VERSUS 
In a must-win game for the Connecticut Whale, Sunday evening in Game Three of their first round playoff series, the New York Rangers AHL affiliate used a total team concept from the goaltender on out and knocked off the visiting Portland Pirates and gave themselves a fighting chance to actually come back and make this a series with a 3-1 win in front of 3,102 at the XL Center.
Dov Grumet-Morris, who despite losing the first two games of the series, has been exceptionally solid in those games, elevated his game to “Lundqvist-Level” stopping 29 of 30 shots on goal. But his best stop might be one that turns the series.
In the third period, Pavel Valentenko, who’d had a rough game taking penalties in the second and early part of the third, certainly was willing to take-one-for-the-team at 14:22 of the third period. After a hard one-timer from the left point, Grumet-Morris was went down and got a piece of it with his glove. The puck became airborne and was snagged out of the air in front to the right side of the crease by AHL Rookie-of-the-Year Luke Adam. The Pirate center put he puck down to the ice and appeared to have the entire net to shoot at. Valentenko, who was still on his feet and tied up with Mark Parrish in front of the left side of the net, dove in front of Adam’s shot and took the full blast of the shot to the right side of the abdomen in an area that was totally unprotected. The impact of the shot knocked the wind out of the young defenseman and he fell over on the puck in the crease.
Referee Jamie Koharski awarded the Pirates a penalty shot for the defenseman intentionally freezing the puck in the crease and according to the rules, awarded the Pirates a penalty shot.
“(Koharski) obviously felt he tried to freeze the puck himself in the crease,” Gernander said.
“I can usually hear things before everyone else sees it. So I could hear Koharski, the ref, yelling penalty shot before he actually signals for the penalty shot. So I knew right away it was going to be a penalty shot,” Grumet-Morris said. “From his perspective, it looked liked our man was on top of the puck. I would have to look at the replay to see if (Valentenko) was covering it or it was just lying next to him. Either way, the ref is just trying to make the best call he can make. I’ve known him for 10 years, so I don’t question his integrity. The call was the right call, and luckily we came out a little bit ahead on that play.
So in a moment incredibly reminiscent of the 1994 playoff shot that Vancouver Canuck’s Pavel Bure had on Rangers’ goaltender Mike Richter, it was going to be up to Grumet-Morris to come through for his teammates with so much on the line.
For Pirates head coach Kevin Dineen, he elected to go with his most experienced player that was on the ice at the time, the 12-year NHL veteran, Parrish who was 3-for-6 with a game winner this season.
The veteran initially started off to his left and then swung out wide to the right to the right face-off dot. Grumet-Morris stayed right with him and was squared to the puck. The left handed shot unloaded as he came out of the circle. Grumet-Morris went down and stacked the pads and knocked the puck harmlessly away.
“I didn’t know what he was going to do ahead of time,” Grumet-Morris said smiling. “But essentially there’s three things you can do. You can come hard down the middle, come from the right or come from the left. He came from my left, and luckily I was able to get a piece of it when he shot the puck.”
“That’s huge for our team,” John Mitchell said speaking of the save by Grumet-Morris. “If Parrish is going to come down right handed on the right side, that’s a smart calculated decision that Dov made to come out (to his left) and take that away from him. That was all (Parrish) had at that moment was a shot, so Dov picked the right thing to do and Parrish didn’t have too much so credit to him big time for making that split decision at that time.”
Gernander put it in perspective. “A lot of times with goaltending their whole body of work comes down to the big save you made or didn’t make and that obviously was a big save that he made there.”
Grumet-Morris was a significant factor in the game, but he was certainly helped by an all-hands-on-deck-approach by his teammates and it started from an expected source.
Tommy Grant, who played in the last seven regular season games and all three playoff games after being singed to an Amateur Tryout (ATO) agreement on March 26th, is one of seven college/junior players that are getting a look from the Rangers organization. His play has made a lasting impression on Gernander and his staff. Grant, who spent four seasons at the University of Alaska-Anchorage (WCHA), is the only signee, other than Carl Hagelin who played in his second game with the team, to get any playing time in the playoffs. His play in Game three will insure that he sees more time going forward.
