THE NEW MATH: 17+84+34 = 6-1

     VERSUS    

P.A. Parenteau returned to the Hartford lineup which had struggled to score goals, having not tallied more than two goals as a team since November 27th, and immediately injected some vitality as the Pack dominated all over the ice and scored in every way imaginable en route to a 6-1 thrashing of the Toronto Marlies in front of 2,621 at the XL Center Friday night.

“The team has been playing just okay for the last couple weeks,” Parenteau told reporters after the game. “It’s always fun to play with guys when you have chemistry going.”

Dane Byers benefited most from Parenteau’s return as the Nipawin, Saskatchewan native scored twice. Toronto had no answer for the reunited Pack top line of Byers, Parenteau and the league’s leading scorer, Corey Locke.  The trio accounted for seven or the team’s fifteen points on the night as Parenteau chipped in a pair of helpers, Byers had two goals and Locke added in three apples of his own.

Steve Valiquette’s game continued to regain the form he had that got him a three year reign as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup in New York. The Pack netminder stopped 23 of 24 shots by the Marlies. The lone tally for the visitors came off a Brendan Mikkelson shot from the high slot that Valiquette did not see as he was screened during a first period power play shot that got past the Etobicoke, Ontario native.

The Pack came out with a decided confidence that hasn’t been in the locker room for some time. They played with edge and control of the puck all over the ice.

Just 1:56 into the game, Byers tallied his first when Parenteau circled from left to right behind the Marlie net and came out and just threw the puck at ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger, Joey MacDonald (38 saves, 2-5-0). The puck hit the Marlie netminder and went into the air. Byers was right there and smacked it in over MacDonald’s right shoulder.

Just 1:13 later the Pack tallied again when enforcer Mike Hoffman, who signed a professional try-out contract with the Wolf Pack on December 10th, did a tremendous job fighting off two Marlies just to keep the puck in the offensive zone, took the puck and moved with it into the high slot and unloaded a hard shot that hit defenseman Jonas Frogren and deflected past MacDonald’s glove.

After Mikkelson’s tally at 8:29 and after the Pack killed off two consecutive calls against defenseman Corey Potter, Toronto took penalties for Too Many Men on the ice and Cross-Checking that game the Pack the first of what would be three, two-man advantages on the night. Potter redeemed himself in the resulting advantage when his shot from the left point got past MacDonald. Potter’s shot redirected when it hit defenseman Josh Engel’s stick. and with Byers, the game’s second star, drawing Mikkelson to him in front of MacDonald and the Marlie netminder never saw it.

It was 3-1 at the end of one with the Pack having a 17-7 shots advantage.

The Pack added a second five-on-three goal at 16:05 of the second when Locke took a Matt Gilroy pass on the low right side. Locke saw Byers open in front and tried to feed him. The pass hit Byers’ stick and got just past Phil Oreskovic, who had recovered, and through MacDonald.

The Pack got their league leading eleventh shorthanded goal when Brodie Dupont took the puck away from Tyler Bozak and fed Jordan Owens, back from missing two games from a puck that he took to the face against Portland on the 11th. Owens certainly hasn’t lost a step of speed from the injury as he blew right past Bozak and cut across the crease and beat a fallen MacDonald for his fifth goal of the year and second shorthanded tally on the season.

The Pack would finish their throttling of the Marlies when Derek Couture scored at 1:16 into the third period. As Ryan Garlock came out of the penalty box he took the puck and put it on net. After a scramble in front, where Paul Crowder falling got a stick on it and the puck hit the post. When it did, it fell right in front of Couture who had an easy time burying it into the twine.

“It was important to have a good start; we kept the pressure on them all night.” Parenteau said.

Brian Ring has the Hartford perspective at Hartfordwolfpack.com.  For Toronto report, you can get a laugh checking out TheStar.com or TorontoMarlies.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	GF	GA	STK	P 10	PIM
1. Monarchs	32	20	9	1	2	43	93	70	0-1-0-0	7-3-0-0	455
2. Devils	31	17	11	3	0	37	105	91	3-0-0-0	5-5-0-0	586
3. Sound Tigers	33	17	13	1	2	37	82	84	4-0-1-0	6-2-1-1	800
4. Pirates	32	15	12	3	2	35	94	93	1-0-0-0	6-2-0-2	621
5. Sharks	29	16	11	0	2	34	81	88	1-0-0-0	8-1-0-1	465
6. WOLF PACK	31	15	12	1	3	34	91	91	2-0-0-1	3-4-1-2	622
7. Bruins	30	15	14	1	0	31	81	84	0-3-0-0	6-4-0-0	551
8. Falcons	31	10	15	4	2	26	77	110	0-9-1-1	0-8-1-1	720

NOTES:

* P.A. Parenteau has points in his last eight games (6g, 9a, 15 pts) for the Wolf Pack and 12 of the 14 he’s played in (10g, 12a, 22pts).

