PACK TIE TEAM RECORD…FOR LOSING

      VERSUS    

After getting blown of of four straight games by an aggregate score of 27-12, for the Hartford Wolf Pack, the fact that Friday night’s 4-2 defeat to the visiting Bridgeport Sound Tigers was a close and spirited game was at least a step in the right direction. However, despite the improved effort, it was still a defeat in a game they could have won had they not had mistakes throughout the contest that could have been avoided. The loss was also the team’s fifth in a row which tied a team record for consecutive losses that dates back to the 2003-2004 season, the only other team its been done in the team’s thirteen year history.

Head Coach Ken Gernander, who was Captain of the 2003-2004 team spelled it out succinctly when he said, “I thought we were more committed, but our margin for error isn’t very great right now so we can’t take any unnecessary penalties.” (Referring to a late call on Corey Locke). Gernander added, “There are no small things, so we have to be completely committed and fully and mentally locked in for all 60 minutes to give ourselves a chance. If we have to allow one goal a game, then that’s what we’ll have to do to get it done.”

What needs addressing however is the team’s total failures on special teams. The Pack power play, which led the AHL for the first couple of months in the season, has looked very bad. Using a dump and chase strategy requires a commitment to forechecking hard and using the extra attacker to gain control of the puck, but in the Pack’s case, the puck is getting chipped in and then after some time down low, the battles are being won by opponents and the pick is flying out of zone without the team even getting set up.  In the case of this game, the Pack could not even get their shots on goal. TO Bridgeport’s credit, their players were committed to blocking shots whenever the Pack did manage to set something up. For the game, the Pack were one-for-seven on the man-advantage including an extended four minute power play late in the game in which they got no shots on goal.

Penalty killing has been abysmal all season. While the team does lead the American League with shorthanded goals (14), the team ranks dead last when on the penalty kill (78.8%).

Another major struggle for the Pack this season has been their almost constant predicament of having to play from behind. The Wolf Pack scored the game’s first goal for only the second time in the last eleven games. NHL veteran Brendan Witt tripped Corey Potter at 2:38 of the second period sending the Wolf Pack power play on the ice for their second time in the game. It was team captain Dane Byers, who has been the Pack’s best player of late, who, after Nigel Williams kept the puck in the zone at the left point, gave it to Byers. From high along the boards, the Nipawin, Saskatchewan native avoided Sean Bentivoglio and saw Locke all alone on the right doorstep. Byers made a laser pass putting the puck right on the tape of the AHL’s third leading scorer who one timed it right past Bridgeport starter Nathan Lawson (18 saves, 10-11-3). The goal was Locke’s 22nd of the season and 15th on the power play.

The Pack only held the lead however for 3:46 seconds. After a faceoff win against Locke, Robin Figren sent the puck to the left point to Bentivoglio. The Tiger’s left winger threw the puck into the right corner where Figren came away with the puck out-dueling both Evgeny Grachev and Ilkka Heikkinen and took the puck behind the Pack net to starter Chad Johnson’s right. With Corey Potter eyeballing Figren standing in the Pack crease, Figren saw Jeremy Reich get open as Locke moved off the coverage and moved to the low slot. Figren saw the play develop in front and fed Reich the puck. Just seven seconds after killing off Donald Brashear’s roughing call, Reich roofed the puck over Johnson (18 saves, 14-11-2).

At 12:15, a bad change getting off and on the ice by Dale Weise and Kenny Roche led to a Too Many Men on the ice penalty putting the Pack on the kill for the third time.

It only took ten seconds for the Pack to fall behind as the penalty kill failed them. After a faceoff win, on the left side, the puck swung around to the left. Jordan Owens got tied up with Jesse Joensuu and the two fell to the ice. The puck slid out to Mark Flood at the left point. The Tiger’s defenseman ripped a hard shot that looked like it may have hit Heikkinen on it’s way to the net. Both the Pack defenseman and Greg Moore, the ex-Pack captain, were in Johnson’s line of sight.

The Pack went to the locker-room down a goal for the 27th time in 57 games. The Pack’s record in those games is now 2-23-0-2. When the team leads after two periods, their record is 19-1-1-1.

Hartford came out of the intermission with a collective look of determination on their faces and they made it work for them.

