SOMETHING’S “BRUIN” IN HARTFORD 

    VERSUS   

Sometimes you win games that you probably should have lost. Other times you lose games you probably should have won. Yet there are other times still where you get what you deserve. Such has been the case for the Hartford Wolf Pack over the last two nights as the home team dropped a 4-3 overtime decision Saturday night to the Providence Bruins.

Hartford won Friday night in overtime against the Portland Pirates despite being totally outplayed all over the ice. Andres Ambϋhl’s score with 12.5 seconds left gave them life before they won it on a Dane Byers overtime goal. Saturday the Pack came out and gave a much better and more spirited showing for themselves but ultimately lost the game because of a shorthanded goal they surrendered and because their struggles on the power play continued going 0-for-6 on the night.

The game deciding goal came just as a Pack man-advantage was ending in overtime. Mikko Lehtonen went to the penalty box at 2:12 of the extra period for dragging down Ilkka Heikkinen from behind. Referee decided to send Lehtonen into the penalty box rather than giving the Pack defenseman the Penalty shot that he clearly deserved. The Pack put pressure on the Bruins defense but was unable to register a shot on goal. As the power play was concluding, Heikkinen, on the left point, uncorked a shot that snapped his stick into pieces. The misfire sent the puck fluttering into the slot. Trent Whitfield was able to wrestle control of it away from Pack defenseman Dave Urquhart. Whitfield head-manned the puck out to center ice where Lehtonen, just getting out of the box, was able to grab it for a clean breakaway. The Espoo, Finland native streaked in fast and beat starting netminder Chad Johnson (35 saves, 10-6-1-1) with the game winner.

But the Pack spent much of this game trailing and battling to come from behind.

Hartford fell behind early when Guillaume Lefebvre took a rebound of a Andy Wozniewski shot and fired it over the fallen Pack goaltender just 2:48 into the contest.

The Pack battled back. With Jordan Owens in the penalty box for a Holding the Stick call, the 4,488 in attendance nearly saw Dale Weise get his fourth shorthanded tally at 7:39 when he anticipated a pass and stole it. But Weise’s bid was denied by Kevin Regan, (40 saves, 1-1-0), who stick checked the puck from the Pack right winger.

However, the Pack continued to pressure the puck. With a delayed Providence penalty call for tripping Owens, the Pack moved the puck around the perimeter effectively. The vulcanized rubber found it’s way to Owens down low on the left after being sent for the ride along the boards from Heikkinen on the right. Owens passed the puck across the crease to the AHL’s leading points earner, Corey Locke (12g, 21a, 33pts) who sent it special delivery for the upper left corner of the net. Needless to say, the package arrived on time and the score was knotted at 1.

The Pack got what appeared to be a break when ex-Pack captain Craig Weller took a hooking call at 13:07 giving the Pack their first man advantage of the game. 1:08 later though, a poor pass at the point and a pinching Corey Potter put the puck on Andrew Bodnarchuk’s stick. He quickly fed Drew Larman and the Bruins were off an a shorthanded odd man rush the other way. With Heikkinen back, Larman and Lefebvre led the charge. Lefebvre took a Larman pass in the right circle and put a bee-line biscuit right in the basket past Johnson and the Pack trailed again.

Paul Crowder would score the only goal of the second period for either team. At 16:28, his shot from the right side of the crease off a rebound of a Heikkinen shot from the top of the slot sent the two teams in the final frame deadlocked at 2.

Regan was all over the place in the third period. It was his efforts to deny Brodie Dupont in close and Crowder in particular highlighted a period where the Bruins netminder kept his team in the contest with 14 stops allowing for Lehtonen’s heroics in overtime.

Hartford played much of the third period shorthanded on the bench. Dupont missed significant time with an injury but later returned to the game. However, the Pack were not so fortunate as they were forced to play the third period and Overtime with only four defenseman to rotate. Both Mathieu Dandenault and Nigel Williams were hurt with undisclosed injuries and unable to return.

