LATE NOT NECESSARILY BETTER 

     VERSUS       

(Due to time restraints for my son’s 8th birthday, we’ll be posting Bruce Berlet’s story until later tonight when we have a minute to write up the story…we apologize for any inconvenience)

The Hartford Wolf Pack have to be wondering what it’s going to take to win a game.

After Jeremy Williams ended a 158-minute, 19-second scoreless drought with a brilliant diving finish, the Syracuse Crunch scored a sixth-attacker goal with 23.8 seconds left in regulation and then won on veteran Josh Green’s goal off a scramble 45 seconds into overtime for a 2-1 victory before 4,022 at the XL Center Saturday night.

Green has 151 goals in 688 NHL, AHL and European games and none likely came easier than his first in his 14^th pro season, a simple tap-in past a sprawled Dov Grumet-Morris, making his first Wolf Pack start after two years in the Austrian Elite League.

Green had such an easy finish after Grumet-Morris stopped Nicolas Deschamps’ shot, with the rebound going to Luca Sbisa, who attempted a wraparound that went off the skate of Wolf Pack defenseman Ryan McDonagh, off the stick of defenseman Lee Baldwin and right to Green at the left side of an open net.

“It happened pretty quickly, but obviously I was in desperation mode,” said Grumet-Morris, recalled from the ECHL’s Greenville Road Warriors on Monday after Cameron Talbot sustained a groin injury while making 41 saves in a 3-0 victory over Providence last Sunday, the first shutout for a Wolf Pack goalie in his pro start. “Sbisa tried that wraparound a few other times, and obviously they’re just trying to get pucks to the net in overtime. Sometimes those kinds of goals happen, so that’s why coaches preach that, and it clearly worked unfortunately for me.

“Once (Sbisa) came around and the puck came through, I kind of lost sight of it, which is my fault. My responsibility is to always have eyes on the puck, and that’s something I’m sure we’ll address in video and again in practice. But that’s overtime. It’s either a 10-bell goal or one of those on a scramble. I thought we did a real good job of trapping them and limiting opportunities, and I was glad I was able to make some of the saves, but unfortunately I came up one short.”

The Wolf Pack (3-3-1-1) hadn’t scored from midway through the first period of a 5-1 loss to Norfolk on Wednesday night until Williams’ 10-bell goal when he drove to the net and outstretched Maxime Macenauer for a centering pass by Ryan Garlock, who had eluded Jake Newton to set up a 2-on-1 with 8:24 left in regulation.

“We had the one big timely goal, but we didn’t finish,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. “Sometimes you make or create your own luck. I can’t fault our defensive effort the last couple of nights, but we need a little bit more punch up front.”

The Crunch (3-2-0-1) nearly tied it after pulling Timo Pielmeier (26 saves) with 1:24 left, but Sbisa hit the post with 36.2 seconds to go. But off the ensuing faceoff, the Crunch got the equalizer and eventually dropped the Wolf Pack to 1-3-1 at home, including four straight losses since an opening-night 4-2 victory over Charlotte on Oct. 9.

Gernander again tried to ignite the offense by shuffling the lines, changing all four this time. Captain Dane Byers moved alongside center Tim Kennedy and Evgeny Grachev, who played his third forward position in three games. Kris Newbury was put between Mats Zuccarello and Chris McKelvie, who returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch in a 1-0 loss to Binghamton on Friday night. Brodie Dupont moved back to center between Williams and Justin Soryal, and Ryan Garlock centered Kelsey Tessier and Devin DiDiomete, playing his second game since March 30 and having major surgery on his left hip May 7.

“The way we had the configuration earlier, we used some guys a little bit too much,” Gernander said. “We tried to spread the ice time out a little bit more so the guys had more jump or pop to their game.”

For the second time in as many nights, the Wolf Pack amassed a 20-10 shot advantage through two periods but couldn’t produce enough sustained offense before the Crunch rallied for their third consecutive win.

But Williams’ goal was of the NHL variety.

“He’s a goal-scorer, and they make those plays,” Gernander said. “It was a wide drive (by Garlock), a good goalmouth pass and a good finish.”

Williams, signed as a free agent July 12 after career highs of 32 goals and 63 points with the Grand Rapids Griffins last season, said he was trying to go top shelf on Pielmeier.

