SO MUCH FOR FIRST PLACE… 

    VERSUS    

Making a list of reasons for Sunday’s 4-1 road loss to the Worcester Sharks by the Hartford Wolf Pack would be nothing more than a list of alibis. The bottom line was they played exceptionally poorly from top to bottom and lost the game and their share of first place in the Atlantic Division as Providence thrashed Lowell 6-2. There were certainly factors that helped along there poor play. If a tape of this contest were shown to AHL Commissioner Dave Andrews, it’s highly likely that the only game referee Nygel Pelletier would ever get to call would be on his PlayStation. He missed more calls than the CEO of AIG.  

The loss was the team’s first in regulation in the last thirteen (10-2-1-0). Is there a coach anywhere, in any sport that wouldn’t take a below par performance like the one the team put on the ice in Worcester if you also had the record this team has had over the last thirteen games? That’s not to say this is something to be proud of, or totally excused, because it can’t happen again. When asked, if it was inevitable to have a clunker at some point, Pack head coach Ken Gernander certainly wouldn’t agree. His answered that very question in no uncertain terms after the 6-1 loss to Bridgeport last week.  “NO!” He said emphatically when asked. “If you went into surgery and the doctor said he was having an off night, how would you react to that? I don’t buy into that.”

So first place is out the window for the moment. The team has a couple of injuries to deal with, most notably with Matt Zaba, who had been carrying the team on his back the last month, out with a finger injury and recently acquired Mark Bell was not in the line-up with an undisclosed injury.

The schedule is not an easy one going forward. Of the Pack’s final twelve games only five of them are at home. The 2008-2009 Wolf Pack have struggled mightily on the road (16-13-3-1) and if they’re going to make a serious run in the playoffs, this is going to have to improve. Add to that, there are three games remaining with the first place Providence Bruins and two of them are at the Dunkin Donuts Center where they have yet to win this season (0-1-1-0). This isn’t all doom and gloom however because on the plus side, of the teams the Pack still have left to face, Lowell (3x 1-3-0-1), Portland (2x 5-1-0-0), Springfield (2x 6-1-0-1), Providence (3x 2-2-1-0), Albany (1-0), and Manchester 5-1-1-0) they have a combined record against them of 20-8-2-2.

So what happened Sunday?

The first period for the most part was uneventful. The exception being an exceptionally stupid play by Jared Nightingale where he took a double minor for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct as well as a misconduct for repeatedly slamming Worcester’s agitating right wing Riley Armstrong’s head into the ice and right in front of Pelletier no less. The dalliance sent him to the penalty box for fourteen minutes and gave Worcester a four minute power play that the penalty kill unit masterfully killed off. Miika Wiikman, starting in his fourth consecutive game, made a remarkable save with just eight seconds remaining in the period. Frazer McLaren made a sensational pass right to the stick of a wide open Dan DaSilva who was streaking up the slot. Wiikman (25 saves) dove to his left and swallowed up the right wingers goal bid.

The Pack scored first when Andrew Desjardins took a tripping call just forty seconds into the second period. On the ensuing power play, Michael Sauer fired a shot from the slot which was initially stopped by Worcester netminder Thomas Greiss (21 saves). However the puck was first loosened by Greg Moore swatting at it in front and then tapped by P.A. Parenteau through Greiss’ legs. As the puck slipped through, Patrick Rissmiller saw the loose puck behind the Worcester goaltender and popped it into the net.

But the 5,723 in attendance didn’t have to wait long to see their team raise their level of play. First at 6:14 a shot from defenseman Mike Moore (no relation to the Pack’s Greg Moore) fro the right wing hit Sauer’s stick in front to Wiikman’s right, and deflects the puck right to Armstrong who lifted a perfect backhander right past Wiikman and the score was tied.

After Tommy Pyatt took a penalty for interference at 8:02, 28 seconds later, a perfect pass from Matt Fornataro found Tom Cavanaugh all alone on the right doorstep and it was in the net before Wiikman had a second to react and it was 2-1.

With just 5:18 left in the period, and Brodie Dupont in the box for retaliating to Armstrong, who wasn’t called for a single infraction despite playing a game that would make Sean Avery blush, Lukas Kaspar shot from a bad angle off the left wing found an opening on the short side of Wiikman and wound up in the net. It was a soft goal that Wiikman would most certainly want back. The Pack trailed by two at 3-1.

With Armstrong running completely amok and with no fear of taking any calls from Pelletier, at 15:57 Corey Potter was called for holding and then Nightingale got tagged for roughing up Armstrong again putting the Pack down two men for a full two minutes. The Pack penalty killers rose to the occasion and as the old saying goes, “the team’s best penalty killer needs to be the goalie” was certainly the case here as Wiikman stood tall especially on a Patrick Traverse attempt from dead red that the Finnish netminder gobbled up.

