The Hartford Wolf Pack, in only their second home date in the first eight to start the season, overcame a poor start and had a three-for three night on the power play to defeat the visiting Lowell Devils 5-2 in front of 3,583 at the CL Center Saturday night.
Entering the game after dropping three straight and off three poor performances in a row, you knew that the Pack coaching staff was not going to panic or sit idly by. Starting the season with six of their first seven on the road and coming off home with an anemic 2-5-0 start, their worst since the 2006-2007 season when the team bumbled their way to a putrid 1-6-0, Wolf Pack head coach Ken Gernander had tried every possible thing he could do to reverse course for his squad short of suiting up himself. “We hadn’t been doing the little things such as second effort, not quite bearing down on a clearing attempt or getting the big save,” Gernander said in his post game press conference.
Fortunately for the third year head coach, he has P.A. Parenteau, the team’s leading scorer (6g, 5a, 11pts) on his bench and the Hull, Quebec native put the team on his back and carried them to victory with a power play goal and assists on two others en route to a first star performance.
“The first five or 10 minutes was all about them, but we kind of took over after that. They took some penalties, and it kind of worked out for us. We made some good plays, got pucks deep and finished our checks more.” Parenteau said to reporters afterwards.
Parenteau was solid throughout. The one saving grace, much like the parent New York Rangers, has been the effectiveness of the Pack power play which after a three-for-three performance now sits atop the AHL at 29.5%.
“The power play has been very good, and it has been almost critical because we’ve labored to score 5-on-5,” Gernander said. “The power play and (good) goaltending are great assets and are going to be the difference in a lot of games, but you don’t want to rely on it.”
Parenteau agreed. “We’ve got some good players for the power play, so the power play is going to be our strength.”
The first half of the first period was totally dominated by the visitors. At the 10:05 mark the Devils had outshot the Pack 12-4 and were pinned in their own zone for the better part of it. Pack forward Dale Weise seemed to be all over the ice during that period breaking up plays and leading his team out of the zone. Miika Wiikman, (34 saves, 1-1-0, 2.02GAA, .920%) in his second start of the season since returning from extended training camp with the Charlotte Checkers, rose to the occasion turning aside all sixteen shots he faced in the first frame.
With just 4.3 seconds remaining in the first, Devils left winger Alexander Vasyunov took an interference call. On the ensuing face-off to Devils starting goaltender Jeff Frazee’s (22 saves, 0-1-0, 4.01GAA, .946%) right, Bobby Sanguinetti fired a low hard shot that deflected off a stick and in a very scary moment flew up and hit Pack center Corey Locke in the face. Locke went down for quite a while and angrily flung his helmet into the corner. After some help from trainer Damien Hess, the Toronto native got up and fortunately was able to continue in the game.
Locke coming out for the second period was incredible crucial. The Pack’s second leading scorer, ten points (6g, 4a), took a Parenteau pass and ripped it by Frazee for the lead at :32 seconds.
The Devils responded putting pressure on the Pack defense and Wiikman kept them in it with good solid saves. But the pressure prevailed at 3:01. The Devils recently demoted Cory Murphy from New Jersey back to Lowell. His pass to Vladimir Zharkov in the right circle led to a hard shot that hit Wiikman solidly in the glove but somehow bounced out and over his shoulder and into the corner of the net to tie the score.
A seemingly endless stretch of penalties called by referee Ryan Fraser followed the Zharkov goal. Ryan is the son of Kerry Fraser, who retires following the end of this season after being an NHL referee the past 37 years. When Lowell’s Matthew Carrente took a high sticking call at 8:13 it was the fourth straight call in a span of 5:12, but it sent the Pack to another man advantage, their second of the game.
With just 21 ticks left to their power play, Bobby Sanguinetti took a pass from Ilkka Heikkinen in the left circle. Sanguinetti looked over the landscape and found Parenteau crashing the net and hit the right winger right on the tape through traffic. Parenteau fired hard and fast and easily beat Frazee high to the glove side for the lead.