“On a pass across, the goalie is usually going to be down, so I try to go up on everything that comes laterally,” Williams said of his team-leading fourth goal. “I think it makes it harder on him because all goalies are butterfly now, so if you’re going to score, you’ve got to get it up.”

Williams said the players spent a few minutes at the lockers after the game and then tried to look forward.

“Every guy in this room hates losing, so of course there’s going to be initial frustration after a game,” Williams said. “But I think we’ve got a good core group of guys that knows how to lead guys and what this league’s all about. I think we took our frustration out sitting in our stalls thinking about the game, then tonight you don’t think about it and tomorrow you recharge at home on a day off and come back to work on Monday. It’s something that if you dwell on every loss, you’ll never get to go forward, so we’ve got a good week of practice coming up and try and take the positives out of this game.”

About the only excitement in the first period was Wolf Pack defenseman Jared Nightingale, back after missing five games with an infected foot, scoring a unanimous decision over John Kurtz.

The pace quickened in the first half of the second period, with Dov Grumet-Morris making a left pad save on Palmieri and stopping a quick turnaround bid by Nick Bonino, who played at Farmington High School, Avon Old Farms and Boston University, where he had 45 goals and 62 assists in 116 games in three years before turning pro. Bonino was a sixth-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in 2007 and then traded to the Anaheim Ducks with Pielmeirer for Kent Huskins and Travis Moen on March 4, 2009. Bonino had one goal and one assist in nine games with the Ducks last season and has three assists this season, including on Palmieri’s goal.

Pielmeier kept the Crunch even when he slid across to deny Newbury on a 2-on-1 with McKelvie that caused Newbury to break his stick against the glass in frustration. Then during the Wolf Pack’s first power play, Pielmeier smothered Grachev’s bid in front and stopped Zuccarello off the left wing.

Grumet-Morris had Palmieri talking to himself in the first 4:25 of the third period when he twice stopped the quick winger breaking in alone off the right side. Williams finally broke the scoreless tie with his hustling drive to the net, but Palmieri got the late equalizer that Grumet-Morris couldn’t see because of a screen and Green stunned the Wolf Pack less than a minute into overtime.

“For two nights in a row we’ve done pretty well in terms of carrying play and shutting people down defensively, but we haven’t got the wins and that does get frustrating,” Gernander said.

Baldwin Meets and Greets Fans

Howard Baldwin, chairman and CEO of Connecticut Sports and Entertainment, spent about 45 minutes meeting and greeting fans in the XL Center atrium before the game. The former New England and Hartford Whalers owner and managing general partner continues to show local fans that he wants to revitalize hockey in the area in hopes of bringing another NHL team to Hartford.

Baldwin didn’t have to energize Marnie Paulus of West Hartford, who profusely thanked him for his efforts.

“The Whalers were my childhood growing up,” Paulus said. “We had season tickets, my brother played hockey all through high school, and our family thing to do was to come into town and go to the Whalers. So being back here at age 40 – and you can print it, I don’t care – with my husband and three boys is just exciting.

“The Wolf Pack has been exciting, but to see the Whale just brings back a flood of memories. I’ve followed the Wolf Pack a little, but now that the Whale is back (as of Nov. 27 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers), we’re going to be diehard fans again. We were following them when they were the New England Whalers because we lived in Lee, Mass. They were the Springfield Whalers, then the New England Whalers and the Hartford Whalers. Then we moved to Simsbury and said, ‘Hey, they’re following us.’ It’s exciting, just awesome.”

Paulus attended the game with her husband, Dan, and three sons – Jack, 11, Brady, 9, and Griffin, 6.

“They love hockey and we have to buy ‘Chuck-a-Puck’ for the second intermission,” Paulus said with a smile.

Brian Merker of Manchester wore a Wolf Pack sweatshirt, demonstrating his allegiance to the team he has followed since they came into existence in 1997 after the Whalers left for North Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricanes. But Merker talked mostly with Baldwin about the Whalers memories that he has.

“I was 12 when the Whalers moved and remember the great times coming to games with my dad,” Merker said. “It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. They definitely need a lot more support.”

That’s why Baldwin spent the time in the atrium, trying his best to drum up more support among those already interested. Now the key is getting those who haven’t been supporters for the last 13 years to show up.

