VERSUS 
So much for trouble scoring goals.
First, the goal-challenged New York Rangers scored seven goals for the third time this season and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, a division rival, 7-0 Sunday afternoon. Then their AHL affiliate, the equally goal- challenged Connecticut Whale, followed suit a couple of hours later, also scoring seven times, but for just the second time this season, and they too defeated a division rival, beating the Worcester Sharks on the road by a 7-2 score in front of 3730 at the DCU Center.
Multi-point games abounded, many with individual firsts for the suddenly red-hot Connecticut Whale, winners of three straight.
Brodie Dupont had a career high four point game (0g, 4a). Dale Weise added three points (1g, 2a) while Wade Redden chipped in two goals. Rookies Pavel Valentenko had a goal and an assist and Kelsey Tessier assisted on two Whale goals.
In terms of firsts, there were plenty to go around.
For Redden it was his first two-goal game since before the NHL lockout six years ago.
Pavel Valentenko had his first multi-point game as a professional.
Dupont’s four assists were a career single-game high.
Cam Talbot (32 saves, 9-3-2) played in his first game for the Whale since being injured (high ankle sprain) in a 6-3 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins back on January 16. Talbot missed 13 Connecticut games recovering from the injury. After being cleared for play, the 24 year old native of Caledonia, Ontario did get in two games for the Whale’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors. While on rehab there, Talbot posted a 1-0-1 record with a 2.46GAA and a .921 %. Talbot also got to experience his first NHL call-up Tuesday night. The 6’3” 185-pounder was flown up from Charlotte to sit on the bench at MSG as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup. Marty Biron, the Ranger’s top backup netminder, is done for the season with a broken collar bone after getting hit with a puck at lunch time.
Add another first, this one for the team, as they went seven games over .500 for the first time all season. Not bad considering that they were 6-11-2-3 when they ended their run as the Hartford Wolf Pack on November 26th. Since becoming the Whale on November 27th, the team is 24-13-0-3.
Despite playing with out nearly just over a third of the active roster due to injury, it has been the solid overall team play, and contributions from a variety of players that has moved the Whale from the Atlantic Division cellar into sole position of, what is likely to be, the last playoff position in the conference.
No more was that total team concept and fight-to-the-last-man-standing-spirit more evident than when the Sharks fought their way back from a 3-0 deficit early in the second period to score two unanswered goals to cut the lead to 3-2.
Brandon Mashinter scored on the power play at 15:51 after a Talbot blunder misplaying a puck led to the first Shark goal for Cory Quick at 3:21.
But Connecticut responded 42 seconds later when Newbury made a great pass to Weise in front of the net. Weise buried the feed through the legs of Daren Machesney (19 saves, 2-3-1).
The quick goal restored the Whale’s two goal lead and they never looked back from there scoring three times in the third period to seal it.
“Everybody knows what kind of situation we’re in, that we have to get third place because it’s going to be tough to catch (the fifth-place team) in the East Division,” Weise said to reporters afterward. “It was a good team effort all around. We’ve got a lot of skilled players who had kind of got a little bit cold lately, and it was just a matter time of time before we broke out and scored. I think this is just a building block for us to have.
Coach Ken Gernander felt much the same way. “It was a big win on the road against a team we were tied with, so I was happy with the guys,” He said in his post-game press conference. “There was a little bit of a glitch (in the second period), but for the most part, I thought we were pretty strong. The guys know the situation, but you remind them because that’s part of what you do. But that’s just kind of a little kicker at the end. You go over what you need to do, what you want to accomplish, special teams or whatever, and then say, ‘Now remember, boys, this is for a big two points.’”
Dupont, the game’s First Star, stressed just how important these games with the Sharks are. “We look at the standings and kind of have our destiny in our own hands because we play the Sharks (three times),” He said. “We’re fully aware of where we sit and talk about the games during the week. Nobody wants to miss the playoffs again.“
If the Whale can continue to get this kind of offensive production moving forward, they won’t have to worry about making the playoffs as much as how far they’ll go in them.
The Whale return to action for their final game of ten in twelve on the road when they visit the AHL’s best team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (45-17-0-0) Tuesday night.
Bruce Berlet wrote a simply magnificent piece on the game. You can read his unedited posting here at Howlings. For the Worcester story that is certain to be filled with excuses and alibis there’s Bill Ballou at Telegram.com.
GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET
STANDINGS:
(Standings via theahl.com)
NOTES:
* It was something new for the Whale. For the first time in the past four games, the team entered the third period with a lead
LINES:
Dupont – Newbury – Weise
Grachev – Mitchell – Tessier
Soryal – Lemieux – Couture
DiDiomete- Eizenman
Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Baldwin – Bickel
Grumet-Morris
Talbot
(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)
SCRATCHES:
Chad Kolarik – Hamstring, 1-2 Weeks
Tomas Kundratek – Virus, Day-to-Day
Jyri Niemi – Separated Shoulder – Four – Six Weeks
Chris McKelvie – Foot Surgery, Season
Todd White – Concussion – Undetermined
Ryan Garlock – Leg injury – Day-to-Day
Jeremy Williams – Neck Injury – Day-to-Day
THREE STARS:
1. CT – B. Dupont
2. CT – D. Weise
3. CT – W. Redden
ON ICE OFFICIALS:
Referee:
Chris Cozzan (18)
Linesmen:
Chris Aughe (74)
Todd Whittemore (70)
NEXT GAME:
The Whale finish their tenth of twelve on the road Tuesday with a battle in Wilkes-Barre against the Penguins. The puck drops at 7pm with Bob Crawford handling the play-by-play with the pregame a half an hour before game time.
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:
Connecticut Whale 7 at Worcester Sharks 2 – Status: Final
Sunday, March 6, 2011 – DCU Center
Connecticut 2 2 3 – 7
Worcester 0 2 0 – 2
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Mitchell 3 (Dupont), 8:56 (PP). 2, Connecticut, Valentenko 2 (Weise, Dupont), 11:21. Penalties-McLaren Wor (tripping), 4:28; Bickel Ct (fighting), 7:53; Mashinter Wor (cross-checking, fighting), 7:53; Bickel Ct (roughing), 14:13; DaSilva Wor (roughing), 14:13; Redden Ct (boarding), 14:28.
2nd Period-3, Connecticut, Grachev 15 (Tessier), 1:44. 4, Worcester, Quirk 3 (Wingels), 3:21. 5, Worcester, Mashinter 12 (Ferriero, Sullivan), 15:51 (PP). 6, Connecticut, Weise 13 (Newbury, Dupont), 16:33. Penalties-Redden Ct (cross-checking), 14:45; Grachev Ct (cross-checking), 17:20.
3rd Period-7, Connecticut, Redden 6 (Weise, Dupont), 2:29. 8, Connecticut, Redden 7 (Lemieux, Tessier), 7:16. 9, Connecticut, Eizenman 4 (Parlett, Valentenko), 8:38. Penalties-Redden Ct (delay of game), 5:08.
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 7-6-6-19. Worcester 10-12-12-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 2; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 9-3-2 (34 shots-32 saves). Worcester, Machesney 2-3-1 (19 shots-12 saves).
A-3,730
Referees-Chris Cozzan (18).
Linesmen-Chris Aughe (74), Todd Whittemore (70).
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