The Pack won’t have much time to dwell on it as the travel to Bridgeport to play their fourth game in five nights against the sixth place Bridgeport Sound Tigers who sit just 3 points behind the Pack who now hold a one point hold on second over Worcester and Lowell. and trail first place Manchester by five points.

Bruce Berlet continues to battle a bad back so it’s Brian Ring with the story at Hartfordwolfpack.com. The Providence Journal has a small piece of news on their local team…no reporter, just a small piece as does The Bruins’ own website.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* With both Mathieu Dandenault and Nigel Williams going down to injury in Saturday night’s contest, the Pack have recalled Jared Nightingale and Mike Berube from the Charlotte Checkers. Here’s the official release:

Hartford Wolf Pack general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the Wolf Pack has recalled defensemen Jared Nightingale and Mike Berube from the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.

 Nightingale, a fourth-year pro out of Michigan State University, had tallied one goal and added five assists for six points, and had 52 penalty minutes, in 16 games with the Checkers.  He was +8 in that action, and his 52 PIM ranked second on the Charlotte team.  The 6-3, 205-pound Nightingale skated in 49 AHL games with the Wolf Pack last season, contributing two goals and five assists for seven points and serving 121 minutes in penalties.

 Originally signed to an AHL contract by the Wolf Pack January 30, 2009, Nightingale, a 27-year-old native of Jackson, MI, has five goals and six assists for 11 points, along with 149 penalty minutes, in 75 career AHL games with the Wolf Pack, Springfield, Iowa and Chicago.

 Berube, a 6-1, 215-pound rookie out of the Western Hockey League, had two goals and two assists for four points, plus 23 penalty minutes, in 16 games with Charlotte.  The 21-year-old’s +11 mark was the best on the Checkers’ team and was good for a tie for fifth overall in the ECHL.

 The 21-year-old Berube signed an AHL contract with the Wolf Pack this past June 9, after a 2008-09 season in which he played 56 games with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, registering four goals and 20 assists for 24 points, along with 55 penalty minutes and a +33.  In 317 career WHL games over five seasons with Prince George, Red Deer and Vancouver, the Edmonton, Alberta native scored 15 goals and added 63 assists for 78 points, while amassing 333 PIM.

* Of Lehtonen’s eight goals on the season, five have come against the Wolf Pack.

* The Pack record is 2-1-1 in overtime this season.

* Dale Weise has his first five-game points streak. (4g, 3a).

* Paul Crowder now has goals in three of his last five games after going goalless in his previous 12 contests.

* The Pack power play, which is still somehow atop the AHL, is stone cold since the recall of P.A. Parenteau. In the eight games since the Hull, Quebec native left for New York, the team is now 5 for their last 34 man-up situations (14.7%). For the season they are 26 for 109 (23.9%) while surrendering 3 shorties. Conversely the Pack Penalty killing has been stellar. For the month they have only allowed four goals in 55 shorthanded situations for a 92.7% success rate and have risen from second to last in the league (28th) to 19th. They are now at 81.8% overall with 7 shorthanded tallies (Weise has 3).

* Chad Johnson is fifth among goaltenders in total saves with 451. Devan Dubnyk of Springfield has repelled 608.

* Okay, the economy is bad and people are hurting financially so the next bit of info you do need to take a taste of salt with, but even with $10 tickets available for all games, the Pack are now 23rd in overall attendance and averaging a dismal 3,408 per game. That’s down from last season’s 4,190 per game and 4,405 the year before that in 07-08. In 06-07 only 4,563 averaged taking in games and 5,045 in 05-06. You were saying about an NHL team moving to Hartford? You don’t think the NHL sees that? At this rate it’ll be interesting to see if the Rangers bother to even keep the Pack in Hartford. It sure helped the declining numbers to take MSG out of control of the arena and give it to Northland AEG…who, by the way have had the state put their control of Rentschler Field out to bid. Look, we don’t spread rumors, but we’ve heard rumblings from a number of people that AEG wants out of running the XL Center. We repeat, it’s NOT a confirmed fact, just a rumor. But it should be a significant rumor for Pack fans. The ones who faithfully attend every game and who have given their heart-and-soul to these great kids. If you want the team to stay in Hartford, it’s time to call up your friends and get them into the arena. There’ve been lots of examples of grass roots efforts saving television shows and so on…it’s time to make sure the Pack remain in Hartford before it’s too late.