Wolf Pack Off Until Wednesday Night

The Wolf Pack continue a season-high, five-game home stand Wednesday night against the Albany Devils (3-2-0-0), who beat the Wolf Pack 3-2 in a shootout Oct. 15 in Albany. Captain Stephen Gionta leads the Devils in scoring with one goal and three assists, and former Wolf Pack left wing Chad Wiseman scored his only goal in two games in the teams’ first meeting. Gionta had the shootout winner on a slapshot from the hash marks that found the top right corner behind Wolf Pack goalie Chad Johnson in the sudden-death sixth round. Mike McKenna made 31 saves, plus five in the shootout, allowing only a goal by Mats Zuccarello in the one-on-one competition as the Devils gave new coach Rick Kowalsky his first AHL victory. … So how hot has Wolf Pack nemesis Barry Brust been? After making 28 saves to record his 10^th career AHL shutout and first in a Binghamton uniform in a 1-0 victory over the Wolf Pack on Friday night, Brust had stopped 86 of 89 shots for a .966 save percentage in his last two starts. That was after he allowed seven goals on 39 shots in his season debut, a 7-4 loss to Norfolk on Oct. 9. Saturday night, he stopped 36 of 37 shots, plus five of eight more in a shootout, in a 2-1 road loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the AHL’s only remaining undefeated team (6-0-0-0). Brust played both games this weekend because rookie prospect Robin Lehner was called up by the Ottawa Senators and Mike Brodeur is still recovering from a concussion sustained on opening night.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

SOUNDS OF THE GAME

Ken Gernander Press Conference:

Jeremy Williams:

Dov Grumet-Morris:

NOTES:

* (Will Be Filled in later) 

LINES:

Byers © – Grachev– Kennedy
Soryal – Dupont – J. Williams
DiDiomete – Garlock – Tessier
Zuccarello – Newbury – McKelvie

Redden – Nightingale
Baldwin – Valentenko 
McDonagh – Kundratek

Grumet-Morris 
Johnson

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)  

SCRATCHES:

Cam Talbot – Groin – Day-to-Day
Jyri Niemi – Arm – Day-to-Day
Dale Weise – Broken Wrist – Four to Six weeks
Brandon Wong – Healthy Scratch
Nigel Williams – Healthy Scratch 

THREE STARS:

1. SYR – J. Green
2. SYR – T. Pielmeier
3. HFD – D. Grumet-Morris

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Jeff Smith (49)

Linesmen:
Brent Colby (7)
Glen Cooke (6)

NEXT GAME:

The fourth of five on this five-game homestand is Wednesday night. The Wolf Pack will look to get their first win of the stretch against the Albany Devils at the XL Center. Game-time is 7pm with Bob Crawford and the pregame at 6:30pm.

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

For Ticket information call (860) 548-2000.

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com or from your cell phone or computer visit www.twitter.com/howlingstoday for complete live in-game coverage.  

SCORE-SHEET:

Syracuse Crunch 2 (OT) at Hartford Wolf Pack 1 – Status: Final OT
Saturday, October 23, 2010 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Syracuse 0 0 1 1 – 2
Hartford 0 0 1 0 – 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kurtz Syr (fighting), 15:47; Nightingale Hfd (fighting), 15:47.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Zuccarello Hfd (interference), 1:30; Macenauer Syr (interference), 7:45; Mirasty Syr (fighting), 11:19; Soryal Hfd (fighting), 11:19.

3rd Period-1, Hartford, Williams 4 (Garlock, Dupont), 8:24. 2, Syracuse, Palmieri 2 (Bonino, Sbisa), 19:36. Penalties-Bickel Syr (fighting), 6:21; DiDiomete Hfd (fighting), 6:21.

OT Period-3, Syracuse, Green 1 (Sbisa, Deschamps), 0:45. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Syracuse 4-6-10-3-23. Hartford 8-12-7-0-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Syracuse 0 / 1; Hartford 0 / 1.
Goalies-Syracuse, Pielmeier 3-1-0 (27 shots-26 saves). Hartford, Grumet-Morris 0-1-0 (23 shots-21 saves).
A-4,022
Referees-Jeff Smith (49).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Glen Cooke (6).