Potter started a break out of the Pack end by hitting Justin Soryal with a pass banked off the boards on the left side. Soryal advanced the puck to Dupont in the middle. Dupont chipped it past Flood where Weise hauled it in. The Winnipeg native then went to pass the puck but it hit NHL veteran Brendan Witt’s skate, went through the legs of Flood and came back into the corner of the right faceoff circle to Soryal. Flood went down, but Soryal’s quick pass to Dupont just inside the crease on the right side eluded the Tiger Defenseman. Dupont then one-times it right into the net as Lawson was helpless to do anything to stop it. Just 22 seconds into the period, the Pack had tied the score.

But when things are not going right, there just always seems to be something that comes back to cost them. In this case it was poor defensive coverage in their own zone that cost the Pack just 41 seconds later.

Anton Klementyev recovered his own rebound along the right wing boards and fed the puck down low to Matt Martin. Locke came over to battle with Martin and Bentivoglio whacked at it. Williams joined the fray in the far corner and knocked Bentivoglio down. In the meantime, that left the 5’9” Locke to tangle with the 6’2” Martin as the puck was moved in front of Johnson.  Grachev let Tyler Haskins all alone. Nightingale tried to go down to block the shot and Owens came over from the left side, but it was too late. Haskins blasted the one timer from the slot and beat Johnson low to the stick side for what would prove to be the fame winner.

The Pack would have their chances.

Ex-Pack Trevor Gillies got called for a double roughing call at 6:10 that the Pack did nothing with, but the team’s best chance came during a shorthanded situation that shouldn’t have been.

Coming up to the faceoff circle, at 14:14, Locke said something to linesman Luke Galvin that the veteran was not going to tolerate. Galvin called over referee Ian Croft and for the second game in a row, a Pack player selfishly costs the team a chance to get back in the game by yapping at an official.

On the ensuing power play for Bridgeport, Byers was defending against Reich at the right point and the puck got swatted over to the center. Ryan Garlock, in his first game back after missing eight games due to injury, chipped the puck past

Witt. Byers had a breakaway. The puck would not settle down on the ice and twice the puck jumped off Byers’ stick. It slowed him up enough that it gave Reich and Witt enough time to come back and alter the shot that Byers took allowing Lawson to make a pad save with 6:24 to go in the game.

Bridgeport would get an empty net goal with just 14.9 seconds left. The Pack were again on the power play for the seventh time. Johnson was pulled for an extra attacker creating a six-on-four personnel surge. Dupont and Roche both had excellent scoring chances rejected by Lawson. Locke recovered the puck to Lawson’s left behind the goal line and in the corner. Locke attempted to feed a wide open Potter at the left point. Potter only got a piece of the puck on the one-timer. The puck flew over his stick into the neutral zone. Trevor Smith, who had just returned to the play having just come out of the penalty box, raced out and grabbed the puck and put it away for the gift empty netter.

The Pack face a daunting task Saturday to avoid extending their losing streak to the worst in team history as the red-hot and first place Worcester Sharks invade the XL Center for a 7pm faceoff.

My mentor Bruce Berlet reports the events from the press box and locker-room at Hartfordwolfpack.com.  CTPost.com has the gifted Michael Fornabaio telling his story.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS

SCOREBOARD:

Joe DiPenta scored a shorthanded goal with 1:21 left as Portland knocked off River Rats at the Times Union Center in Albany. Hamilton, behind three assists from ex-Pack Tommy Pyatt beat Grand Rapids 4-3. Matt Taormina and Ben Walter each had three points (1g, 2a) en route to a 5-0 shellacking of Manchester in Lowell. Joey MacDonald made 21 saves to lead Toronto past Texas while the Worcester Sharks won their fourth straight with a 4-3 win over Binghamton.  Providence doubled up Abbotsford 402. Ex-Pack captain Craig Weller had a goal. At the Blue Cross Arena Manitoba rode a 32 save performance by Cory Schneider to a 4-3 win. Springfield got trounced by Norfolk at the Scope 3-1. Ex-Pack Alex Giroux had two goals but it wasn’t enough as the leagues best, Hershey dropped a 5-3 decision to Adirondack in Glens Falls. Ex-Pack Dave Liffiton had an assist but his Syracuse Crunch were defeated by ex-Pack Brian Fahey and the Lake Erie Monsters 6-4. Another ex-Pack, Hugh Jessiman had a helper as his Milwaukee Admirals beat Houston 2-0. Derek Armstrong, a member of the Pack’s Cup team in 2000, had a goal but it wasn’t enough as Peoria was upended by Chris Chelios and the Chicago Wolves. Matt Keith had a hat trick to lead Rockford past San Antonio 6-5.

