THEY’VE BEEN BETTER 

      VERSUS     

Sunday afternoon in Providence the Connecticut Whale could not find an answer for Carter Camper who’s hat-trick sealing third goal sunk the New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate 4-3 at the Dunkin Donuts Center in front of a raucous crowd of 10,951.

After Kelsey Tessier lifted the Whale out of a second period daze with a dramatic goal to erase what was a two-goal deficit and knot the score at three just 1:55 into the third period. The Whale picked up their game and kept pushing for more, but Camper, a Rocky River, OH native, followed up a Calle Ridderwall rebound off the chest of Cam Talbot (11-12-0, 35 saves) and backhanded it into the net for the game winner.

“We got that big one in the third (from Tessier),” Connecticut head coach Ken Gernander told the Whale’s Brian Ring after the game. “I thought things were moving in the right direction and they got that quick one and it’s hard to come back on the road when the other team is given the lead like that.”

Also preventing a Connecticut comeback was a failure to capitalize on their power play opportunities. Of six man-advantages throughout the contest, including a golden opportunity with just 1:25 remaining in the game. Off a rush up the right wing, Matt Bartkowski pulled down Andre Deveaux, but the Whale were unable to put the equalizer past Anton Khudobin (19-17-3, 29 saves).

Camper put the Bruins on the board with a quick release from the right circle that beat Talbot just 5:47 into the game. Zach Hamill worked the puck loose from Whale defenders behind the the net and sent it out to  the 5-9, 173-pound right winger.

The Whale responded just 1:26 later when Deveaux put his first of two past Khudobin after Kris Newbury worked a puck free in the neutral zone  to Mats Zuccarello.  The Norwegian Hobbit fed Deveaux  who rocketed the shot into the net at 7:13.

Talbot was strong in net again for the Whale. With Bobby Robins  in the box for high sticking Casey Wellman at 14:42, moments into the power-play, Tim Erixon pinched in to wrangle a stray puck but was outraced to the biscuit by Ridderwall who broke in alone on Talbot. The Whale netminder made it look easy using his stick to stop the Bruin left-winger.

Just 1:36 into the second period, Camper netted his second just 1:36 after two rebounds off of Talbot. The first off the stick of Ridderwall and the second from Hamill. The puck rebounded to the right side of the net where Camper backhanded it into the net to make it 2-1.

The shots were 7-0 in the second for the Bruins when Kris Newbury hit the crossbar. Maxime Sauve made the outlet pass up to Craig Cunningham. The Bruins left-winger fed Jamie Arniel off the rush. Arniel was deep in the right side circle fired it just past Talbot’s glove for his first point between the two teams this season to make it 3-1.

Zach McKelvie, the twin brother of The Whale’s Chris took a hooking penalty at 15:53. After three failed efforts on the power-play, the Whale went to work on the fourth.

Deveaux made it a one-goal game with 2:43 left in the second when he took a feed from Erixon about 30 feet in the slot and his shot went five-hole and snuck through his legs for his 17th of the season.

“We really would have liked to have had two more points here tonight,”  Gernander said. “But we made some mistakes that cost you games and that’s often times the case when you don’t win.”

The Whale are now off until Friday night when the Portland Pirates come to visit the XL Center before they play their eleventh of the season with the Springfield Falcons Saturday night at the MassMutual Center.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Standings provided by TheAHL.com)

NOTES:

*  The CTWhale are currently 22nd in the AHL in attendance with an average of 4,758. Bridgeport is 20th averaging 4,909 and Springfield is 29th averaging 3, 387. Hershey is first with 9,673 and Albany is last at 3,347.

* Kris Newbury is 9th in the AHL in scoring with 48 pts (19g, 29a) and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault is 11th (and second among rookies) with 47 (18g, 29a). Next highest is Andre Deveaux at 52 with 35pts (17g, 18a) and then Mats Zuccarello at 60th with 34 pts (11g, 23a) but in just 30 games. Only Syracuse’s Kyle Palmieri is better with 44pts (28g, 16a) in 33 games.

LINES:

Zuccarello – Newbury – Deveaux
Bourque – Wellman – Audy-Marchessault
Grant – Tessier – Tanski
McKelvie – Owens – Thuresson

Erixon – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Redden – Klassen

Talbot
Missiaen

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Francois Bouchard – Broken Wrist – Indefinite

Chad Johnson – Undisclosed – Day-to-Day
Sean Avery – Healthy Scratch

Brendan Bell – Undisclosed – Day-to-Day

THREE STARS:

1. PRO – C. Camper
2. PRO – C. Ridderwall
3. CT – A. Deveaux

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Terry Koharski (10)
Chris Cozzan (18)

Linesmen:
Bob Bernard (42)
Chris Millea (33)

NEXT GAME:

Four days to recoup and continue the teaching process for the coaching staff. One of the better bits of recent news is that Chad Kolarik will rejoin the team for practice on Tuesday. Friday night the Pirates make the ride down from Portland to do battle with the Whale at the XL Center. Then Saturday the Whale travel to Springfield for the 11th of 12 games this season with the Falcons. You can hear it on WCCC.com Friday night starting at 6:50.

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 WCCC.com or from your cell phone or computer you can get all the live action via our Twitter page: @HowlingsToday for all games both home and away.

SCORE SHEET:

Connecticut Whale 3 at Providence Bruins 4 – Status: Final
Sunday, February 19, 2012 – Dunkin’ Donuts Center

Connecticut 1 1 1 – 3
Providence 1 2 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Providence, Camper 12 (Hamill, Ridderwall), 5:47. 2, Connecticut, Deveaux 16 (Zuccarello, Newbury), 7:13. Penalties-Robins Pro (high-sticking), 14:42; Miller Pro (cross-checking), 17:25.

2nd Period-3, Providence, Camper 13 (Hamill, Ridderwall), 1:36. 4, Providence, Arniel 5 (Cunningham, Sauve), 5:43. 5, Connecticut, Deveaux 17 (Erixon, Newbury), 17:17 (PP). Penalties-MacDermid Pro (high-sticking), 7:30; McKelvie Pro (hooking), 15:53; Thuresson Ct (holding), 18:11; MacKinnon Pro (slashing), 19:06.

3rd Period-6, Connecticut, Tessier 9 (Grant, Tanski), 1:55. 7, Providence, Camper 14 (Ridderwall), 8:43. Penalties-Deveaux Ct (holding the stick), 11:41; Bartkowski Pro (holding), 18:35.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 14-10-8-32. Providence 12-16-11-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 6; Providence 0 / 2.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 11-12-0 (39 shots-35 saves). Providence, Khudobin 19-17-3 (32 shots-29 saves).
A-10,951
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Chris Cozzan (18).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Chris Millea (33).