PEAKS AND VALI 

     VERSUS     

The Hartford Wolf Pack scored two goals within 3:28 to erase a third period deficit but Nick Palmieri’s second goal of the game with just 59.3 seconds remaining as Lowell beat the New York Ranger’s top farm club 3-2 in a special contest held at the Devils parent’s arena, the Prudential Center in Newark New Jersey, Wednesday night.

Tim Sestito fed Palmieri as he entered the offensive zone. Evgeny Grachev forced Palmieri wide and deep into the right side of the face off circle. The Devils right-winger unloaded a shot from a near impossible angle. Steve Valiquette, who had a solid game up to that moment, went down to one knee while hugging the post facing Palmieri. When he split his legs like that it created a five-hole opening that almost miraculously, Palmieri’s shot found it’s way through.

In the first period, the Pack played the game evenly with their host, but played with no spark.

Brodie Dupont took a holding call 2:13 into the second period and put the league’s best power play unit on the ice against their 21stranked penalty kill. The old adage about a good defense would beat a good offense…well, it didn’t quite apply.

Just 24 seconds into their man advantage, defenseman Matt Taormina launched a hard shot from the high slot with plenty of traffic in front of Valiquette (23 saves, 4-4-1). The shot appeared to hit a Pack player as it clearly redirected past the Pack netminder. Ben Walter and Vladimir Zharkov put assists onto their stat sheets on the play.

3:54 later the Pack hole grew just a bit deeper as Palmieri tallied his first of the game and 13th of the season when Valiquette was victimized by another weird goal. Palmieri was high at the right point. Corey Potter charged up at the Utica, NY native who fired a shot on goal. It’s hard to tell, but it appeared as if Valiquette was screened as the shot flew right past him into the net. The Pack had surrendered two goals on three shots.

As he did in the previous game, Devin DiDiomete sparked his teammates out of another poor performance. Against Syracuse he did it with his fists. In this one he did it with his body and his hands. DiDiomete broke in on Devils netminder Jeff Frazee (28 saves, 9-7-0) and almost tallied his first of the season, but a nice save by the Edina, Minnesota native kept the Pack off the board, but woke them from their slumber.

Valiquette made a magnificent save at 16:50 when a shot by Zharkov bounced off the Pack goaltender into the crease and Nathan Perkovich jumped all over it and went to raise it into the top corner. Valiquette flashed the glove and robbed him from deep in the red zone. It was Valiquette’s best save since being sent down by the Rangers to Hartford in early December.

The Pack broke through for their first goal at 3:15 of the third period. Ilkka Heikkinen, playing his most noticeable game of the season, fired a shot from the right point that went right on net into a crowd. Derek Couture then slid the puck over to Paul Crowder who fired the puck past Frazee for his eighth of the season.

Heikkinen then made a great move to get around left winger Alexander Vasyunov at the right point. While the puck is on the way to the net, Dale Weise got away from Taormina in front and deflected it past Frazee from right in front of the net. The goal was Weise’s eleventh and third point in the last three games (2g, 1a).

Attendance was for the game was 3,276. While that draw might seem miniscule by most team’s standards, the Devils are the lowest drawing team in the American League averaging only 1,850 a contest. In the NHL, the parent Devils average 15,049 good for 23rd out of 30 teams. If you’re interested, the Rangers are 12th overall averaging 18,200 (a sell out).

Bob Crawford had yet another real strong game on the microphone calling the action and then before boarding the bus for home filed this report at Hartfordwolfpack.com.  For the Lowell perspective read about it at lowelldevilshockey.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

NOTES:

* This game was the first for Wolf Pack in the home of a current NHL team since December 20, 1998, when they defeated the Fredericton Canadiens, 4-1, at what is now the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Pack lost ended their season high streak of 4-0-0-1 and a 2-0 record against the second place Lowell Devils.

* After winning two come from behind games, the Pack almost pulled it off a third time.

* The Pack are 8-5-1-4 in one goal games and 12-7-1-2 in games when they outshoot their opponents.

