CH-CH-CH-CHANGES… 

 VERSUS  

The Hartford Wolf Pack bench seemed like the AHL equivalent of musical chairs Saturday night. Head Coach Ken Gernander experimented with just about every combination possible looking for a spark to ignite the fire for his offensively struggling team. About the only player not sent out for a shift was the night's backup netminder Miika Wiikman. While none of the combinations particularly stood out, second year forward Jordan Owens and rookie goaltender Matt Zaba did. Owens goal with just 30.8 seconds left and Zaba tremendous performance in net gave the team all they needed for a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the previously red-hot winners of six straight games, the Manchester Monarchs (9-7-0-3) before 5,819 at the XL Center in Hartford.

After the horrendous third period collapse against Bridgeport the previous night surrendering four goals in the third period, the first time they'd allowed that since December 12,2007, the Pack could have "turtled" and the season might have collapsed. However, demonstrating the type of coaching that was so reminiscent of the type of player he was with the Wolf Pack (9-9-0-2), Gernander moved his team forward in what may prove to be a turning point game for the 2008-2009 season.

The first period was a very sloppy affair with little flow and few opportunities. The period resembled the early rounds of a heavyweight boxing match where the two participants were feeling each other out to see what they brought to the game. Gernander saw there was nothing happening offensively yet again and began mixing and matching players to start the second period. The same problems that have hurt the Pack all season. lack of discipline and taking bad penalties reared themselves up again. At 9:52 rookie David Urquhart took a slashing penalty sending their 23rd ranked penalty kill unit onto the ice. With 24 seconds remaining on the penalty kill, Corey Potter took a very undisciplined cross-checking penalty sending Manchester to a two man advantage. Just after the penalty to Urquhart expired, Marty Murray moved the puck to Justin Azevedo. The Manchester Center fed the AHL's reigning Rookie-Of-The-Year, Teddy Purcell at the top of the slot. Purcell unloaded a rocket of a shot that may have deflected a bit off of Pack defenseman Brian Fahey, beating a screened Zaba to the glove side giving the Monarchs a 1-0 lead. The way the Pack has struggled offensively it seemed at the time that that could have been enough. It wasn't.

Zaba stood tall on a number of strong scoring opportunities the rest of the period. With 3:48 remaining in the period Azevedo led an odd-man rush down the left side with linemate Purcell coming down the right. Azevedo threw the puck at the net. The rising shot blew past Zaba (26 saves) to the right. Purcell, making the play look like a basketball alley-oop,swatted the puck out of the air. Zaba following the puck slid across and swallowed the puck into his chest stopping what more than likely would have been the back-breaker.

This game was all about the third period. With Gernander still playing Scrabble with his lines, the team continued to press for the tying goal. Their best chances were both thwarted by Monarch netminder Jonathan Bernier. Mike Ouellette had a tremendous chance at 6:08 when his shot from the crease was covered by Bernier. But the biggest stop of game came on a chance by Owens. With the Pack buzzing like a swarm of killer bees, Bernier found himself down on his stomach and virtually out of the play. Owens meanwhile had the puck and fired it on net. Bernier reached up with his glove and stabbed it out of the air. Owens told reporters after the game that he and Bernier, a former LA Kings first round pick, talked about it as the two skated back to the bench during a break in play. “I knew he made a big save and so did he, so I asked him if he’d be a good guy and give that one to me the next time because I’m in a bit of a slump,” Owens said with a smirk.

The Pack were not done pressing the attack. The Pack got a power play opportunity at 13:03 when David Meckler took a very undisciplined hooking call. Bernier stood tall on the ensuing face-off as Artem Anisimov got a terrific opportunity to score just eight seconds later stopping the young Russian center from point blank range. However, the stop just held off the inevitable as 27 seconds later, the Pack would tie the score. Bobby Sanguinetti on the right point fed Fahey on the left. Fahey put everything he had into a blast that was headed wide of the cage. That was until Greg Moore beautifully deflected the shot which hit the post and slid beneath Bernier for the Maine native's sixth of the season.