* Pack are 9-2-0-1 when leading after one period, 13-1-0-1 when leading after two and 8-6-1-1 when when outshooting their opponents.

* Corey Potter’s goal in the first ended an eight game scoreless streak, Paul Crowder ended a six game scoreless streak.

* Andres Ambϋhl was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

* Derek Couture has his first multi game goal scoring streak of the season.

* Rangers Assistant GM and “Cap-ologist” Cam Hope was in the building

* Devin DiDiomete, despite what it said on the scoreboard, does NOT speak six languages. It was a joke that he didn’t think would get used.

* The Pack have scored four shorthanded goals in the last four games.

* Devin DiDiomete continued to show amazing bravery taking to fighting guys MUCH bigger than he is and holding his own. It has visibly inspired his teammates along the way.

* For two teams with no real juice between them, this game was pretty chippy throughout. There were four fights in the game. As the buzzer sounded the entire Marlie team surrounded the Pack bench and tensions were clearly VERY high. Head Coach Ken Gernander held back an obviously furious Dale Weise.  The two teams don’t meet again until March 7th when Hartford travels to Toronto.

LINES:

Byers © – Locke – Parenteau

Grachev – Dupont – Weise

Owens – Crowder – Couture

DiDiomete – Garlock – Hoffman

Williams – Gilroy

Potter – Nightingale

Urquhart – Sauer

Valiquette

(Assistant Captains bold & italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Andres Ambϋhl – Healthy

Justin Soryal – Upper Body – Day-to-Day

Matt Zaba – On recall with the NY Rangers

Illka Heikkinen – On recall with the NY Rangers

Bobby Sanguinetti – On recall with the NY Rangers

Mathieu Dandenault – Lower Body – Indefinite

Brent Henley – Lower Body Injury – Four to Six weeks

THREE STARS:

1. HFD – C. Locke
2. HFD – D. Byers
3. HFD – P. Parenteau

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Ryan Fraser (14)

Linesmen:
Kevin Redding (16)
David Spannaus (8)

NEXT GAME:

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep Howlings from their appointed duty covering the Hartford Wolf Pack’s battle Saturday night against the Hamilton Bulldogs.

To watch the game live, you can purchased it for $6.99 at AHL-live.

On the other hand, you can attend the game for as little as $10 a ticket? So why not just go? For Ticket information call (860) 548-2000.

Or you can listen live at WTIC.com.

SCORE-SHEET:

Toronto Marlies 1 At Hartford Wolf Pack 6 – Status: Final

Dec 18, 2009 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Toronto 1 0 0 – 1

Hartford 3 2 1 – 6

1st Period-1, Hartford, Byers 7 (Parenteau, Locke), 1:56. 2, Hartford, Hoffman 1   3:09. 3, Toronto, Mikkelson 2 (Bozak, Hanson), 8:29 (pp). 4, Hartford, Potter 3 (Locke, Parenteau), 19:21 (pp). Penalties-Weise Hfd (elbowing), 7:24; Potter Hfd (hooking), 8:52; Potter Hfd (holding), 13:01; served by Deveaux Tor (bench minor – too many men), 18:23; Oreskovic Tor (cross-checking), 18:37.

2nd Period-5, Hartford, Byers 8 (Locke, Gilroy), 16:05 (pp). 6, Hartford, Owens 5 (Dupont), 19:28 (sh). Penalties-Perry Tor (holding the stick), 2:04; Williams Hfd (interference), 3:47; Bodie Tor (roughing), 5:53; Parenteau Hfd (roughing), 5:53; Evans Tor (slashing), 14:22; Rosehill Tor (tripping), 15:01; Evans Tor (instigating, fighting, misconduct – instigating), 16:36; Weise Hfd (fighting), 16:36; Garlock Hfd (delay of game), 19:03.

3rd Period-7, Hartford, Couture 4 (Crowder, Garlock), 1:16. Penalties-Rosehill Tor (fighting), 2:29; Hoffman Hfd (fighting), 2:29; Deveaux Tor (roughing, roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct), 3:08; DiDiomete Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:08; Williams Hfd (tripping), 4:34; Boyce Tor (tripping), 9:06; Oreskovic Tor (fighting), 12:09; DiDiomete Hfd (fighting), 12:09; Ondrus Tor (cross-checking), 12:56; Rosehill Tor (kneeing), 13:29; Berry Tor (fighting), 14:11; Byers Hfd (fighting), 14:11; Parenteau Hfd (roughing), 14:11.

Shots on Goal-Toronto 7-10-7-24. Hartford 17-12-15-44.

Power Play Opportunities-Toronto 1 of 6; Hartford 2 of 11.

Goalies-Toronto, MacDonald 2-5-0 (44 shots-38 saves). Hartford, Valiquette 2-2-0 (24 shots-23 saves).

A-2,621

Referees-Ryan Fraser (14).

Linesmen-Kevin Redding (16), David Spannaus (8).

