“UGLY” 

VERSUS 

“It was just an ugly goal, just a bad goal,” Connecticut Whale goaltender Chad Johnson said after TJ Breenan’s bad angle shot with just 3:12 remaining was the difference in a 3-2 win for the visiting Portland Pirates Sunday afternoon at the XL Center.

The game winner came after Marc-Andre Gragnani intercepted a give-and-go pass along the right wing boards in his own zone between Kris Newbury and Brodie Dupont. Gragnani sent the puck around the back end boards over to Corey Tropp on the right side. Tropp Advanced the puck out of his zone and fed Colin Stuart rushing through the neutral zone. When Stuart entered the Whale zone he fed Brennan on his left side. Brennan got behind Newbury and Stu Bickel.

“(Brennan) just came down the wing, hit the post and the puck kind of went on my right pad. I really didn’t get a good look at it, but it was just kind of sitting on my leg. I tried kind of leaning forward because I could feel it kind of rolling down the side of my leg. I didn’t know if it was over the line or not. I heard the whistle, and then I saw the ref coming into the picture and he’s pointing goal, goal, goal.”

Brennan recounts his view of the game winner. “As I was skating in, I saw two guys (Colin Stuart and Corey Tropp) crashing the net, so I just wanted to get the puck on the net, and that’s what I did,” The Pirate defenseman said. “When I skated around (the net), I saw the puck was over the goal line because (Johnson) never had control of it. Thank God it counted.”

“It’s a tough goal. There are (three) minutes left in the game, and it was one I probably have to play a lot differently.” Johnson said. “I felt I was in good position it just somehow got by me and hit the post. I didn’t really give him anything to shoot at except the post, and it got by me. Then it was a play down by feet, so I just tried to cover up all the holes that I could wherever I thought the puck was, and when I looked behind me, the puck was sitting right over the line a little bit.”

It was no surprise to anyone that the game came down to a single goal. The two teams had played five times this season prior to Sunday’s Atlantic Division contest with four of them finishing as one-goal games, including the Whale’s 4-3 win the previous night in Portland.

“All these games (with the Pirates) seem to come down to the last five minutes, when teams obviously pick it up because it’s kind of like an overtime atmosphere. It’s tough because we had our chances and played good in a back-and-forth game, but it just comes down to a bad goal. I’ve got to have those. This time of year it cost the team getting a point, so it’s just disappointing.”

The competitive balance between the two squads was of particular note to Whale head coach Ken Gernander. “You have two pretty equally matched teams, and your start isn’t up to par and the last shot on goal is one I’m sure Chad would like to have back. I guess that can be the difference, can’t it?

“They had a late power play (Saturday) night and (Dov) Grumet-Morris scrambled and made some big saves and kept the lead for us, and I guess tonight the opposite was true.”

Portland Pirate head coach Kevin Dineen was a bit more philosophical in his assessment. “It wasn’t a masterpiece, but you never critique the two points,” the one-time Hartford Whaler captain said. “We were in a game where we got so badly outplayed in one period (the second), but I liked our response in the third. I’m just so respectful of the talent over there that you’re trying to weather the storm sometimes. Some of the play over there, specifically (former Pirates center) Tim Kennedy, who’s NHL-worthy, playing fabulous hockey and making a pretty good career against us, is a credit to their team.

“But we didn’t play a great game, didn’t respond to the amount of effort and pressure they were putting on us. We looked like the team that played three games in three days, but I liked our last seven or eight minutes. There was a lot of emotion that went into that game, and I think we responded well. Their best players were the best players and hardest-working guys this weekend, and I can’t say the same thing about my group. But that’s the nature of the beast. Sometimes your identity comes from your worker-bees, and they certainly got it done for us this weekend.”

Tim Kennedy, who played under Dineen in Portland during the 2008-2009 where he made it to the AHL All-Rookie Team, felt that this one hurt. “It’s really tough when you feel after those first two goals that you really took control of the game,” He said. “It’s just one of those kind of fluke goals that can beat you and leaves a sour taste in your mouth. We didn’t have the best start, but after that, they had their chance here or there, but I thought we really carried the play.