“Tommy got us a big goal off the start to get us going,” Gernander said.
Grant was in the right position in front to the left of Pirates’ goaltender David Leggio (2-1-0, 19 saves) when Ryan Garlock made a power rush up the right hand side and got past defenseman Dennis Persson, who was returned from the parent Buffalo Sabres earlier in the day along with right winger Mark Mancari, and put a backhanded centering pass on net. The puck deflected in past Leggio when the puck hit Grant’s skate for his first professional goal just 3:03 into the contest. Grant had three assists in the seven regular season games he played with the Whale.
Mark Voakes, who was in training camp with the Whale and spent the better part of the season with the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors, knotted the score with just 52.6 left in the first period.
Voakes picked up a rebound in front of a Parrish shot from the right half-boards and spun in the slot and fired it Grumet-Morris for his first playoff goal.
Wade Redden also had a strong game and was thoroughly engaged and had a particularly strong second period.
Just 2:48 into the period, the 14 year NHL veteran positioned himself perfectly on a 3-on-1 odd man rush and forced Igor Gongalsky to take the shot which Grumet-Morris handled easily flicking the left pad out to deny.
But it was Redden, after both teams had good scoring opportunities, Dupont for the Whale on a semi-breakaway off a Newbury feed at 5:18 and Evgeny Grachev at 10:13 and Colin Stuart in close on Grumet-Morris at 11:41, that set up what would prove to be the game winner at 16:23.
“Mitch was on the forecheck and was strong on the puck and got it back to Reds, who let go a nice veteran shot low,” Couture said. “I screened the goalie, the rebound came out and just put it in.”
Couture found that rebound and was also able to out-work Persson on the left side of the crease to get to the puck before backhanding it past Leggio.
The Whale would add a third backbreaker at 9:22 of the final frame.
A pass from Redden went to Dale Weise on the right side just inside the circle. The Whale right winger then fired a shot that deflected in front off a Pirate skate to Mitchell below the goal-line on the same side. Mitchell moved up a bit to give himself an angle to shoot and put the shot on goal. The puck hit Leggio in the shoulder and fell into the net for what would prove to be the game’s final tally.
For the Whale the effort was noticeably improved.
“I think the first two games we had a few moments in certain periods where we kind of fell asleep, and that cost us,” Mitchell said. “This is the playoffs. You can’t take any shifts off, any time off because if you do, they’re going to pounce all over you. And they did, especially in Game 1 when they got up on us three cobb (3-0) on us in a quick span in the first period. Then we brought it back and fought back and had a good game.
“Unfortunately in Game 2, their last two goals they got were just a little bit of sloppy play for an instant, and before you knew it the puck was in the back of our net. We addressed those things, and this was obviously a must-win for our team (Sunday night), and we came in and put in a solid effort. There are plenty of teams that go on the road and come back down and not win either of the games, but we knew we had home ice here so we had to take advantage of that. We have a series. Game 4 is just as important as tonight’s game if not even more important. If we win we go back into their barn with momentum on our side. We steal one in their barn we’re coming back here to win a series.”
“It’s hard to say the difference from the first two games,” Couture said. “But Dover played a helluva game, the power play got a goal and guys worked hard, though guys were working hard in Portland as well. You don’t know how it’s going to go down, so you’ve got to keep playing the same way.”
After the Rangers knocked off the Washington Capitals earlier in the day to bring their Stanley Cup quarterfinal series back to the same two-games to one spread with the same strong all around team effort in their 3-2 win, it only seemed natural that the Whale would follow suit…especially given how closely they’ve emulated their parent club all season long, but even more so matching them game-for-game in the playoffs.
When told of the similarities the two teams have had, especially in the playoffs, Gernander said with a smile, “Well, then we really need to pull for them in Game Four.” When reminded that the Rangers don’t play until Wednesday, the head coach said, “So I guess we’ll just have to win one the next one on our own.”
Bruce Berlet is back on the Whale beat for the Whale and right here on Howlings. Rachel Lenzi was on hand for Maine Today and published this story at PressHerald.com.
GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET
VIDEO:
SOUNDS OF THE POST GAME:
Ken Gernander (Complete):
Dov Grumet Morris:
John Mitchell:
Carl Hagelin:
NOTES:
* Michael Del Zotto said that his broken hand will be examined again on Monday and that there will be multiple opinions on it. He said he’s able to hold the stick, but there is still some concern being looked into. “We all want to be on the same page about this,” He said.
The Whale defenseman has been out since March 2nd. The initial prediction of his expected recovery was 6-8 weeks. Tuesday marks seven weeks since the injury.
* Chad Kolarik, speaking in the pre-game interview with Bob Crawford, said that he is hoping to be in the game on Tuesday, Thursday at the latest. Kolarik has missed 23 of the last 25 games with this hamstring injury.
* Evgeny Grachev has not scored a goal since 3/19 against Providence. That’s a span of 13 games. He has three goals in his last 35 games.
* The Whale/Wolf Pack have lost seven consecutive road playoff games and six straight in Portland.
LINES:
Hagelin – Newbury – Williams
Grachev – Mitchell – Weise
Grant – Garlock – Couture
Dupont – Lemieux – Tessier
Valentenko – Parlett
Redden – Nightingale
Bickel – Kundratek
Grumet-Morris
Talbot
(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)
SCRATCHES:
Todd White – Concussion – Season
Devin DiDiomete – Hip – Season
Chad Kolarik – Hamstring – Day-to-Day
Michael Del Zotto – Broken Finger – Day-to-Day
Justin Soryal – Healthy Scratch
Dylan McIlrath – Healthy Scratch
Jason Missiaen – Healthy Scratch
Kale Kerbashian – Healthy Scratch
Andrew Yogan – Healthy Scratch
Shayne Wiebe – Healthy Scratch
Jyri Niemi – Healthy Scratch
THREE STARS:
1. CT – D. Grumet-Morris
2. CT – D. Couture
3. CT – J. Mitchell
ON ICE OFFICIALS:
Referee:
Ryan Fraser (14)
Jamie Koharski (84)
Linesmen:
Jim Briggs (83)
Paul Simeon (66
NEXT GAME:
Game Four comes Tuesday night at the XL Center in perhaps the most pivotal game. It’s quite a difference from being 2-2 than 3-1. For the Connecticut Whale, they need to build on Sunday night’s victory and insure themselves of at least one more home game. The puck drops at 7pm with Bob Crawford handling the play-by-play and Mark Bailey on the color commentary. Pregame starts at 6:30.
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SCORE-SHEET:
Portland Pirates 1 at Connecticut Whale 3 – Status: Final
Sunday, April 17, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Portland 1 0 0 – 1
Connecticut 1 1 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Grant 1 (Garlock, Couture), 3:03. 2, Portland, Voakes 1 (Parrish), 19:07. Penalties-Gongalsky Por (goaltender interference), 3:36; Bickel Ct (interference), 8:06; Gongalsky Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:11; Legault Por (boarding, roughing), 14:11; Couture Ct (cross-checking), 14:11; Garlock Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:11; Weise Ct (roughing), 16:11.
2nd Period-3, Connecticut, Couture 1 (Redden, Mitchell), 16:23. Penalties-Dupont Ct (roughing), 3:10; Crawford Por (tripping), 5:18; Valentenko Ct (hooking), 19:42.
3rd Period-4, Connecticut, Mitchell 2 (Weise, Redden), 9:22 (PP). Penalties-Valentenko Ct (holding), 3:20; Stuart Por (tripping), 8:36; Lemieux Ct (holding), 9:59; Brennan Por (interference), 10:08; Williams Ct (hooking), 11:39; Weise Ct (interference), 13:23.
Shots on Goal-Portland 8-13-9-30. Connecticut 10-5-7-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 8; Connecticut 1 / 4.
Goalies-Portland, Leggio 2-1-0 (22 shots-19 saves). Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 1-2-0 (30 shots-29 saves).
A-3,102
Referees-Ryan Fraser (14), Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Jim Briggs (83), Paul Simeon (66).
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