ENDING THE YEAR IN STYLE 

     VERSUS    

Scoring three goals in a span of 3:12 helped the Hartford Wolf Pack overcome a two-goal first period deficit en route to a 5-3 win over their hapless I-91 rivals, the Springfield Falcons at the XL Center Wednesday night.

P.A. Parenteau might have had his most dominant performance of the season with a goal and two helpers. He’s already had nine previous multi-point games prior to this one, but what made this one special was his level of his combat level. The Hull, Quebec native was flying all over the ice like a Scud Missile. Of the eight goals scored in the game, he was on the ice for five of them (Three for Two against).

But it was Ryan Garlock’s shorthanded tally at 3:37 in the third period that gave the Pack a lead that they would not relinquish insuring Springfield’s 17th game without a win. The Falcons are 0-12-4-1 over the span.

“I was putting pressure on the penalty kill,” said Garlock said afterwards. “I chased the guy (Springfield goaltender J.P. Levasseur) behind the net, and luckily I came out with the puck. I had an open cage and I put it in.” After Levasseur (31 saves, 0-8-0) mishandled the puck behind the net, as he did in the team’s previous meeting in Springfield on Sunday, Garlock stormed in and took the puck away from Bill Thomas and came around the left side and flipped it backhanded into the deserted net.

Parenteau put the final nail in the Falcons’ coffin with just 48 seconds remaining when he was rewarded following up a Dane Byers shot that hit the right goal post from the slot. Parenteau pounced on it and fired it past defenseman Cody Wild who was protecting Lavasseur’s back. The Falcon netminder had come out just past the crease to try to cut down the angle for Byers. It didn’t work.

But the game didn’t start out that peachy for the Wolf Pack.

Despite a fast start by the Pack out of the gate, it was Ryan O’Marra who scored his first of two on the night at 6:01 of the first period. O’Marra followed a Colin McDonald shot that drew Pack netminder Steve Valiquette (25 saves, 4-3-1)too far out of the net to recover for the rebound.

O’Marra tallied his second of the contest with just 7.9 remaining in the first when he followed a Geoff Paukovich shot with the Pack defense out of position and busy running around in their own end.

Whatever Head Coach Ken Gernander said between periods obviously impacted his troops as the Pack came out on fire to start the second period.

First it was team Captain Dane Byers who got in front of the net for the rebound of a Parenteau shot and caught ex-Pack Dean Arsene and Alex Plante sight–seeing and buried it into the net.

Then just 17 seconds later, Derek Couture was crashing the net up the slot and took a great feed from Paul Crowder from the left wing and fired it past Levasseur to know the score at two.

The Pack got the go-ahead goal 2:55 after that when Parenteau flew around the Falcon offensive zone like a man possessed and kept finding the puck and taking it away from Falcon defenders. The Right winger brought the puck up to the right point looked off the defender and fed Michael Sauer out by the blueline near the high slot. With Byers screening and drawing traffic to himself, Sauer rocketed a missile of a slap shot and Levasseur never saw it.

With 3:41 left in the second period, the Falcons tied the score on a Rob Hisey goal/ The Oakville, Ontario native who was just brought up from the Tulsa Oilers of the CHL, scored his second goal in as many games as the centerman tracked down a Cody Wild shot and caught the Pack defensive tandem out of whack and put it over Valiquette for the equalizer. 

Brian Ring files this game report at Hartfordwolfpack.com.  Dan Hickling of The Republican was inside the Springfield locker room at MassLive.com. 

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

NOTES:

* The Falcons had NO WINS in December. The best they could muster was four overtime losses (Adirondack, Hartford and twice to Providence), The team has not won a game since just prior to Thanksgiving, a Nov 21 road win 3-2 against Hershey. Over the span Bridgeport, Portland and Worcester have each beaten the Falcons three times. The Pack have won twice as have Manchester and Providence with single game losses to Adirondack and Lowell.

* The win was the first for the Pack when trailing after one period 1-6-1-2. The team has still not won when trailing after two periods 0-11-0-2. When tied after two periods, the Pack are now 3-1-1-1.

* These two wins are the fist back-to-back victories for the Pack since November 25 (4-1 at Lowell) & 27th (4-3 overtime win at home over Portland)

* The Pack have only won four in their last thirteen (4-4-1-3)

* Ryan Garlock’s goal was his first game winner since joining the Pack.  Corey Locke has four victory clinching goals, including two against the Falcons. Dale Weise Has three, Dane Byers has two and Parenteau, Sauer, Dupont, Couture, Heikkinen Jordan Owens and Mike Hoffman all have on a-piece.

