ROUND TWO 

     VERSUS    

By Bruce Berlet and Bob Crawford

Talk about a reversal of form.

The Hartford Wolf Pack scored five goals on nine shots in the third period Friday night to break a scoreless tie and romp, 5-1, over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Hamden.

Twenty-four hours later, the Sound Tigers tallied five times on 11 shots in the first period against Cameron Talbot and held on for a 5-4 victory at The Rinks at Shelton.

Justin Taylor started and ended a four-goal burst in a 5:04 span late in the period as the Wolf Pack lost their first of three preseason games, but not before defenseman Trevor Glass made it interesting with a power-play, sixth-attacker goal with 56.7 seconds left.

Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander was understandably upset about the first 20 minutes, especially after the way his team finished in a 5-1 victory Friday night.

“Turnovers, not competing, no finishing checks,” Gernander said when asked about the first period. “There were more checks finished on the first shift of (Friday) night’s game than there were in the first period tonight from our guys. Not only did they not win the board battles, but they took it to the middle of the rink with full possession. That’s easy.”

Gernander shuffled the lines in the second period, when the Wolf Pack scored three times and then nearly pulled it out at the end.

“The message was to compete,” Gernander said of his talk between the first and second periods. “It was the same guys in the second and third periods as the first period. It’s a lesson learned. We had some returning guys in our lineup tonight who lacked consistency. They had a sleepy start, and it cost us when they could have set the tone for the whole evening like you saw (Friday) night at Quinnipiac.

“There’s the odd time you’ll get a goal to start the game, but you’ve got to start the game like you’re playing to win. You can’t sleepwalk into it and think you’re going to be OK. Along with that, if you’re not into the game, your decision making is poor, everything is poor. You can’t do anything half-hearted.”

Captain Dane Byers and alternate captains Kris Newbury and Dale Weise started Friday night’s game up front and displayed their physicality from the opening faceoff. But they weren’t in the lineup Saturday night. Byers and Newbury were healthy scratches, and Weise was in Ottawa after he and Mats Zuccarello were called up by the Rangers to replace high-scoring Martin Gaborik and former Wolf Pack wing Ryan Callahan for a rematch with the Senators. Zuccarello had a goal and Weise an assist in an 8-5 loss.

The Wolf Pack had outscored the opposition 8-1 in winning their first two preseason games, but the Sound Tigers scored their five early goals in 14:49. Brian McGuirk put the Sound Tigers ahead to stay when he got inside Brendan Connolly and redirected Jon Landry’s shot past Talbot at 3:53. The Sound Tigers were held off the board again until 13:38, when Taylor scored a power-play goal after taking a pass from Landry and breaking in around Tomas Kundratek.

Brady Leisenring made it 3-0, converting a Wolf Pack turnover into a bad-angled shot that beat Talbot at 15:22. Tony Romano, assigned to the Tigers by the New York Islanders earlier in the day, picked off another turnover and beat Talbot with 3:35 left in the period. Taylor capped the scoring with his second goal off a rebound of John-Scott Dickson’s shot with 1:18 to go.

Talbot, who had played so well early in a 3-0 victory over the Albany Devils on Wednesday night, was replaced by Dov Grumet-Morris at the start of the second period. The Wolf Pack quickly responded in a 4-on-4, as Evgeny Grachev used his long reach to poke Brandon Wong’s rebound past Marc-Antoine Gelinas at 1:35. Wong, a standout at Quinnipiac University the last four seasons, has an assist in each of the Wolf Pack’s three games.

Moments after the Wolf Pack killed off a Sound Tigers’ power play, Brodie Dupont picked up a loose puck in center ice, skated around Corey Syvret and fired a shot from the right circle that deflected in off Gelinas at 6:21.

Then after the Wolf Pack continued to apply pressure, Jeremy Williams took a pass from Kundratek and showed why he had career highs in goals (32) and points (63) last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, firing a shot from high in the slot that beat a stunned Gelinas high to the stick side to make it 5-3 with 1:42 left in the period. Despite Williams making his Wolf Pack debut, he was an alternate captain with Dupont and defenseman Nigel Williams, no relation to Jeremy.

Grumet-Morris (15-for-15) kept the Wolf Pack in the game at 5:23 into the third period when he atoned for giving up a bad rebound by diving across the crease to deny Anton Kharin, who scored the Sound Tigers’ only goal in a 5-1 loss Friday night.

Grumet-Morris then made another stellar save on Brian McMillin’s wide-open shot from the slot with 8:15 left, then Glass got the Wolf Pack to 5-4 when he one-timed Nigel Williams’ cross-ice pass to the top right point past a screened Gelinas with 56.7 seconds to go. But the Wolf Pack couldn’t get the equalizer despite pulling Grumet-Morris for a second time.

Defenseman Jared Nightingale and wing Chris Chappell made their season debuts with the Wolf Pack.

The Wolf Pack concludes the preseason Sunday at 2 p.m. at Champions Skating Center in Cromwell against the Worcester Sharks, with a $5 admission charge benefitting Junior Wolf Pack Youth Hockey. Veteran defenseman Wade Redden will not make his minor-league debut after he was put on waivers Sept. 27, cleared two days later and joined the Wolf Pack on Wednesday. The Rangers waived the 33-year-old Redden to clear his $6.5 million salary from their $59.4 million salary cap. He has played 994 pro games in the NHL.