* Howlings has received emails from a number of people complaining about Neulion’s coverage of Pack games with the screen freezing repeatedly. Neulion is aware of the issue and they have told Howlings that they are working to alleviate the problem that they are working to locate.

MEANWHILE DOWN IN CHARLOTTE:

    VERSUS   

CHECKERS WIN STREAK SNAPPED AT FIVE 

The teams traded goals all game long and Daniel Tkaczuk extended his point streak to six games (5g, 7a).

Gwinnett opened the scoring just 10 seconds into the game on a wrap-around by forward Tom Zanoski.

Charlotte would respond just over three minutes later on a power-play goal by Kenny Roche. Roche took a pass from Julien Brouillette at the left faceoff circle and fired a one-time shot past Gladiators goaltender David Brown.

An offensive zone faceoff in the Checkers’ zone with 6.6 seconds left in the first period resulted in an improbable Gwinnett goal. A shot from the point was stopped by Munce but the rebound lay free in the crease and Matt Siddall was there to net his fifth of the season.

The two teams would each score on the power play in the second and Gwinnett would hold a 49-18 shot advantage through two periods of play.

In the third, Mike Taylor beat a sprawling Gladiators netminder for his first of the season before Gwinnett again took the lead on a rebound goal by defenseman Sam Roberts.

Charlotte would press late in the third and tied the game when Randy Rowe skated to the front of the net and tipped a Daniel Tzacuk shot past Brown on the short side.

The teams seemed destined for overtime, however, with 27 seconds to play in the game, Pat Galivan stole the puck on the left wing and wristed a shot over the glove of Munce for the victory.

The Checkers (10-4-2-0) will host Gwinnett on Sunday at Time Warner Cable Arena. Game time is 2 p.m. and ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4-ICE or visiting www.gocheckers.com

Notes: The Checkers are 4-2-1 on the road this season…Tkaczuk now has 15 points (5g, 10a) in eight games and is on a six-game point streak (5g, 7a)…Kenny Roche has seven goals in his last six games…Michel Leveille leads the team in scoring with 23 pts (10g, 13a) in 16 games… Matt Ford remains with Lake Erie (AHL) and defenseman Ethan Graham is with Norfolk (AHL)…Trevor Glass remains on the 21-day injured reserve.

Checkers are back in action at home in the Time Warner Cable Arena to take on these very same Gwinnett Gladiators at 2pm Sunday afternoon.

SCORE-SHEET:

Charlotte 1 1 2 – 4

Gwinnett 2 1 2 – 5

1st Period-1, Gwinnett, Zanoski 11 (Sullivan, Roberts), 0:10. 2, Charlotte, Roche 8 (Brouillette, Leveille), 3:53 (pp). 3, Gwinnett, Siddall 4 (Berti, Fritsch), 19:59. Penalties-Paris Gwt (slashing ), 3:38; Sullivan Gwt (tripping), 10:26; Berube Chr (tripping), 12:01.

2nd Period-4, Charlotte, Marshall 2 (Tkaczuk, Rowe), 7:37 (pp). 5, Gwinnett, Berti 4 (Roberts, Paris), 9:28 (pp). Penalties-Sullivan Gwt (delay of game), 3:18; Siddall Gwt (bench – too many men), 7:07; Roche Chr (slashing ), 8:25; Schepke Chr (roughing), 8:53; Siddall Gwt (roughing), 8:53; Doig Chr (roughing), 10:06; Roche Chr (fighting – major), 10:06; Lawrence Gwt (fighting – major), 10:06; Zanoski Gwt (cross-checking), 10:06; Zanoski Gwt (unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:06; Nightingale Chr (roughing), 16:09; Reynolds Chr (unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:09; Filangieri Gwt (slashing ), 19:22.