* We’re wondering why Devin DiDiomete (0g, 1a 61PIM in 15 games) is getting so few minutes on the ice. DiDiomete has many of the same attributes to his game that Sean Avery adds to the NY Rangers. Besides the fact that DiDiomete at 5’11 and 200 pounds, has fought guys that are as much as thirty or more pounds heavy than himself and held his own we might add, in his last two seasons in juniors at Sudbury, the Stratford, Ontario native lit the lamp for 23 and 21 goals respectively. Even this season in Charlotte, while recovering from a broken arm in pre-season, in the six games he played there, he contributed two goals and an assist. Not to pick on Evgeny Grachev, but the 19 year old Russian has just a goal and an assist in his last thirteen games. The highly touted prospect has been getting FAR more minutes than his play seems to deserve and he’s getting time on the power play. Grachev will be a good player someday but at this point in his development, there really needs to be some sign of life to justify the time he’s getting or the team should look to other players to fill that role. DiDiomete and Derek Couture (5g, 3a, 8pts) should both be seeing more minutes and in expanded roles.

LINES:

Byers © – Locke – Parenteau

Grachev – Dupont – Weise

Ambϋhl – Crowder – Couture

DiDiomete – Garlock – Nightingale

Heikkinen – Sanguinetti

Potter – Williams

Urquhart – Sauer

Valiquette

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Mike Hoffman – Undisclosed injury – unknown

Chad Johnson – On recall with the NY Rangers

Mathieu Dandenault – Lower Body – Three – Four weeks

Jordan Owens – Facial Injury – Indefinite

Justin Soryal – Facial Injury – Indefinite

Brent Henley – Knee  – Season

THREE STARS:

1. HFD – P. Parenteau
2. HFD – R. Garlock
3. SPR – R. O’Marra

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Ghislain Hebert (49)

Linesmen:
Derek Wahl (46)
Luke Galvin (2)

NEXT GAME:

The Pack will have New Year’s Eve off and will have time to evaluate their play as they’ll start the new year with a battle against franchise rival Bridgeport at the XL Center Saturday night. It’s very possible that Rick DiPietro will be in goal for the Sound Tigers. To watch the game live, you can purchased it for $6.99 at AHL-live.

The game is the last game of 2009. If you can attend the cost is as little as $10 a ticket, why not just go? For Ticket information call (860) 548-2000.

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com.

SCORE-SHEET:

Springfield Falcons 3 At Hartford Wolf Pack 5 – Status: Final

Dec 30, 2009 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Springfield 2 1 0 – 3

Hartford 0 3 2 – 5

1st Period-1, Springfield, O’Marra 6 (McDonald, Taylor), 6:01 (sh). 2, Springfield, O’Marra 7 (Paukovich, Reddox), 19:52. Penalties-Wild Spr (hooking), 5:40; Grachev Hfd (cross-checking), 8:22; Williams Hfd (cross-checking), 10:25; O’Marra Spr (hooking), 13:10.

2nd Period-3, Hartford, Byers 9 (Parenteau, Locke), 1:35. 4, Hartford, Couture 5 (Crowder), 1:52. 5, Hartford, Sauer 3 (Parenteau, Locke), 4:47. 6, Springfield, Hisey 2 (Wild, Fretter), 16:19. Penalties-Potter Hfd (interference), 6:11; Taylor Spr (fighting), 18:30; Nightingale Hfd (fighting), 18:30; Williams Hfd (cross-checking), 19:17.

3rd Period-7, Hartford, Garlock 3   4:00 (sh). 8, Hartford, Parenteau 12 (Byers), 19:12. Penalties-Weise Hfd (high-sticking), 3:37.

Shots on Goal-Springfield 12-6-10-28. Hartford 9-14-13-36.

Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 of 5; Hartford 0 of 2.

Goalies-Springfield, Levasseur 0-8-0 (36 shots-31 saves). Hartford, Valiquette 4-3-1 (28 shots-25 saves).

A-4,646

Referees-Ghislain Hebert (49).

Linesmen-Derek Wahl (46), Luke Galvin (2).

MEANWHILE BACK IN CHARLOTTE

 Had the night off and Don’t hit the ice again until Sunday afternoon January 3rd when they do battle at home for the first time in 2010 against the Gwinnett Gladiators at 2pm in the meantime the team has this going on:

CHECKERS TAKE ON YOUTH HOCKEY MITES OUTDOORS

Second Annual Checkers/Mites Game Is This Saturday

The Charlotte Checkers will play an outdoor game of their own this Saturday when they host the Charlotte Metro Hockey Association’s eight-and-under team at the WBT Holiday On Ice rink in Uptown Charlotte. The second annual event showcases hockey’s future stars against Charlotte’s own professional team.

The event takes place on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010 @ 4pm at the WBT Holiday on Ice outdoor rink, across from the Convention Center and will feature Checkers players and CMHA youth hockey players.