VERSUS
The Wolf Pack fired 46 shots on goal Friday night and it wasn't enough as Sound Tiger netminder Yann Danis stopped all but one of them en route to a 4-1 Bridgeport victory before 6,471 at The Arena at Harbor Yard. Even with all the shots on net, the real story of this game once again was the team's inability to score with the man-advantage and protect goaltender Miika Wiikman (21 saves) when the team was shorthanded.
The Pack led this game 1-0 from the 13:47 mark of the first period after Artem Anisimov, who has points in eight of his last nine and six consecutive games, beat Danis from in front of the net. The second year Russian center drove hard down the slot and took a loose puck in front of the net after Mike Ouellette attempted a shot from behind the goal line. Anisimov got his stick on it and redirected the pass roofing it over Danis' shoulder. It would be the last celebration of the night for the visitors.
The difference maker in this one was clearly the Pack's continued ineptitude on special teams. The Pack entered the game ranked twentieth on the power play and twenty-second on the penalty kill and they clearly demonstrated why. Referee François St. Laurent was more than happy to give the Pack chances whistling the Sound Tigers for six infractions. The Wolf Pack didn't capitalize on any of them, rarely even getting set in the offensive zone before the Sound Tigers would clear the puck, or the game's First Star, Danis would stop whatever attempts they did muster. Conversely, the absolutely abysmal penalty killing ultimately did them in as the Tigers took advantage twice on four chances.
The Sound Tigers tied the game at one each in the third period as the game's Second Star, Ben Walter, found the puck on the right side of the doorstep after a two-on-one rush with the game's Third Star, Tyler Haskins, had been denied by Wiikman. Walter lifted the puck over Wiikman's shoulder as the goalie reached to retrieve the puck.
Midway through the third period, Tigers defenseman Jaime Fraser was hurt in a collision chasing a puck behind the Sound Tigers' net and needed to be helped off the ice. Once play resumed, rookie David Urquhart took an ill-advised roughing penalty and the flood gates broke open on the team from the Capitol City.
The penalty kill started superbly with terrific pressure by Ouellette and Jordan Owens, who pinned the Tigers into their own end for almost 30 seconds. Ouellette left the ice on a change with Greg Moore, and Owens remained on. Mike Iggulden moved the puck up ice giving way to Walter who drew another Pack penalty, a hooking call, this time on Cory Potter. Walter then put the puck in front of the net after it appeared that the Pack had touched up. The puck found Travis Smith in front who's shot hit Wiikman and then batted it in over Wiikman for the go-ahead goal. Wolf Pack head Coach vehemently argued the call with St.Laurent but to no avail an the goal stood as Potter headed to the penalty box.
A mere 19 seconds later Blake Comeau took a Dustin Kohn feed and turned the puck over to 37-year old Mike Sillinger, a 16+ year NHL veteran on a three game injury rehab assignment in Bridgeport, blew right past P.A. Parenteau and put a hard rising shot from the slot that flew across the body of Wiikman and into the net.
The Pack went back to the power play at 14:16 after the Tigers had taken their sixth penalty of the evening, a Too Many Men On The Ice call. As the power play was coming to another fruitless close, defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti lost the puck at the right blue line and fell down as he tried to outrace Haskins for the puck. Haskins then came in alone on a breakaway against Wiikman and was beaten by a terrific backhanded shot into the top of the net for the final score.
Wolf Pack General Manager Jim Schoenfeld was in the building taking in the game and commented afterwards, "The power play could have won it for us." Schoenfeld held a lengthy meeting with Gernander after the game. Gernander emerged saying “We played really good for two periods, but we missed the big play,” the Head Coach said. “You have to have desperation when you’re up 1-0 to cash in those opportunities, and that’s where we fell short. You can use a big (penalty) kill, a big save, and then you have the power-play situation.
“Danis played well and things kind of fell apart at the end, but there were opportunities earlier to maybe finish and get some insurance goals." Gernander said. "Now we have to get right back at it (Saturday night). I don’t think you want to change anything five-on-five, but I think the special teams may need to be a little more desperate and we’ve got to pay off our chances.”
Bob Crawford has the game recap at HartfordWolfPack.com while Michael Fornabaio has the Sound Tiger perspective at CTPost.com.
For the stat lover in all of us see the GAME SUMMARY and the OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET.
NOTES:
* The Wolf Pack have not allowed four goals in a period as they in the third against the Tigers Friday night, since the third period of a December 12, 2007 game when they suffered a 6-1 shellacking in Hartford by the Houston Aeros. Former Pack goaltender Al Montoya was in net that night.
* In case you're keeping track, the Pack and Tigers are now tied a game apiece in the competition for the Geico Cup, given to the winner of the season series between the two teams. The Pack have not lost the series since the Cup contest was initiated in the 2004-2005 season.
* The Pack are now 22-8-0-2 lifetime against their neighbors to the South.
* With the third period collapse, the Pack lost their perfect record when leading after two periods and are now 7-1-0-1 and interestingly enough are 3-5-0-1 when outshooting their opponents. In three goal games the team is 1-3-0-0.
* The Pack's 46 shots on goal easily beat the team's previous high shot totals of 37 which they did twice (opening night, Oct 11 vs Springfield, a 4-3 loss and Nov 16 a 5-3 win against Lake Erie)
* Wiikman was back in net after missing two games with an undisclosed injury.
*** Petr Prucha, unless he refuses to do so, could well be in a Wolf Pack uniform by mid next week. The Rangers would be hoping that the conditioning assignment will help the young Czech recapture the magic he had in his rookie season when he scored 30 goals. Since a conditioning assignment is ten days, bringing him in on Wednesday would get the fourth year pro five games worth of action and may help resuscitate his confidence and scoring touch. In his brief stay in Hartford in 2004-2005 in the two games he played in, Prucha scored two goals and had one assist.
LINES:
Soryal – MOORE – Parenteau
Dupont – Anisimov – Weise
DiDiomete – Ouellette – Ford
Owens – Pyatt
Graham – FAHEY
Sanguinetti – POTTER
Sauer – Denisov
Urquhart
Wiikman
(Assistant Captains in BOLD CAPS)
SCRATCHES:
Sugden – Healthy
Byers – Knee – (Season)
THREE STARS:
1. BRI – 35 Yann Danis
2. BRI – 9 Ben Walter
3. BRI – 10 Tyler Haskins
ON ICE OFFICIALS:
François St. Laurent (38), Referee
Glen Cooke (6), Linesman
Kevin Redding (16), Linesman
NEXT GAME:
Saturday at home against the surging, third place Manchester Monarchs (9-6-0-3) who are on a 6-0-0-0 run. Meanwhile the last place Pack are 4-5-0-1 in their last ten and have a record of 8-9-0-2. Game time is 7pm.
First picture Moore shooting on Danis; Second picture is Brodie Dupont racing in on net; Third is Tommy Pyatt with the puck behind Danis; Fourth is Parenteau squashing Dustin Kohn against the glass
(All Photos courtesy of Christian Abraham of the Connecticut Post)
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