NOW THAT’S MORE LIKE IT… 

 
VERSUS 

The Hartford Wolf Pack played their most complete game of the season Wednesday night as they defeated the second place Providence Bruins 2-0 in front of an announced crowd of 2,079 at the XL Center.

“I was real happy with just about every aspect of the game,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said as he summed things up for the media. “It was real hard working and disciplined. It’s a lot easier for the first player to do his job if he knows the second player is backing him up. When guys are in position, there generally aren’t breakdowns.”

It was just that kind of a night. Brian Fahey didn't play, and may not for a while, due to post concussion syndrome. Fahey sustained the injury from a deliberate blow to the head from the elbow of Greg Amadio. However, with Fahey injured and Corey Potter in New York, although he will probably be returned to Hartford today, the call went out to Derek Wilkinson and the Pack signed defenseman Jared Nightingale to a PTO. Nightingale certainly made a strong case for himself as he was solid on the blue line all night. By the way, the young defenseman also happened to be named the First Star of the Game for his heads up defense and for scoring what proved to be the game winner at 7:04 of the second period.

“It was nice to get scoring my first goal off my back in the first game,” Nightingale said afterwards to the press. “It was a good play where the guys were cycling the puck for a while. And it’s a good example when you have bodies in front of the net and shoot the puck, good things can happen.”

Nightingale got his first goal of the season and first as a member of the Wolf Pack when he one-timed a Jordan Owens pass from the top of the slot near the blue line blasting it past Tuukka Rask's (31 saves) glove.

The goal held up as the Wolf Pack were relentless in their forechecking and played their best team defense of the season.

In the first period, the Pack outshot Providence 13-4 and at the 7:45 mark held an 8-1 shots advantage. In the second period they were even stronger outshooting the B's 12-3.

Miika Wiikman (15 saves) had his best outing of the season as well. He was helped along the way a bit by the goaltenders best friends, the post and the crossbar, in getting his first shutout of the season. Byron Bitz hit the post at 7:15 of the second, just after Nightingale's goal. Wiikman got some help later when left wing Peter Schaeffer's deflection attempt to get the score even hit the iron.

Wiikman was terrific though and made his best save of the night with just 4:53 remaining in the contest. The B's controlled cycling the puck deep in the Pack zone. A quick cross ice pass found defenseman Adam McQuaid pinching. McQuaid fired a hard shot from inside the left circle. Wiikman made a "Lundqvist-like" side-to-side move and swallowed up the puck stopping what would have been a tying goal.

“We played a really solid game all over the ice, and that certainly helped me,” Wiikman told the press. “We had three guys back all the time, and having only two penalties helped keep them out of our end for almost the whole game.”

But there were still momentary lapses and Wiikman pulled his teammates out of the fire. Late in both the first and second periods, at almost identical times, Providence left wing Jeremy Reich would break in alone on Wiikman, each time unloading a bomb of a shot that Wiikman negated. “Sometimes you’ve got to make those saves. Maybe that was the lucky break we needed to win this game.”

The Pack would add an empty net goal while on their sixth power play with just 21.9 seconds remaining. Greg Moore, who coming into the game had only scored two goals in his last ten, a two-game pointless streak and no goals in four straight, picked up a loose puck along the right far side boards and brought it into the offensive zone and buried it into the deserted cage for his seventh of the season.

It was complete performance from a team that has struggled in virtually every aspect of their game. They played solid, disciplined defense, only taking two penalties all game long, and were able to capitalize on the few opportunities that presented themselves. The only area of concern still remains the power play which put up a 1-6 night thanks to the empty net goal.

“It’s easy to feel comfortable when everybody plays well,” Nightingale said of his first game up north. “Miika played great, the forwards helped out the defense and holding them under 20 shots is a good job.”

It certainly was.

Bruce Berlet provides his insight and analysis for the game and it can be found at HartfordWolfPack.com. Meanwhile across the isle the Providence story is told in the Providence Journal.