With a breath of fresh air in the lungs of the team, the Pack charged forward and put on their most relentless and continuous pressure of the season. It looked like Manchester would weather the storm and head to overtime till fate changed that. On one of the endlessly changed lines that found Moore centering rookie Devin DiDiomete and Owens, Moore wound up with the puck on a turnover by the Pack's blueline and fed DiDiomete who gave the puck to the streaking Owens who entered the zone three-on-two. With Manchester defensemen Drew Bagnall and Alec Martinez defending, Owens was looking to feed Moore who was alone in the slot.

“I got lucky that there was a defensive breakdown by them,” Owens said after the game. “I was planning to pass to (Moore) who was wide open, but as soon as the defenseman (Bagnall) saw that, he went up on him so I knew I had to shoot. I had lots of time and closed my eyes and shot. Getting robbed early in the game was on my mind, but I’ve been working pretty hard and the bounce came for me.”

The "Shot-Heard-'Round-The-Arena" came from the right circle and found the opening in the five-hole between the rookie goalie’s legs. It was clearly visible on the faces of this young, struggling Pack team that this was a huge goal for the team.

“We had good perseverance,” Gernander told reporters after the game. “And there was good perseverance on Jordan’s part. It shows pretty good character to fire the puck like that after the heck of a save made on him the previous time.”

Zaba was also incredible throughout the game particularly in the third period, his strongest stopping Russian rookie defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov at 8:36 with a flashy glove save.

Bruce Berlet once again proves why he is one of the finest sports writers in the country with solid coverage at HartfordWolfPack.com while the Manchester tale is told in an uncredited story at the UnionLeader.com.

For stats on the game there is always the GAME SUMMARY and the OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET.

NOTES:

* Owens goal broke a dry spell of 11 games without a goal dating back to an October 22nd 5-4 shootout loss in Worcester.

* The win was the first time the Pack were able to come from behind and win after trailing entering the third period (1-6-0-2).

* Outshooting their opponents has not been a key factor as the team is now 4-5-0-1 in such scenarios. But they did manage to improve their record to 5-3-0-2 in one-goal games.

* Anisimov's streak of points in seven straight games came to an end.

* DiDiomete's assist on the game winning goal was his first professional assist to go along with two goals.

* After tallying points in 12 of 14 games, P.A. Parenteau has now been he
ld off the scorer's sheet for two consecutive games. That's the first time for the Canadian winger since the start of the season when he went blank for the first four games.

* Ex-Pack forward Garth Murray was sent to the AHL by Ex-Pack General Manager Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes where he will join the San Antonio Rampage. Once there he will be joined by teammates including Ex-Pack goaltender Al Montoya, ex-Pack defenseman Dylan Reese, ex-Pack forward Alex Bourret, and Ex-Pack forward Francis Lessard. Any chance the AHL might consider changing the team's nickname to the San Antonio Wolf Pack West?

* More ex-Pack news as last season's Wolf Pack Captain was traded today from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Dallas Stars in exchange for winger Lauri Tukonen who is currently playing in the Finnish Elite League

* The Charlotte Checkers' power play seems to be alive and well as they tallied for four goals while up a man on their way to a 6-2 whipping of the Augusta Lynx. Ryan Hillier had two goals. Lee Falardeau, (remember him?) had a goal and an assist as did Mike Bayrack and Tomas Zaborsky. Jeff Jakaitis stopped 31 of 33 shots for the win.

LINES: (To start anyway)

Dupont – Anisimov – Weise

Soryal – MOORE – Parenteau

DiDiomete – Ouellette – Ford

Owens – Pyatt – Sugden

Denisov – FAHEY

POTTER – Sanguinetti

Sauer – Urquhart

Zaba

(Assistant Captains in BOLD CAPS)

SCRATCHES:

Graham – (Healthy)

Byers – Knee – (Season)

THREE STARS:

1. HFD – 46 Jordan Owens
2. HFD – 30 Matt Zaba
3. MCH – 62 Teddy Purcell

ON-ICE OFFICIALS:

Terry Koharski (10), Referee
Luke Galvin (2), Linesman
Paul Simeon (66), Linesman

NEXT GAME:

Can the Pack build on the dramatic victory when they take to the road to visit Providence against the second place Bruins? Game time is 4:05.