NOTES:

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* On the season, Hartford has surrendered the first goal in 35 of team’s 57 games. 

* Samson in reverse. Ever since he cut his hair, Brodie Dupont has been on a tear. Sorry about the Dr. Seuss like rhyming, but in the last five games, Brodie Dupont has five points (2g, 3a).

* Donald Brashear had his first fight as a member of the Wolf Pack. At 8:54 of the first period, he and Joel Rechlicz tangled in what might have been the longest buildup before throwing any punches in AHL history. But once they did start to throw them, Brashear landed some powerful shots and came away with the decision.

* Kenny Roche, the former Rangers third round draft pick, is making a solid case for his staying in Hartford even after other regulars make it back from the IR. In 12 games, Roche has eight points (4g, 4a) and has been good defensively.

LINES:

Byers © – Crowder – Roche
Grachev – Locke – Owens
Soryal – Dupont – Weise
DiDiomete – Garlock – Brashear

Heikkinen – Sanguinetti
Williams – Nightingale
Urquhart – Potter

Johnson
Wiikman

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Matt Zaba – Healthy Scratch
Andrew Carroll – Healthy Scratch
Kevin Schaeffer – Healthy Scratch 
Derek Couture – Healthy Scratch
Andres Ambϋhl – Reassigned to Swiss National Team – Two weeks
Steven Valiquette – Hand Injury – Day-to-Day (Technically on recall with the NY Rangers)
Michael Sauer – Shoulder – Day-to-Day
P.A. Parenteau – Concussion – Day-to-Day
Mathieu Dandenault – Lower Body – Indefinite
Brent Henley – Knee  – Season
Mike Hoffman – Shoulder – Season

THREE STARS:

1. BRI – T. Haskins
2. BRI – S. Bentivoglio
3. HFD – B. Dupont

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Ian Croft (87)

Linesmen:
Kevin Redding (16)
Luke Galvin (2)

NEXT GAME:

After losing five straight, the story line for the Hartford Wolf Pack for Saturday night’s contest against the first place and red hot Worcester Sharks is, do they lose six and set the dubious mark for futility.  Bob Crawford is on the air with the pre-game show at 6:30.

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

If you can attend the home games, they 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:

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4 At Hartford Wolf Pack 2 – Status: Final

Feb 19, 2010 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Bridgeport 0 2 2 – 4

Hartford 0 1 1 – 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Rechlicz Bri (fighting), 8:54; Brashear Hfd (fighting), 8:54; Wotton Bri (hooking), 14:31.

2nd Period-1, Hartford, Locke 22 (Byers, Williams), 4:02 (pp). 2, Bridgeport, Reich 2 (Figren, Bentivoglio), 7:48. 3, Bridgeport, Flood 8 (Joensuu), 12:25 (pp). Penalties-Witt Bri (hooking), 2:38; Brashear Hfd (roughing), 5:41; Joensuu Bri (roughing), 6:28; Byers Hfd (roughing), 6:28; Mauldin Bri (roughing), 9:04; Nightingale Hfd (roughing), 9:04; Soryal Hfd (elbowing), 9:04; Moore Bri (tripping), 9:37; served by DiDiomete Hfd (bench minor – too many men), 12:15; Morency Bri (hooking), 13:27.

3rd Period-4, Hartford, Dupont 12 (Soryal, Weise), 0:22. 5, Bridgeport, Haskins 6 (Martin, Bentivoglio), 1:03. 6, Bridgeport, Smith 17   19:45 (en). Penalties-Gillies Bri (roughing, roughing), 6:10; Soryal Hfd (hooking), 11:39; Locke Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:14; Smith Bri (boarding), 17:34.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 7-10-5-22. Hartford 7-8-5-20.

Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 1 of 5; Hartford 1 of 7.

Goalies-Bridgeport, Lawson 10-11-3 (20 shots-18 saves). Hartford, Johnson 14-11-2 (21 shots-18 saves).

A-4,154