VERSUS
Viatcheslav Voynov’s one-timer just 38 seconds into overtime was the only shot that Wolf Pack netminder Matt Zaba couldn’t stop and gave the Manchester Monarchs a 1-0 win in front of 5,148 at the Verizon Wireless Arena Friday night.
Zaba (31 saves) once again was strong between the pipes for the Pack and gave them a chance to win. The rookie out of Colorado College has started the last nine straight games for the Pack. He came into the game having won the last seven straight. In the two losses he’s suffered, both have been 1-0 defeats, Friday against Manchester and back on February 18th against Bridgeport. (Howlings will have an exclusive interview with the Pack’s netminder for readers here on Monday night).
The visitors had the best chance to take a lead in this very close-to-the-vest played contest. The game had no flow as both teams appeared to play “chicken” with one another to see which would flinch first as both teams tried not to make a mistake that might end up cost them a point in the standings.
The Wolf Pack power play, which entered the game ranked tenth overall in the AHL, has been up and down all season long. After scoring a decisive goal in the win over Worcester Wednesday night at home, in Manchester the special team deserted them when they needed it most. At 15:58 of the second period, Scott Parse took a tripping penalty. 27 seconds later, Referee Jamie Koharski blew his whistle a second time sending defenseman Drew Bagnall to join Parse in the sin bin for holding giving the Pack a five-on-three advantage for a lengthy 1:33. However, the Pack made far too many passes and the only shots they generated were of the long range variety and posed little threat to goaltender Jonathan Bernier (24 saves). The best shot came from high in the slot off the stick of the newly acquired Mark Bell. The shot was handled easily by Bernier. It was clearly the turning point of the game. Monarch head coach Mark Morris told reporters afterwards that, “It was a dog fight. I thought our guys did a tremendous job on the five-on-three.” He said. “The line of (Brian) Boyle, (Marc-Andre) Cliché and (Vladimir) Dravecky did a great job of shutting down the top line of Hartford.”
The Pack had a chance right off the opening faceoff of the extra frame, but right wing Trevor Lewis intercepted a Bell pass and made a quick breakout pass to center Brian Boyle who led a three-on-two break into the Pack defensive zone. Boyle held up in the far side of the right circle and sent a cross ice pass to the pinching Voynov and the Chelyabinsk, Russia native one timed the pass which got by Zaba for the game winner.
While they did earn a point in this one which helped them stay atop the Atlantic Division as Providence lost a shootout in Manitoba, the overtime loss did deprive this group of the chance to win eight-in-a-row which would have been just the second time in team history.
The only real scoring threat for Manchester came in the first period with just 33 seconds remaining. Zaba snuffed Justin Azevedo who deflected a hard Joe Piskula shot from the right point.
Bob Crawford has the Wolf Pack recap at Hartfordwolfpack.com. The Manchester perspective comes from Manchestermonarchs.com.
GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET.
NOTES:
* Over the last nine games, Zaba has a 1.44 goals-against-average and a remarkable .956 save percentage. His record now stands at 18-9-0-0 with one shut out.
* The 1-0 overtime loss was the first such loss in team history.
* Charlotte got dismantled on the road in a 5-1 loss to the Gwinnett Gladiators, a team they have now lost to five consecutive times, in ECHL action Friday night.
* If the Pack are going to make some serious noise in the AHL playoffs, they are going to need to improve on their 14-11-3-1 road record.
* Inside the numbers: The Pack are 10-7-2-1 when tied after one, 11-5-1-0 when tied after two, 18-11-2-2 when out shot by their opponents. The Pack have out shot their opposition 29 times and been outshot themselves 33 times. In one goal games their record falls to 17-7-3-3.
* Ex-Pack: Nigel Dawes, who was just traded by the Rangers at the trade deadline got his second assist in as many games, and in Friday’s game assisted on the Phoenix winning goal over Boston. By the way, in the same game Petr Prucha, who played in a game for the Pack in his rookie season, was absolutely steamrolled by Zdeno Chara. In Hershey, ex-Pack Alexandre Giroux continues his fantastic season with his AHL leading 43rd goal matched up with 30 helpers for 73 points in 51 games.
LINES:
Bell – Anisimov – Parenteau @
Dupont – Moore © – Rissmiller
Owens – Ouellette – Pyatt
DiDiomete – (Rotated) – Sugden/ Weise
Denisov – Fahey
Urquhart – Sauer
Sanguinetti – Nightingale
Zaba
SCRATCHES:
Potter – Upper Body injury – Day-to-Day
Ford – Healthy
Zaborsky – Healthy
Soryal – Hand – 2-3 weeks
Byers – Knee – Season
THREE STARS:
1. MCH – 76 Viatcheslav Voynov
2. MCH – 45 Jonathan Bernier
3. HFD – 30 Matt Zaba
ON ICE OFFICIALS:
Jamie Koharski (84), Referee
Landon Bathe (80), Linesman
Ed Boyle (81), Linesman
SCOREBOARD WATCHING:
Worcester spanked the Phantoms in Philly 4-1 while the Lowell Devils did a disappearing act in Norfolk getting whipped by the same 4-1 score. Over in Springfield, the Falcons dropped another game this time 5-3 to the visiting Albany River Rats. The third place Portland Pirates had the night off. Of most import to the Wolf Pack, the Providence Bruins lost in a shoot out to Manitoba 3-2 keeping the two teams tied atop the Atlantic Division. The two teams have three remaining head-to-head games, all within the last ten games of the season,
STANDINGS:
Rank Team GP W L OTL SOL PTS
| 1 | Providence Bruins | 62 | 34 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 74 |
| 2 | Hartford Wolf Pack | 63 | 34 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 74 |
| 3 | Portland Pirates | 62 | 30 | 23 | 3 | 6 | 69 |
| 4 | Manchester Monarchs | 63 | 31 | 26 | 0 | 6 | 68 |
| 5 | Worcester Sharks | 61 | 30 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 65 |
| 6 | Lowell Devils | 61 | 28 | 25 | 2 | 6 | 64 |
| 7 | Springfield Falcons | 64 | 19 | 36 | 7 | 2 | 47 |
NEXT GAME:
It’s right back on the bus and a trip to I-91 rival, Springfield for a battle with the Falcons at the MassMutual Center Saturday night. This is a game the Pack NEED to win. Question is do the Pack start Miika Wiikman and save Zaba for the game against the much tougher Bridgeport Sound Tiges Sunday afternoon? Howlings thinks it will happen that way.
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