The Devils were taking poet Dylan Thomas’s advice and not going “quietly off into that good night.“
At 11:25, just 1:53 after the Pack had taken the lead for the second time, Zharkov answered with his second of the contest off a spin-a-rama that was headed wide, but deflected off the stick of defenseman Brent Henley and past Wiikman who had no chance.
But when Rob Davison took a Delay of Game penalty firing the puck out of his own defensive zone into the stands, the Pack got what what prove to be the game winner when Michael Sauer ripped a beautiful shot from the left circle that Frazee never saw because of all the traffic in front of him.
The Pack added to their lead 1:53 into the third period off a highlight reel behind the back pass from Locke to Dane Byers who was all alone in the crease. Byers kept jamming at the puck and slammed it under Frazee for his second goal in as many games.
The Pack closed the scoring with exactly a minute to play. With Frazee pulled for an extra attacker, Corey Potter launched a shot from deep in his own end only have it find the unguarded net at the far end of the ice.
Parenteau summed it up best. “It’s not easy starting the season with so many games on the road, and they came out swinging (Saturday night), but we kind of weathered the storm.” Adding, ““We’re sticking together and sticking to our guns, so I’m sure we’ll be fine with the team we have.”
Bruce Berlet takes you inside the Pack locker room at HartfordWolfPack.com. Even in small towns like Lowell, Massachusetts, the atrocious state of coverage by newspaper and radio stations haunt minor league hockey. The Lowell Devils, who consistently draw the fewest fans in the AHL…wonder why…can’t even get coverage in their local newspaper on a game with a rival franchise in a neighboring state…not exactly like they had to send someone across the country… can only report on the game at their own website at lowelldevilshockey.com. This situation is simply pathetic. Since Bruce Berlet retired, the Hartford Courant doesn’t send anyone to cover the team except for the first game and the playoffs (sometimes). They do occasionally print the general media report sent out by the team. By the way, the Courant offices are within walking distance of the XL Center. Disgusting! What’s worse is the Providence Journal, the largest paper in Rhode Island who don’t cover the Providence Bruins at all. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers get tremendous coverage by Mike For
nabaio and the Connecticut Post, but they are the exception in this area. This has to be a major concern for Dave Andrews and the AHL executives.
GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET
NOTES:
* P.A. Parenteau is now third in the AHL in scoring with eleven points (6g, 5a). Andy Wozniewski of the Providence Bruins leads the league with 5g, 9a for 14pts. Four of Parenteau’s six goals have come on the power play.
* Bobby Sanguinetti is fourth overall in the AHL in assists with eight and second amongst D-men. He ranks fifth overall in scoring (1g, 8a) among defensemen and sixth, one point behind him, is Illka Heikkinen (1g, 7a). The seven helpers puts the Finnish import fourth amongst d-men. Sangs is also fifth among defenseman in shots on goal with 24. Andrew MacDonald leads all with 32.
* Michael Sauer is third in shooting percentage of all blueliners tallying two on eight shots for a .250%. Jonas Junland of Peoria is 5-for-16 and a .313%.
* Miika Wiikman seems to be returning to the form he had two years ago when his sparkling play between the pipes ran former first round pick Al Montoya out of town. He is now 13th in the AHL overall with a 2.02GAA and a .920%.
* Paul Crowder is tenth in the AHL among rookies in scoring with six points. (2g, 4a). Andrei Loktionov of Manchester leads the AHL with ten points (5g, 5a).
* The three-for-three power play performance put the Pack atop the AHL in power play efficiency. The team is 13-for-44 or a blistering 29.5% and have not allowed a short handed goal. The Toronto Marlies have been short handed 42 times and given up five shorties. They’ve only scored when a man up seven times. Here’s a stat I just made-up. On the man-advantage, the Pack also lead the AHL at plus-13 (goals scored – short handed goals surrendered). The Binghamton Senators are a measly plus-1. Three goals for and two against in 40 tries. Is a decline the penalty rule in the making for the Ottawa Senators AHL representatives?