3rd Period-6, Charlotte, Brouillette 5 (Taylor, Marshall), 10:22. 7, Gwinnett, Roberts 5 (Paris, Berti), 12:44 (pp). 8, Charlotte, Rowe 2 (Tkaczuk), 17:47. 9, Gwinnett, Galivan 8 (Berti, Siddall), 19:33. Penalties-Leveille Chr (interference), 3:41; Reynolds Chr (cross-checking major), 10:52; Roberts Gwt (holding), 15:42.

Shots on Goal-Charlotte 8-10-18-36. Gwinnett 23-26-11-60.

Power Play Opportunities-Charlotte 2 of 6; Gwinnett 2 of 5.

Goalies-Charlotte, Munce 1-1-0-0 (60 shots-55 saves). Gwinnett, Brown 1-1-0-0 (36 shots-32 saves).

A-4,116

LINES:

Byers – Locke – Weise

Grachev – Dupont – Ambϋhl

Soryal – Crowder – Owens

DiDiomete – Garlock – Couture

Potter – Williams

Heikkinen – Dandenault

Sauer – Urquhart

Johnson

(Assistant Captains bold & italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Bobby Sanguinetti – On recall with the NY Rangers

Chris Chappell – Healthy

Brent Henley – Undisclosed Injury – Day-To-Day

THREE STARS:

1. PRO – M. Lehtonen
2. HFD – C. Johnson
3. PRO – G. Lefebvre

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Terry Koharski (10)

Linesmen:
Luke Galvin (2)
Paul Simeon (66)

NEXT GAME:

The Pack take to the road, sort of, as they travel down state to face former Pack captain Greg Moore and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the next meeting of this year’s GEICO Cup Challenge. The Pack come off two subpar performances but got two points out of it anyway and solidified their position moving into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division. The Sound Tigers meanwhile after losing five straight, are 5-2-0-1 in their last eight and dropped a 4-1 decision to Worcester Saturday night. In their last head-to-head meeting earlier this month in Bridgeport, the Pack won easily 4-1. In the last five years the Pack hold a 27-12-0-2 record against their in-state and franchise rivals.

SCORE-SHEET:

Providence 2 0 0 1 – 3

Hartford 1 1 0 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Providence, Lefebvre 3 (MacDonald, Wozniewski), 2:48. 2, Hartford, Locke 12 (Owens, Heikkinen), 10:58. 3, Providence, Lefebvre 4 (Larman, Bodnarchuk), 14:15 (sh). Penalties-Owens Hfd (holding the stick), 6:11; MacDermid Pro (fighting), 12:27; DiDiomete Hfd (fighting), 12:27; Weller Pro (hooking), 13:07.

2nd Period-4, Hartford, Crowder 5 (Heikkinen, Weise), 16:28. Penalties-Soryal Hfd (roughing), 6:57; Dupont Hfd (holding), 9:07; Lehtonen Pro (hooking), 9:28; Bodnarchuk Pro (boarding), 13:56.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Marchand Pro (tripping), 2:59; Weise Hfd (high-sticking), 8:08; Larman Pro (high-sticking), 14:46.

OT Period-5, Providence, Lehtonen 8 (Whitfield), 4:19. Penalties-Dupont Hfd (tripping), 1:23; Lehtonen Pro (tripping), 2:12.

Shots on Goal-Providence 11-12-11-4-38. Hartford 14-13-14-1-42.

Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 of 5; Hartford 0 of 6.

Goalies-Providence, Regan 1-1-0 (42 shots-40 saves). Hartford, Johnson 10-6-1 (38 shots-35 saves).

A-4,488