* Devin DiDiomete leads the team in PIM with 78

LINES:

Byers © – Locke – Parenteau 
Grachev – Dupont – Weise
DiDiomete – Crowder – Couture
Ambϋhl – Tkaczuk – Nightingale

Heikkinen – Sanguinetti 
Potter – Williams  
Urquhart – Sauer

Valiquette 
Zaba

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Justin Soryal – Facial Injury – Day-to-Day
Ryan Garlock – Upper Body Injury – Undisclosed
Mike Hoffman – Undisclosed injury – Day-to-Day
Chad Johnson – On recall with the NY Rangers
Mathieu Dandenault – Lower Body – Three – Four weeks
Jordan Owens – Facial Injury – Indefinite
Brent Henley – Knee  – Season

THREE STARS:

1. LOW – N. Palmieri
2. LOW – T. Sestito
3. HFD – I. Heikkinen

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Ryan Fraser (14)

Linesmen:
Leo Boylan (97)
Matt McNulty (26)

NEXT GAME:

The Wolf Pack will take their four game winning streak on the road for the next four games where they have struggled. On the road, the Pack are 6-10-0-2. The team’s last road game was a

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

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:

Hartford Wolf Pack 2 At Lowell Devils 3 – Status: Final

Jan 6, 2010 – Prudential Center

Hartford 0 0 2 – 2

Lowell 0 2 1 – 3

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Swift Low (slashing), 2:47; Couture Hfd (elbowing), 8:38; DiDiomete Hfd (fighting), 12:02; Robitaille Low (interference, fighting), 12:02; Corrente Low (boarding), 15:36.

2nd Period-1, Lowell, Taormina 8 (Walter, Zharkov), 2:37 (pp). 2, Lowell, Palmieri 13 (Corrente, Sestito), 6:31. Penalties-Dupont Hfd (holding), 2:13; DiDiomete Hfd (roughing), 7:30; Sauer Hfd (roughing, fighting, misconduct – instigating), 7:30; Robitaille Low (fighting), 7:30; Stoesz Low (roughing), 7:30; Davison Low (slashing), 12:49; Davison Low (high-sticking), 19:32.

3rd Period-3, Hartford, Crowder 8 (Couture, Heikkinen), 3:15. 4, Hartford, Weise 11 (Heikkinen), 6:43. 5, Lowell, Palmieri 14 (Sestito, Murphy), 19:00. Penalties-Sanguinetti Hfd (holding), 7:34; Dupont Hfd (roughing), 8:50; Palmieri Low (roughing), 8:50; Davis Low (holding the stick), 10:59; Corrente Low (delay of game), 19:54; Parenteau Hfd (roughing), 20:00; Frazee Low (roughing), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 7-10-13-30. Lowell 6-12-8-26.

Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 of 7; Lowell 1 of 4.

Goalies-Hartford, Valiquette 4-4-1 (26 shots-23 saves). Lowell, Frazee 9-7-0 (30 shots-28 saves).

A-3,276

 MEANWHILE BACK IN CHARLOTTE

       VERSUS     

CHECKERS STING RAYS

Carroll & Wiikman lead Checkers to Victory over ECHL’s best

The Charlotte Checkers battled the South Carolina Stingrays once again and came out on top beating the division-leaders, 5-4, in a shootout on Wednesday evening at Time Warner Cable Arena. The victory now gives the Checkers a three-game win streak as they prepare for their first northern road trip of the season.

Andrew Carroll notched a goal and an assist while Miika Wiikman turned aside 27 of 31 shots for the win. Defenseman T.J. Reynolds picked up an assist and now has six points in his last five games.

Just under five minutes into the game, the Stingrays drew first blood as Michael Dubuc took the puck off the faceoff and beat Wiikman low on the blocker side. The goal was unassisted and was Dubuc’s sixth of the season.

The Checkers then went on the attack and threw 17 shots on the South Carolina net before the end of the period. Ex-Checker, and current Stingrays goaltender Parker Van Buskirk, however, turned them all aside helping South Carolina keep the one-goal lead heading to the locker room.

Early in the second, it was all Charlotte as they scored three quick goals in a span of 3:40.

Michel Leveille took a shot at Van Buskirk, collected his own rebound and fired it into the top corner for his 12th of the season. The goal was assisted by Steve Ward and Tyler Doig and came at the 3:27 mark of the period.

Just two minutes later, Carroll, doing an imitation of Leveille on the last goal, let a shot go on Van Buskirk and banged home his own rebound for his 12th of the season. Matt Schepke and Reynolds picked up assists on the play.

The Checkers then took a two-goal lead just over a minute later on a great individual effort by defenseman Julien Brouillette. Brouillette carried the puck down low, cut to the net and tapped a backhand shot past South Carolina’s netminder. Carroll added an assist on the play and the goal came at 7:07 of the second frame.

Charlotte held a 33-19 shot advantage through two periods of play.