“It’s just a tough loss because we’re trying to catch those guys, and that’s two points that I think we should have…We’ve had some pretty good games against them, but it still hurts not to win.”

Johnson, who has struggled in his first full season as the recognized number one goaltender, was sharp at the outset of the contest. He had to be. Just 15 seconds into the game, Brian Roloff got free in the slot for a wide open chance. Johnson rejected the bid, but Jared Nightingale was sent off for slashing and the Whale were on the penalty kill from the outset.

Johnson (29 saves, 15-18-2) made a strong save on the PK to deny Luke Adam on a golden opportunity in front. But you could tell that Johnson was fighting the puck when at 5:56 a relatively harmless shot into the five hole slipped between his pads and almost went into the net.

It was looking like it was going to be a long afternoon for the Whale players a referees Francis Charron and Geno Binda weren’t going to let the game interfere with their rush to go watch the Super Bowl and were letting liberties get taken without blowing the whistle. When Chad Kolarik was decisively held up right in front of Charron and nothing was called, Kolarik lost his temper and yelled at the referee. For his troubles he wound up in the penalty box for the next 12 minutes with an unsportsmanlike minor and a ten minute misconduct for the same offense.

The Whale penalty killers were solid, but at 13:47, a porous defense allowed Justin Bowers to tally his fourth of the season.

After a defensive zone faceoff win by Bowers over Ryan Garlock, Tim Conboy advanced the puck to Igor Gongalsky at the defensive blueline. Gongalsky fed Gragnani who brought it to the center blueline and fed Dennis McCauley just outside the Whale zone on the left side. McCauley made a nice feed to the right side that hit Devin DiDiomete’s stick and went right over to Gongalsky. Bowers split up the middle of the gap between the two defenders, Jyri Niemi and Garlock. Gongalsky saw Tomas Kundratek coming at him on one knee and from the dot in the right faceoff circle got the puck on net. The puck must have hit Kundratek’s stick as it redirected up into the air. Bowers knocked it out of the air while streaking through the front of the net and it went past Johnson.

Portland doubled their lead 3:31 later when NHL veteran Mark Parrish took a drop pass from Adam on the right side of the slot and wristed one towards the net. Johnson was squared to the shooter, but the puck hit Newbury’s stick as he was passing by the area and redirected in over the glove of Johnson at 16:18.

The Whale fought back though at with 2:56 left in the first period, Kennedy connected from almost the same spot that he had to win two other games over the Pirates earlier this season.

Niemi made up for not covering Bowers earlier when his pass form the left point was right on the tape of Kennedy. As David Leggio (33 saves, 14-4-0) went down, Kennedy went top shelf over the shoulder of his blocker and into the corner of the net.

“It was a nice pass from Jyri, but this time the goalie took away the glove side so I had to go stick side and caught him cheating a little bit,” Kennedy said afterwards.

The Whale ended the first down a goal and three shots (15-12).

The Whale got their chances in the second.

Leggio stood tall to keep his team ahead against Kolarik who he denied in front of the net at 7:09.

Newbury came up short when he missed the net off a 2-on-1 odd man rush with Brodie Dupont and just Gongalsky back at 8:35.

Tessier had an even better opportunity when he was put in the clear for a breakaway off a Kolarik feed at 9:13, but he whiffed on his shot.

Kolarik, who has been struggled with breakaways of late, got a chance to build some confidence when he broke in on a 2-on-1 of his own with Grachev on his left wing and only Conboy back to defend.  Kolarik ripped the black out of the puck with a missile from the right circle that beat Leggio high over the blocker for his 20th of the season at 10:04.

Johnson continued to get the big saves when he needed to. He stopped McCauley cold from the right porch step as the big left winger made a bid for a score with just 3:31 left in the second.

There was some controversy as the second period ended as Conboy threw a shot at the net from the right side and it beat Johnson into the net. The referees decided that the goal had come after the horn had sounded.

