CANTLON: (SAT) PACK DROP SHOOTOUT TO SPRINGFIELD 2-1 

CANTLON: (SAT) Pack Drop Shootout to Springfield 2-1

     VERSUS      

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Francois Beauchemin’s shootout goal was just one of two shots to get past Marek Mazanec, who had a spectacular game in net for the Hartford Wolf Pack. Mazanec made 43 saves in regulation and overtime that to keep the Pack in the contest before falling in the shootout to the Springfield Thunderbirds 2-1 Saturday night.

“The guys helped me a lot, blocking some shots, and I was able to get a lot of one-on-one situations and see the puck. That helped my game,” Mazanec, clearly not a fan of the shootout, said. “I just tried to give my teammates the best chance to win. It’s a shame (Beauchemin’s) goal was the one that beat us in a shootout.”

Beauchemin’s shot went just over Mazanec’s glove and got just inside the left post to give the first shootout win of the season for Springfield.

Amazingly, Mazanec wasn’t even named the Game’s First Star despite a performance that compares favorably with any game from any of the Wolf Pack’s great goalies over the years, including Jason LaBarbera, Yann Danis, or J.F. Labbe.

The Pack was stoned on all of their three shootout attempts by Thunderbirds’ netminder, Samuel Montembeault, a rookie from Quebec City. Montembeault thwarted Adam Tambellini, Peter Holland and Scott Kosmachuk in their attempts.

In the third period, each team had chances to go ahead in regulation. Vinni Lettieri and Ryan Graves were on a two-on-one, but Lettieri’s backhander was stopped by Montembeault’s right pad. He also made back-to-back stops on John Gilmour and Joe Whitney.

The Thunderbirds’ Juho Lammikko found a loose puck on the left wing that forced Mazanec to make the glove save on a rising shot. Curtis Valk was in front snapping up a loose puck off a block in front.

The Thunderbirds tied the game at one early in the second period on Mazanec’s only mistake of the night. He made a bad clearing attempt high off the wall in the Wolf Pack zone that was intercepted.

Alexandre Grenier of the Thunderbirds got the puck on the left wing. He spotted Valk open on the right wing side and hit him with a cross-ice pass. Valk quickly found an unchecked Bobby Farnham in front of the Pack net. Farnham outlasted Mazanec. who flinched first, and went down before the T-bird flipped the puck past him into the top of the net for his fourth goal of the season at 3:34.

“I gotta work better making those types of plays,” Mazanec said.

It seemed that prior to Springfield’s entrance into the Pack’s zone, there was a whistle from the crowd that distracted the Wolf Pack players momentarily who instinctively reacted to the sound.

The second period was all Mazanec whose sterling play kept Springfield from taking a lead. Mazanec stopped 19 of 20 shots in the frame.

The Czech born netminder stopped pucks in just about every conceivable fashion. He stopped Ryan Horvat on a clean breakaway, defenseman Linus Bystrom from the left point and then Bystrom again at the 9:44 mark on a break in from the left wing. Beauchemin had a short-side attempt stopped with his right pad, while Garry Valk’s wraparound bid was rejected by a left pad. Chase Bailsy was denied with a beauty of a blocker save.

“This is my third game now and it was all about redirecting pucks and staying up and at the top of the crease,” Mazanec said. “When you don’t play deep in your net, you give yourself a better chance at stopping the puck.”

Mazanec started the year in the KHL in Slovakia with HC Slovan Bratislava. He even took a puck off the side of his neck. It counted and was the only thing that stopped him, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Offensively, the Wolf Pack had ten shots. Of the ten, just four were quality shots. Two of them came from Cole Schneider, one right on the Montembeault’s doorstep. Montembeault robbed him with a great save.

Neal Pionk, who fought off a check at center ice and bulled his way into the Springfield zone, was stopped on a sharp angle drive.

In the first period, a long portion of it saw the Pack stationed in their own end.

On their first powerplay, the Pack made it count as Scott Kosmachuk continued his strong play from the previous night making a nice pass along the ice for Gilmour, who let it fly from the blue line. The puck was redirected in front by Ryan Gropp at 16:38 giving him his sixth goal of the season from just fifteen feet out and a 1-0 lead. Fogarty set a screen that helped close that deal.

Mazanec started his sterling playing with spectacular stack pad save legs in the air on Jayce Hawryluk on the right wing on a two-on-one with Maxim Manin at 10:03 that kept the T-Birds off the scoreboard.

“That was the perfect situation to use it. You can’t use it all the time. It throws a guy off when he sees a (big) goalie out there with legs up in the air like that. They don’t what to do,” laughed Mazanec.

The defense also aided Mazanec’s efforts with Pionk making a block on Hawryluk on another a two one one bid.

The best save of the night for Montembeault was on as Gilmour roared in off the left-wing making a beautiful redirect of Kosmachuk’s pass that Montembeault kicked away to the corner in the final five minutes of the first.

NOTES:

The Pack lost forward Dan DeSalvo on a hit from behind in front of the team bench at 5:48 of the first period. There was no call from referee Michael Mullen who was standing just ten feet away. DeSalvo was helped off the ice and was unable to put any weight on his right leg. Needless to say, he did not return. McCambridge aired his dissatisfaction in a chat with the referee.

There was no update on his condition in the post game.

Lettieri did double duty filling in for his spot.

Schneider, Pionk, and Gilmour were credited with five shots apiece. Farnham had six and Hawryluk had five for the Thunderbirds.

PACK LINES

Whitney-Tambellini-Lettieri
Holland-Schneider-Kosmachuk
Fogarty-Gropp-DeSalvo
Chapie-Fontaine-Leedahl

DEFENSIVE PAIRS

Gilmour-Pionk
Graves-Pedrie
Crawley-Sproul

NHL great, and the current Florida Panthers’ scout, Peter Mahovlich, was at the game. Looks like Drayden Hunt will likely be reassigned back to Springfield.

We tip our hockey chapeau to Connecticut Post long time hockey beat guy. one of the few remaining in the business for the fourth estate, Mike Fornabaio. He outsmarted the AHL stat folks with another fact. The five-on-three scored by John McCarthy then with Worcester against Bridgeport back on November 11, 2011.

Credit Springfield with a first. Tere was a menorah lighting ceremony followed by choral singing during the first intermission in celebration of the Chanukah holiday. Very well done.

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