Despite being down two goals, the outstanding penalty kill gave the Pack a needed boost and their play momentarily elevated drawing a penalty with just 59 seconds left in the period. But when the team was unable to capitalize and get back themselves into the game, they went back into their funk and could not sustain any serious offensive threat.

At 9:52 the Sharks would score their final tally when Mike Ouellette didn’t impede T.J. Fox as he came in on Wiikman after taking a Steven Zalewski pass from the right wing corner. Fox buried his shot over Wiikman’s glove for what would prove to be the final 4-1 score.

Vladimir Denisov, Parenteau and then Devin DiDiomete and Nightingale would each take frustration penalties towards the end of the game as Pelletier continued his assault on the rules allowing Worcester to do virtually anything they wanted while the Pack were in the box for every minor infraction. The final tally saw the Pack called for thirteen infractions for a total of 58 minutes while the Sharks had six infractions for a total of twelve minutes.

Bob Crawford has the recap from the broadcast booth at Hartfordwolfpack.com while good OLD Bill Ballou writes in the Telegram & Gazette and profiles former Worcester Ice Cat and current Pack forward Brandon Sugden as well.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* Prior to this game, the Pack had won four straight over the Sharks and fini
shed the season with a 4-3-0-1 record.

*  The Pack special teams have struggled of late. The Pack penalty killers have dropped down to 17th with a 82.3% success rate. The Power play meanwhile has managed to hold onto tenth overall at 17.8%.

* Inside The Numbers: 12-9-2-1 is their record when tied coming out of the first period. When trailing after the second, the Pack are 4-19-1-2, when outshot 19-13-2-2 and 6-9-0-0 in games decided by three goals.

* Greg Moore has quietly raised his offensive game and has a point in four out of the last five. (4g, 2a). Last year Moore had 66 points (26g, 40a). While he won’t get to that point total, Moore now has 22 goals and added in 15 helpers and should at least match his goal scoring total from last season. Moore has been used much more in a defensive minded role this season and has still been exceptional in the face-off circle.

* Patrick Rissmiller has also elevated his game in a major way and is peaking at the right time. He is currently on a five game scoring streak (2g, 5a). For the Pack to have a real shot at post season success, this NHL goal scorer will need to be one of the key components to get them there.

* The Pack are attempting to clinch their twelve consecutive playoff berth. They have never missed the playoffs in any year since their inception.

* Should the team with the battle for first place with Providence, it would give the team their first division crown since 2004.

LINES:

Rissmiller – Anisimov – Parenteau @

Dupont – Moore © – Weise

Pyatt – Ouellette – Owens

DiDiomete – (Rotated) – Sugden

Sanguinetti – Potter

Denisov – Fahey

Urquhart – Sauer

Nightingale (Extra D)

Wiikman

SCRATCHES:

Zaba – Finger – One to Two weeks

Zaborsky – Shoulder – Season

Soryal – Hand – 2 weeks

Byers – Knee – Season

Bell – Undisclosed – Day-to-Day

THREE STARS:

1. WOR – 20 Riley Armstrong
2. WOR – 29 Thomas Greiss
3. WOR – 9 Tom Cavanagh

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Nygel Pelletier (41), Referee
Bob Paquette (18), Linesman
Brian MacDonald (72), Linesman

SCOREBOARD WATCHING:

In the only other Atlantic Division game, Providence throttled the rapidly fading Lowell Devils 6-2.

Coming up on Wednesday Portland travels to Manchester for the division’s only other action apart from the Pack.

Meanwhile on Friday everyone gets into the act again as Worcester travels to Bridgeport, Albany heads up to Providence, Manchester will visit Springfield.

Saturday the Pack will be rooting for Bridgeport to knock off Providence, Hershey will visit Portland, Worcester is in Lowell.

Next Sunday, Portland travels to Bridgeport, Hershey is up in Manchester, Worcester takes on the Falcons in Springfield.

STANDINGS:

Rank          Team                        GP    W      L     OTL   SOL   PTS

NEXT GAME:

The Pack will look to put this one behind them and start building up some momentum again as they take on the Devils who’ve had their winning waves exorcized from them after getting trounced in two consecutive games 6-2 by the Bruins and 6-1 by the Pirates. On Friday  the Pack get on the bus and make their way to Portland for a battle with the Pirates. Saturday the Pack visit Springfield and next Sunday the most important game of the season has all eyes on the adventure coming as the Pack battle for first place with the P-Bruins.