The Whale entered the third just as they did the night before tied, this time at 2-2.

Tessier got the first of several good chances for the home team in the third period. at 7:12, form behind the net, Tessier threw it in front and the puck pin-balled around the feet of the defense and nearly went in.

At 11:35, Justin Soryal had two whacks at it in front of Leggio but could not finish.

Johnson denied the AHL’s leading goal scorer, Mark Mancari at 12:11 with a save off his shoulder and then got a little luck when Brennan had a wide open net but whiffed on his shot at 16:06.

Jared Nightingale had a chance with 1:32 to go when Leggio gloved his shot. With the Whale net empty, Jason Williams was stopped by Leggio with his bid from the left wing circle with just 1:02 remaining.

Bruce Berlet pulled double duty Sunday afternoon. His unabridged story can be found here on Howlings.  Bruce’s take on the Portland point of view can be found at PressHerald.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

VIDEO:

POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE:

SOUNDS OF THE GAME:

Ken Gernander: 

Kevin Dineen: 

Tim Kennedy: 

Chad Johnson: 

NOTES:

* We want to start by thanking Ken Gernander for allowing us to video the post game press conferences. We thought this would add a nice dimension to Howlings readers. He didn’t need to allow us to do it and we do greatly appreciate it.

* For those who argue against having two referees on the ice, this game was one you could certainly look at to make your case. How is it that with two refs on the ice in a physical game that there are only two penalties and both against the Whale?

* When asked by Howlings about Dineen’s comments and phrased as “making a good living” rather than making a good career” off his former club, Kennedy responded saying, “I think they (the parent Buffalo Sabres) are still paying me.”

LINES:

Dupont – Tessier – Jason Williams
Grachev – Kennedy – Kolarik
DiDiomete – Newbury – Jeremy Williams
Soryal – Garlock – Eizenman

Redden – Nightingale
Niemi – Bickel
Valentenko – Kundratek

Johnson
Grumet-Morris

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

After the first shift, Dupont and DiDiomete switched places as did Bickel and Kundratek

SCRATCHES:

Dale Weise – Undisclosed Upper Body Injury, Day-to-Day
Cam Talbot – High Ankle Sprain, Day-to-Day
Chris McKelvie – Foot Surgery, Undetermined
Todd White – Concussion – Undetermined

THREE STARS:

1. POR – T. Brennan
2. POR – D. Leggio
3. POR – C. Tropp

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Francis Charron (46)
Geno Binda (22)

Linesmen:
Paul Simeon (66)
Derek Wahl (46)

NEXT GAME:

The Whale go on the road for four in a row. It’s two up in Canada, Tuesday in Toronto at 11am and Hamilton on Friday at 7pm. The nit’s off to Providence on Sunday at 4:05 and then the team is off until Friday at Adirondack at 7:30. Bob Crawford has the pregame a half an hour before the puck drops.

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

For Ticket information for all home games, 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 of all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Portland Pirates 3 at Connecticut Whale 2 – Status: Final
Sunday, February 6, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Portland 2 0 1 – 3
Connecticut 1 1 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Portland, Bowers 4 (Gongalsky, McCauley), 13:47. 2, Portland, Parrish 8 (Adam, Tropp), 16:18. 3, Connecticut, Kennedy 10 (Niemi), 17:04. Penalties-Nightingale Ct (slashing), 0:15; Kolarik Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:11.

2nd Period-4, Connecticut, Kolarik 20 (Johnson), 10:04. Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-5, Portland, Brennan 6 (Stuart, Tropp), 16:48. Penalties-DiDiomete Ct (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Portland 15-9-8-32. Connecticut 12-10-13-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 2; Connecticut 0 / 0.
Goalies-Portland, Leggio 14-4-0 (35 shots-33 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 15-18-3 (32 shots-29 saves).
A-3,458
Referees-Francis Charron (46), Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Paul Simeon (66), Derek Wahl (46).