TRY, TRY AGAIN

   VERSUS  

The Hartford Wolf Pack entered Sunday afternoon's tilt with the first place Providence Bruins hoping to capitalize on the momentum they created with Saturday's emotional victory over Manchester. Unfortunately they wouldn't be able to as they dropped another emotional contest 4-3 in overtime in front of 3,717 at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence.

The Pack (9-9-1-2) managed to over come a two-goal second period deficit and send the game into overtime on a second period goal by Mike Ouellette and a beautiful tally from Artem Anisimov, who tied it midway through the third period. In overtime, it seemed like the Pack were going to pull this one out as they dictated play right from the drop of the puck and for the first three minutes of the overtime period. Ultimately however, they surrendered the game winner to First Star, rookie right-wing, Brad Marchand at 3:33. Just prior to the goal, P.A. Parenteau was stopped on an excellent scoring chance in close by Tuukka Rask (29 saves). The puck was rushed up ice and eventually found the stick of Johnny Boychuk.  The fourth year pro then found Zach Hamill open in tight on Miika Wiikman (20 saves). Wiikman stopped the initial shot, but the puck fell into the crease where Brad Marchand was waiting. Marchand put the puck over the outstretched right leg of the fallen Pack netminder who was unable to retrieve the loose puck while keeping the bottom of the net covered. The overtime goal was Marchand's fifth of the season.

The Wolf Pack did come to play in this one. Defenseman Brian Fahey scored his first goal as a member of the Wolf Pack after a terrific shift by the Ouellette line and continued by the Tommy Pyatt line who kept the puck in the Bruins end for a considerable time. When Matt Lashoff finally recovered the puck his clearing pass was picked off in the right face off circle by Fahey and the 27-year old out of Glenview, Illinois put all of his 6'1" 216 pounds into the shot and blasted it through Rask's five-hole at 5:57 of the first period.  

The lead didn't last long as Byron Bitz fed a pass to Martin St. Pierre who tied the game at 14:20 beating starting Pack netminder, Matt Zaba (10 saves).

The Bruins would take the lead with just 20.6 seconds left in the first frame when Andrew Bodnarchuk for his first goal in twenty-one games from the left wing face off circle beating Zaba through the five hole for a VERY soft goal. No doubt that goal which gave the Bruins the lead in the game cost Zaba the rest of the game as Gernander came out to start the second period with his normal number one goalkeeper, Wiikman.

Referee Jeff Smith, who notoriously doesn't call anything when he has the whistle, gave each time but a single power play in the game. The difference, the Bruins cashed in on theirs while the Pack…well did not. The Bruins got their power play as Corey Potter took yet another penalty as he continues with his own struggles on the ice, with an interference call at 5:56. It took the Bruins all but 21 seconds to capitalize on the weak Wolf Pack penalty kill that entered the game ranked 24th overall. Wiikman stopped Lashoff's bid for a tally, but the puck got behind him and squirted to the goal line. A mad scramble ensued with Martins Karsums able to make his way past Vladimir Denisov and tapped it over the line for his tenth of the season at 6:17.

The Pack came back to within one goal at 11:26 when a long shot from the right point by Denisov was skillfully deflected off the stick of Ouellette past Rask. The goal was Ouellette's second of the season and broke a 14 game goal-less drought for the defensively minded center.

The teams exchanged solid chances. Rask stopped Brodie Dupont, then Fahey on a two-on-one odd man rush and then on a nifty backhanded shot by Justin Soryal. Rask's counterpart in the navy blue jersey meanwhile had his own heartbreakers, his best coming on St. Pierre off a strong feed by Karsums. The Pack got one other great scoring chance when a funny  bounce off the end boards put the front out in front of the net for Jordan Owens only to see that opportunity turned aside by a deflected shot that went wide of the net.

The third period saw Wolf Pack head coach Ken Gernander shorten his bench as neither Brandon Sugden, Matthew Ford or David Urquhart came off the bench for a shift. Gernander also shuffled his lines a number of times to give players adequate rest. The one pairing that seemed to have some traction was putting his top two offensive weapons together, Anisimov and Parenteau. Owens who skated with Greg Moore and Dale Weise got a good scoring opportunity with just over a minute remaining in the third, but the young forward missed the net sending the puck high over the cage.

Anisimov tied the score at 6:54 of the third period when A Fahey shot form the left point bounced out in front of the crease. Anisimov settled the puck, turned and looked over his shoulder to get his bearings and promptly lifted a sensational backhanded shot high into the net. Fahey and Bobby Sanguinetti each got assists on the goal.

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

Bob Crawford sums up the first loss in overtime this season for the Pack from his perch in Providence over at HartfordWolfPack.com. Interestingly the Providence Journal actually had a story this time at projo.com.

NOTES:

* Smith is the opposite type of referee from the job the team saw the previous night from François St. Laurent who calls every little ticky-tacky foul. Smith calls nothing and it made for a VERY chippy game as both teams, though primarily Providence took liberties in hitting the Pack players. In the third period Owens was shaken up momentarily after getting walloped by one of the Bruins defenseman causing a stoppage in play. Owens would return without missing a shift.

* By picking up a point in the contest, the Pack moved into a 4 way tie with Lowell, Manchester, and Springfield for fourth place. The Pack would be at the bottom of the list though by way of their extra game played over the others.

* For the first time in recent years, the Sound Tigers are actually averaging a higher draw per game than the Wolf Pack. The Tigers have drawn an average of 4442 to the Pack's 3889. The Pack have also played two extra home contests.

* Bobby Sanguinetti is tied with Jonathan Sigalet of Syracuse and Aaron MacKenzie of Lake Erie for the AHL lead amongst defensemen with two game winning goals.

* By virtue of their 0-1 performance Sunday afternoon, the Pack power play is now ranked a putrid 24th at 14.5% while the penalty kill, which surrendered a goal on their only challenge Sunday isn't much better also ranked 24th with a meager success rate of 79.2%. If the Pack is going to go anywhere in this season, both of these numbers must significantly improve. 

* P.A. Parenteau has now gone without a point in three games. The first time he's done that since the four game slump he started the season with.

* Artem Anisimov now has goals in four of his last six plus an assist giving him a point per game over the last six (5g 1a)

* On the negative side, Tommy Pyatt has not scored in seven games and has only two on the year, while Justin Soryal has shot blanks with no goals in four games and Dale Weise has been off the goal ledger for the last 3. On the plus side, Sanguinetti has at least an assist in three of the last four games.

LINES:

Soryal – MOORE – Parenteau

Dupont – Anisimov – Weise

DiDiomete – Pyatt – Ford

Owens – Ouellette – Sugden

Denisov – FAHEY

POTTER – Sanguinetti

Sauer – Urquhart

Zaba

(Assistant Captains in BOLD CAPS)

SCRATCHES:

Graham – Healthy

Byers (Knee) – Season

THREE STARS:

1. PRO – 12 Brad Marchand
2. HFD – 5 Brian Fahey
3. PRO – 29 Byron Bitz

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Jeff Smith (49), Referee
Chris Millea (33), Linesman
Jack Millea (23), Linesman

NEXT GAME:

Back to Bridgeport to take on the Eastern Division second place Sound Tigers Wednesday night at 7pm