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

* It was like a mini-convention for Ranger scouts with ten in the stands including Ranger legend Adam Graves who will have his number retired by the team on February 3rd. Graves was a guest of Bob Crawford's in between the first and second period and discussed how impressed he was with the play of Jordan Owens and the leadership of Brodie Dupont. He also discussed the difficulty of the loss of Dane Byers and what that has meant to the team and the franchise. As a silly aside, Graves also commented that he really enjoys the "Chuck-A-Puck" promotion. We would clearly echo Bob Crawford's comments that Graves is clearly the classiest player we've ever come across in the NHL.

* The win broke a two-game losing streak and brought the Pack back to the .500 mark with a 11-11-1-2 record. Providence dropped to 15-9-1-0.

* On the stat front, the Pack improved their record in games decided by two goals to 3-4-0-0, outshooting opponents to 5-6-0-1 and leading after two periods to 8-1-0-0

* The 15 shots put on net by the Bruins were a season low for the Pack to allow.

* Ethan Graham has yet to notch a point in twenty games with the Pack. Dupont's three game points streak was stopped. Denisov's assist on the Nightingale goal ended a four game scoreless drought. Justin Soryal and Dale Weise are without a point in seven games each. Devin DiDiomete is now scoreless in five games. Conversely, Artem Anisimov's four game goal streak came to an end.

* The Hartford Wolf Pack’s home game this Saturday, December 13^th at the XL Center vs. Springfield (7:00 faceoff) is “Miika Wiikman Bobblehead Night.” The first 3,000 fans into the game will receive a free, limited-edition bobblehead of Wolf Pack goaltender Miika Wiikman, who authored the Pack’s first shutout of the 2008-09 season last night, with 15 saves in a 2-0 victory over Providence.

The bobbleheads are offered courtesy of Click it or Ticket. Through January 2nd, adult tickets for Wolf Pack home games can be purchased for as low as $10 each. Pack tickets are available at the XL Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Macy’s at the Buckland Hills Mall and at the Westfarms Mall. Tickets may also be charged by phone at (860)
525-4500, (203) 744-8100, (203) 624-0033 or (413) 733-2500, and on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com

* As has been widely speculated, Corey Potter has been returned to the Wolf Pack. Don't expect to see him here long. We feel that the Rangers are going to get 37 year old center Mats Sundin and that part of the restructuring in NY will involve sending Dimitri Kalinin to Hartford and calling up Potter for the rest of the season. It might also mean that Petr Prucha or someone like Nigel Dawes might head this was as well…could be Dan Fritsche or even Lauri Korpikoski. The Rangers need to make room for Sundin and those are the most likely scenarios.

Here's the official release:

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that defenseman Corey Potter has been assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Potter, 24, skated in one game with the Rangers following his recall on
December 6. He made his NHL debut on December 7 vs. Calgary. The 6-3,
200-pounder has registered two goals and nine assists for 11 points, along with
26 penalty minutes in 23 games with Hartford this season. He returns to the
Wolf Pack ranking second on the team among defensemen in assists (nine) and
points (11), and tied for first in goals (two). The Lansing, Michigan native
has recorded two multiple-point games this season, including a multiple-assist
effort on October 22 at Worcester.

LINES:

DiDiomete – MOORE – Stefanishion

Dupont – RISSMILLER – PARENTEAU

Pyatt –
Ouellette – Owens

Soryal –
Anisimov – Weise

Sauer –
Urquhart

Graham –
Sanguinetti

Nightingale –
Denisov

Wiikman

(Alternate Captains in BOLD CAPS)

SCRATCHES:

Fahey –
Concussion – Indefinite

Sugden –
Healthy

Byers – Knee –
Season

THREE STARS:

1. HFD – 38 Jared Nightingale
2. HFD – 46 Jordan Owens
3. HFD – 62 Miika Wiikman

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Kyle Rehman (37), Referee
Glen Cooke (6), Linesman
Kevin Redding (16), Linesman

NEXT GAME:

FRIDAY, DEC 12 at home versus third place Worcester where the team will get their first look at 43 year old Claude Lemieux and revisited by former Pack Cory LaRose as the Pack play their second of a six of seven home stand. Game time is 7pm.