only one major hiccup the entire game. With the Pack having just finished killing yet another penalty which had hung over from the second period, to start the third, Wiikman went behind the net to clear the puck. However the routine play became anything but that as the Swedish netminder tripped skating backwards and lost the puck to Johnny-On-The-Spot, Left wing Liam Reddox, who took the puck and deposited it into the empty net knotting the score at 2.

The Pack wasted no time answering back with the go-ahead goal. The Pack power play, which like the parent Rangers has struggled all season, finally paid off. Korpikoski one-timed a shot off a Cory Potter pass and scored his second on the night from what would coincidentally turn out to be the same spot on the ice that would later prove to be the winner. Dubnyk had no chance on this guided missile of a shot off Korpikoski’s launching pad of a stick as the shot found the upper corner over his shoulder. Bobby Sanguinetti got his sixth assist of the season on the play.

The Falcons continued to press the young Pack defense as as they have struggled with all season long, they once again could not get the puck out of their own end when they were pressured by an opponent.

The Pack had just finished killing a Potter tripping call for their seventh penalty kill of the night, when Parenteau took a foolish boarding penalty in the offensive zone trailing behind the play for the team’s eighth shorthanded opportunity.

While the Pack were solid on the first seven kills, on this one they were running around chasing the puck. Taylor Chorney fed Robbie Schremp along the half boards. Schremp then saw Brule circle the net and wind up completely alone on the left doorstep. Schremp threaded a needle with a cross ice pass to Brule who had a no-contest of a goal into an empty net at 9:04 of the third period.

The Pack had one other chance, but at exactly 11:00, recently called up forward Matt Ford could not convert a rolling puck on a wide open opportunity in front of the net.

After the game, Korpikoski speaking to reporters said, “It was a tough game for us tonight, but overall we were able to battle back and pick up an important victory,” the game’s first star said. “It was important for me to help the team tonight so it was nice to pick up the overtime goal.”

Not bad for a guy who told his coach that he was feeling under the weather prior to the game.

“Our team was resilient tonight,” Gernander said. “We bent a bit but we didn’t break.” 

For stats lovers, there is always the GAME SUMMARY and the OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET.

For a look at the Springfield perspective, Garry Brown has the story at Masslive.com.

NOTES

* The Wolf Pack have back-to-back fundraisers. Today they will appear in a Bowl-a-thon to raise money for Special Olypics of CT. Monday they will play minature gold at Monster Mini Golf in Windsor also for a children’s charity. Howlings will be at the event Monday and report from there.

* Korpikoski has now scored goals in two straight.

* The Wolf Pack may have been out shot for the game 34-31, but they had all the opportunities in the extra frame putting eight shots on net while Wiikman never saw a shot in OT.

* Justin Soryal is second in the AHL in Major Penalties with seven in twelve games. He is also second in rookies in PIM with 55.

* Miika Wiikman is third in Minutes among goalies with 616 and also third in saves with 283

* The Pack are 24/29 on the power play and 19/29 on the penalty kill.

* The Charlotte Checkers lost their last game to the Stingrays 3-2

* Former NY Ranger Jason Ward was sent to Norfolk by the Tampa Bay Lightning

LINES

Owens – KORPIKOSKI – Moore
Soryal – Ouellette – Ford
DiDiomete – Pyatt – Sugden
Dupont – Anisimov – PARENTEAU

Sanguinetti – Denisov
Graham – Murray
POTTER– Urquhart

Wiikman

(Alternate
Captains in BOLD)

SCRATCHES

Byers – Knee – Indefinite
Fahey – Concussion – Indefinite
Sauer – Knee – Imminent
Weise – Healthy

THREE STARS

1. HFD – 28 Lauri Korpikoski
2. HFD – 62 Miika Wiikman
3. SPR – 19 Gilbert Brule

OFFICIALS

Mark Lemelin (84), Referee
Paul Simeon (66), Linesman
Jim Briggs (83), Linesman

NEXT GAME

The Pack next take to the ice when they start a two game Midwest road trip on Friday, November 14th as the y visit the Grand Rapids Griffins in a showdown with the Detroit Red Wings’ top AHL affiliate.

They then travel for a Sunday afternoon tilt in Lake Erie to visit the Monsters, the AHL affiliate for the Colorado Avalanche.

(Photos provided exclusively for Howlings by Mark Canello)