* On the penalty kill, the Pack are 28th giving up 13 on 44 shorthanded opportunities. Rochester, Lake Erie, Abbotsford and the Pack all have tallied four times short handed. Albany, who is a league best 96.7% effectiveness rate killing off 29 of 30 chances has also scored shorthanded. In the reverse of my made up stat, they also lead the league at an even keel. One goal surrendered and one scored themselves.
* CHECKERS UPDATE
Charlotte Checkers vs Florida Everblades:
ROUND TWO GOES TO ZABA
Michel Leveille recorded his second consecutive two-goal game and rookie defenseman Mike Berube collected his first pro goal as the Charlotte Checkers defeated the Florida Everblades, 4-2, for their second win of the early season.
Leveille’s two-goal performance was his third consecutive multi-point game and Ethan Graham chipped in with three assists for the victorious Checkers (2-1-0).
Charlotte opened the scoring with just under four minutes to play in the first period. Michel Leveille took a pass from Derek Couture at the blueline and let a shot go that squeaked through Florida goaltender Mike Morrison.
Early in the second period, Florida got into penalty trouble that provided a window of opportunity for the Checkers in the form of a 5-on-3 power play. Rookie David Marshall took a pass on the end boards from Ethan Graham and drove to the net. He then beat Morrison with a back hand shot for his first goal of the season. The power-play goal came at 1:29 of the second period.
The Checkers would go ahead 3-0 on another goal by Leveille, his fourth in two nights. Jared Nightingale got the puck down low and fed a cross-crease pass to Leveille who buried it into the open net.
With just under nine minutes to play in the second, Florida got on the board on a goal by Ernie Hartlieb, cutting the Checkers’ lead to two goals. Hartlieb capitalized on a Checkers’ miscue in front of the net and tucked the puck past Matt Zaba (1-1-0 3.01GAA, .913%) for his first of the season.
Charlotte, however, would add some insurance late in the period. Ethan Graham fired a shot from the point that rebounded onto the stick of Mike Berube who made no mistake and converted for his first as a pro. The goal came at the 18:32 mark of the second period and Derek Couture picked up the additional assist.
Florida answered back again in the third on a goal by former Checker Ryan Lang but it wasn’t enough as Charlotte would hang on for the 4-2 victory.
Zaba stopped 33 of 35 shots to earn the win and Mike Morrison made 28 saves in a losing cause for Florida. Michel Leveille earned first-star honors with his two-goal, plus-3 performance.
The Checkers will now return home for a few days before heading to Gwinnett to face the Gladiators on Friday. The home opener is only seven days away – Sunday, Nov. 1 at 2pm. For ticket information please call 704-342-4423 or visit www.gocheckers.com.
LINES:
Grachev – Dupont – Weise
Byers – Locke – Parenteau
Soryal – Crowder – Owens
Hillier – Ambuhl
Potter – Sanguinetti
Henley – Sauer
Heikkinen – Dandenault
Urquhart
Wiikman
(Assistant Captains Italicized)
SCRATCHES:
Devin DiDIomete – Broken Arm – Mid-November
Nigel Williams – Healthy
Tyler Arnason – Healthy
THREE STARS:
1. HFD – 17 Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
2. HFD – 84 Corey Locke
3. LOW – 17 Vladimir Zharkov
ON ICE OFFICIALS:
Ryan Fraser (14), Referee
David Spannaus (8), Linesman
Rich Patry (52), Linesman
NEXT GAME:
The Pack look to continue their winning ways in the second of five straight home games when they host ex-Pack Dwight “Dewey” Helminen and the Worcester Sharks at 3pm. The Sharks enter the game winners of three straight.