MEANWHILE BACK IN CHARLOTTE

     VERSUS      

 

CHECKERS DROPPED BY RED HOT STINGRAYS
Late Comeback Not Enough As South Carolina Earns 12th Straight Win

The hottest team in the ECHL, the South Carolina Stingrays, scored two timely goals in the second period and hung on to defeat the Charlotte Checkers, 4-3, on Friday night. With the victory, the Stingrays tied a franchise record of 12 consecutive wins.

Aaron Slattengren, who returned to the lineup after missing the last 19 games with an injury, recorded two assists in a losing cause for the Checkers. South Carolina netminder Todd Ford stopped 36 of 39 shots for the win.

South Carolina would draw first blood on a goal by ECHL rookie scoring leader Nikita Kashirsky. Kashirsky took the puck down low, dragged it across the crease and beat a sprawling Ryan Munce for his team-leading 17th of the season. The goal was assisted by Josh Godfrey and came at the 9:31 mark of the first period.

The Checkers answered with two minutes left in the period on a laser of a shot by rookie Andrew Carroll. Mike Harder gained the zone and dropped the puck back to Carroll who then fired it over the shoulder of Ford for his ninth of the season.

With just under six minutes to play in the second period, the Checkers were assessed a bench minor for too many men on the ice and South Carolina went to work on the power play. A shot from the point was redirected on its way toward the net and beat Munce along the ice. The goal was credited to forward Matt Scherer.

The Stingrays then took a two-goal lead just 96 seconds later on a Checkers turnover down low. Dain Prewitt let a shot go and Rob Ricci was there to put home the rebound.

South Carolina would add another before Charlotte cut the score to 4-2, midway through the third. Tyler Doig took a shot from the point and rookie Jean-Philipp Chabot was there to tip it home.

With less than seven minutes to play, the Checkers made it a one-goal game on the power play when Aaron Slattengren took a shot from the right wing and Mike Harder was there to pot the rebound.

Charlotte pressed late in the third but Ford was there to turn aside the remaining 10 shots he faced.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow in South Carolina before returning to Charlotte on Sunday for their fourth meeting in five nights.

The Checkers (14-7-4-0) will once again host the Stingrays 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

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL GAME SHEET 

 

 

NOTES:

* Tyler Doig has seven assists in his last seven games…

* Kenny Roche has five goals and an assist in his last six games, including two game-winners…

* The Checkers are 7-2-1 in their last nine home games…

* T.J. Reynolds leads all ECHL defensemen with 99 penalty minutes and 11 fighting majors and leads the Checkers with a +15 rating…

* Trevor Glass, Codey Burki and Aaron Slattengren are on the 21-day injured reserve.

 

THREE STARS:

1. SC – R. Ricci
2. SC – M. Scherer
3. CHR – M. Harder

 

 

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Tim Mayer (11)

Linesmen:
Mathieu Chenier (71)
Paul Reid (97)

 

NEXT GAME:

The Checkers challenge South Carolina for the third time in a series where they’re playing five of each teams six consecutive games against each other.

 

SCORE SHEET:

South Carolina Stingrays 4 At Charlotte Checkers 3 – Status: Final

Dec 18, 2009 – Time Warner Cable Arena

South Carolina 1 2 1 – 4

Charlotte 1 0 2 – 3

1st Period-1, South Carolina, Kashirsky 17 (Godfrey), 9:31. 2, Charlotte, Carroll 9 (Harder, Slattengren), 18:00. Penalties-Campbell Sc (slashing ), 11:49; Harder Chr (hooking), 19:47.

2nd Period-3, South Carolina, Scherer 7 (Fornataro, Ricci), 14:29 (pp). 4, South Carolina, Ricci 11 (Prewitt), 15:55. Penalties-Taylor Chr (holding), 5:52; Schepke Chr (roughing), 10:16; Kashirsky Sc (hooking), 11:30; Slattengren Chr (bench – too many men), 13:45.

3rd Period-5, South Carolina, Johnson 11 (Campbell), 1:25. 6, Charlotte, Chabot 4 (Doig, Roche), 10:05. 7, Charlotte, Harder 6 (Slattengren, Doig), 13:41 (pp). Penalties-Ricci Sc (hooking), 1:37; Bruess Sc (interference), 6:02; Scherer Sc (fighting – major), 6:02; Berube Chr (instigating, fighting – major), 6:02; Johnson Sc (holding), 12:04; Godfrey Sc (delay of game), 12:43.

Shots on Goal-South Carolina 11-12-2-25. Charlotte 15-5-19-39.

Power Play Opportunities-South Carolina 1 of 4; Charlotte 1 of 5.

Goalies-South Carolina, Ford 14-4-0-1 (39 shots-36 saves). Charlotte, Munce 5-3-1-0 (25 shots-21 saves).

A-4,317

Referees-Tim Mayer (11).

Linesmen-Mathieu Chenier (71), Paul Reid (97).