“He’s worked hard every practice, and the game in Cromwell isn’t going to make or break his season,” Gernander said.

Redden and goalie Jordan Parise are the only Wolf Pack players not to play in the preseason. Parise, the older brother New Jersey Devils’ star Zach Parise, was released from his tryout contract.

No More Forwards for Awhile

Barring an unforeseen development, the Wolf Pack won’t be getting any more forwards from the Rangers anytime soon unless Weise and Zuccarello return.

Before the injuries to Gaborik and Callahan, the Rangers were already without Vinny Prospal, whose arthroscopically-repaired right knee will need a few weeks rest before he’s allowed to resume skating. The 35-year-old alternate captain missed seven games last season after having an arthroscopy on Dec. 29 and then skated with discomfort after returning to the lineup. Prospal, the Rangers’ second-leading scorer last season (20 goals, 38 assists), told the New York Post that he experienced soreness throughout the summer. After being penciled in to play Friday night against the Senators, Prospal was scratched after meeting with general manager Glen Sather, coach John Tortorella and team physicians.

“We’re going to keep Vinny off the ice for a couple of weeks, rest him and then put him through the paces and see how he reacts,” Tortorella told reporters in New York. “There’s swelling. We’re going to approach this conservatively. We haven’t even talked about the possibility of surgery at this point. He’ll rest, then skate, and we’ll see what happens.”

Prospal and Rangers captain-center-Trumbull native Chris Drury (broken left index finger) will start the season on injured reserve. The Rangers have 14 healthy forwards, so they might not assign a forward to the Wolf Pack before the season opens for both teams Saturday. The Rangers are in Buffalo, and the Wolf Pack start their 14^th regular season at 7 p.m. at the XL Center against the Charlotte Checkers, their former ECHL affiliate and one of the AHL’s two new teams.

Rookie Derek Stepan, who scored in regulation and in the shootout, won’t be coming to Hartford anytime soon, perhaps never. Center Erik Christensen, who played with star forward Marian Gaborik much of last season, might have gotten a reprieve from Prospal’s injury.

Meanwhile, the Wolf Pack is expected to get two defensemen from the Rangers, barring more injuries in New York. Veteran Michal Rozsival (groin) didn’t play Friday night or in Saturday night’s preseason finale. Rozsival, Marc Staal, Michael del Zotto and former Wolf Pack defenseman Dan Girardi are locks to start on defense on Broadway. Former Wolf Pack Michael Sauer, fellow rookies Pavel Valentenko and Ryan McDonagh, Stepan’s former teammate at the University of Wisconsin, and Steve Eminger are vying for the other two spots on the roster. Eminger could be kept as a veteran seventh defenseman, but he struggled on Jason Spezza’s two goals in the win over Ottawa.

The Wolf Pack won’t have to wait long to find out who’s headed their way. Tortorella reconfirmed Friday night that the Rangers will make their final cuts Sunday. Gernander said the Wolf Pack also might make some cuts Sunday. … 

Sound Tigers 5, Wolf Pack 4

Hartford        0 3 1 — 4
Bridgeport    5 0 0  — 5
First period: 1, Bridgeport, McGuirk 1 (Landry, Syvret), 3:53. 2, Bridgeport, Taylor 1 (Landry), 13:38 (PP). 3, Bridgeport, Leisenring 1 (Asselin), 15:22. 4, Bridgeport, Romano 1 (McGuirk), 16:35. 5, Bridgeport, Taylor 2 (Dickson), 18:42. Penalties: Garlock Hfd (slashing), 1:35; Nightingale Hfd (boarding), 11:44; McKelvie Hfd (fighting), 19:01; Syvret Bri (fighting), 19:01; Versteeg Bri (roughing), 20:00.
Second period: 6, Hartford, Grachev 1 (Wong), 1:35. 7, Hartford, Dupont 1   6:21. 8, Hartford, Williams 1 (Kundratek), 18:18. Penalties: Williams Hfd (roughing), 0:54; Cameron Hfd (fighting), 4:17; Chappell Hfd (goaltender interference), 4:17; Klementyev Bri (fighting), 4:17; Baldwin Hfd (slashing), 9:52; Landry Bri (interference), 11:44; Williams Hfd (high-sticking), 15:47.
Third period: 9, Hartford, Glass 1 (Williams, Grachev), 19:03 (PP). Penalties-Klementyev Bri (hooking), 1:14; Kharin Bri (hooking), 13:09; Sellitto Bri (roughing), 17:17.
Shots on goal: Hartford 8-12-9–29. Bridgeport 11-7-8—26; Power-play opportunities: Hartford 1 for 5. Bridgeport 1 for 6. Goalies: Hartford, Talbot 0-1-0 (11 shots-6 saves); Grumet-Morris 1-0-0 (15-15). Bridgeport, Gelinas 1-0-0 (29-25). Referee: Geno Binda. Linesmen: Paul Simeon, Luke Galvin.