South Carolina then cut the Checkers’ lead to one, only 50 seconds into the third period, on a fluky goal by Trent Campbell. Jake Hauswirth took a shot toward the Charlotte net and the puck bounced off a Checkers defender onto the stick of Campbell who beat a sprawling Wiikman for his eighth of the year.

The Stingrays would tie the game midway through the third on a turnover down low in the Checkers’ end. Matt Scherer took a pass from Rob Ricci and made no mistake, firing it home and setting the stage for an interesting final eight minutes.

With less than two minutes to play, Checkers forward Aaron Slattengren broke the tie as he circled the South Carolina net and took a backhand shot from a near-impossible angle that beat Van Buskirk between the legs.

The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Dylan Yeo took a shot through traffic that made its way to the back of the Charlotte net. The goal came with 41 seconds to play in the game and the teams headed to overtime.

After a scoreless overtime, the Zamboni cleaned the surface and paved the way for a shootout. After four rounds of shooters, Andrew Carroll had a chance to seal the win for the Checkers and made no mistake as he faked Van Buskirk and beat him with a wrist shot on the blocker side.

(Carroll’s shot in the shootout photo courtesy of gocheckers.com)

SHOOT-OUT RESULTS:
(Charlotte elected to have South Carolina shoot first)

Checkers win shootout 4-3 

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

NOTES:

* Ryan Munce (.922) ranks 2nd  in save percentage among all ECHL goaltenders…

* Tyler Doig ranks 5th in ECHL scoring with 38 points (9g, 29a)…

* Miika Wiikman has only one regulation loss in 11 games this season (7-1-2)…

* T.J. Reynolds has six points in his last five games, leads all ECHL defensemen with 137 penalty minutes, and is second in overall ECHL plus-minus with a +20 rating…

* The Checkers are 10-3-1 in their last 14 home games…

* Charlotte has only one regulation loss in 17 tries when scoring first (12-1-4)…

* Trevor Glass and Chris Chappell are on the 21-day injured reserve.

LINES:

Doig – Leveille © – Slattengren 
Burki – Harder – Schepke
Chabot – Taylor – Carroll
Marshall

Graham -Ward
Berube – Reynolds
Brouillette – Schaeffer

Wiikman
Munce

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

THREE STARS;

1. CHR – A. Carroll
2. CHR – A. Slattengren
3. CHR – T. Doig

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Paul Depuydt

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

NEXT GAME:

Off to the road for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night with the Kalamazoo Wings (Second place, 19-9-4-0) and then on to Ohio Sunday to face the Toledo Walleye (Third place, 17-13-1-3).

You can buy tickets for any Checkers game home or away at Ticketmaster.com.

Should you want to watch this very exciting team from the comfort of your computer chair, all Checkers games are available on B2Live.

SCORE-SHEET:

South Carolina Stingrays 4 At Charlotte Checkers 5 (SO) – Status: Final SO

Jan 6, 2010 – Time Warner Cable Arena

South Carolina 1 0 3 0 – 4

Charlotte 0 3 1 0 – 5

1st Period-1, South Carolina, Dubuc 6   4:55. Penalties-Cascalenda Sc (interference), 2:33.

2nd Period-2, Charlotte, Leveille 12 (Ward, Doig), 3:27. 3, Charlotte, Carroll 12 (Schepke, Reynolds), 5:32. 4, Charlotte, Brouillette 6 (Carroll), 7:07. Penalties-Brouillette Chr (cross-checking), 12:56.

3rd Period-5, South Carolina, Campbell 8 (Hauswirth, Kiser), 0:50. 6, South Carolina, Scherer 10 (Ricci, Farrell), 12:33. 7, Charlotte, Slattengren 3 (Doig), 18:13. 8, South Carolina, Yeo 6   19:39. Penalties-Bruess Sc (hooking), 2:09; Brouillette Chr (hooking), 6:36.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – South Carolina 3 (Johnson G, Campbell NG, Dubuc G, Ricci NG, Yeo G), Charlotte 4 (Slattengren G, Leveille NG, Marshall G, Burki G, Carroll G).

Shots on Goal-South Carolina 8-10-10-3-0-31. Charlotte 17-16-13-4-1-51.

Power Play Opportunities-South Carolina 0 of 2; Charlotte 0 of 2.

Goalies-South Carolina, Van Buskirk 5-8-1-1 (50 shots-46 saves). Charlotte, Wiikman 7-1-1-1 (31 shots-27 saves).

A-4,017