BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack played a strong game for forty minutes, but a span of just 36-seconds cost them the game as the Rochester Americans overcame a two-goal with three straight in the third period to emerge with a 4-3 victory before an announced crowd of 2,377 at the XL Center.
The game-winning goal came when Pack netminder, Marek Mazanec surrendered a goal he would certainly want back.
A dump-in went to the right corner. Lawrence Pilut came from the left point and the puck came right back into play. Zach Redmond was able to skate in uncontested down the right wing side at a nearly impossible angle from along the goal line sent the puck that got through Mazanec’s left arm and his body at 16:10.
It was Redmond’s AHL leading sixth game-winning goal of the year and his 12th of the season.
“We can’t pin this on Maz,” the Pack’s Peter Holland said. “He has kept us in games all year winning games, maybe we had no business winning? To say this is Maz’s fault, that’s not a fair statement. There were five guys in front of him, but I’m sure he would want to have that one back.”
Holland got the game’s third star but a first-star teammate. He was blunt in his assessment of the Wolf Pack situation.
“Especially, it feels worse because its happened more times than it should this season and it’s just 18-or-19 games so far. For some reason, we have these leads in the third period and we haven’t learned yet how to finish these games and put teams away yet. It’s frustrating if it happens once or twice, it’s a learning curve, but when it starts to happen this often – it’s unacceptable.”
Head coach Keith McCambridge did his best to summon an answer after the team had to swallow the bitterest of pills.
“I liked the full game, but in the third, I think we were watching the clock more than we should have. We started to calm down after (the first goal of the period). They generated some chances around the net in our zone and you hope they don’t materialize, but they did and they got the goals.”
The Wolf Pack did make a furious attempt to even the game with a late power play. With Mazanec pulled for the extra attacker, Steven Fogarty was denied, then Holland was stopped twice by Adam Wilcox (35 saves) on a pad save, then stretched out but was able to get the shaft portion of his stick on the puck.
Didn’t help the Wolf Pack cause that New York Rangers head coach David Quinn, Special Development Coach, Brad Richards, and Pack GM, Chris Drury, were all there in person to witness this.
Thirty-six seconds earlier, the Americans tied the game on a smart play in the Wolf Pack end of the ice by Rochester.
Rasmus Asplund took a pass from Alexander Nylander, the youngest son of ex-Whaler/Ranger Michael, put a strong shot on net. The rebound came right back out in front where Danny O’Regan snatched it and fired his sixth of the year past Mazanec.
The first goal of the Rochester comeback came early in the third and Mazanec had no chance on it.
Swedish rookie defenseman Lawrence Pilut, tied for the lead among defenseman in scoring with perennial Eddie Shore candidate, T.J. Brennan showed.
Taking a pass from Redmond at the right point, it was Pilut at the left who put a low, wrist shot toward the goal with Vinni Lettieri pressuring him just as Dalton Smith, the nephew of former Hartford Whaler, Keith Primeau, made a perfect moving screen cutting in front right to left on Mazanec and the puck was in the net at 5:28.
Just before the goal Shawn O’Donnell was robbed by Wilcox, the game’s second star, and he stopped Cole Schneider on his second breakaway attempt of the game.
The Wolf Pack are now 7-9-1-2 good for sixth in the Atlantic Division. They have one less loss than Hershey who are tied in points (17) and Rochester (11-4-2-0) with showed why they are leading the North Division.
Wolf Pack play the Providence Bruins on Wednesday at the XL Center.
Rochester tied the game at one in the first two minutes of the second period. Asplund scored his first of the season at 1:45 on a clean breakaway after Brandon Crawley lost the puck at the Rochester blue line and Victor Olofsson fell down but was still able to advance the puck forward which allowed Asplund to break ahead uncontested and beat Mazanec low to the glove side.
The Wolf Pack answered back. Gabriel Fontaine picked up a loose puck as Rochester’s William Borgen’s clearing attempt went off the half wall and bounced to Fontaine in the Americans zone.
Fontaine curled back in the zone and fired a slap shot through a perfect screen from Schneider on Wilcox who never saw the puck. Fontaine got his second goal, not an empty-netter, at 5:15 as the Wolf Pack regained the lead at 2-1.
The Pack clearly got a boost from the goal and put pressure on Rochester. Wilcox was forced to make a bang-bang save on Fogarty’s bid
The Pack got the two-goal advantage half-way through the second period.
Schneider, the team’s captain, started on the fourth line for the second consecutive game and third time in four games, was involved in the third Wolf Pack goal.
The top defensive pair of John Gilmour and Ryan Lindgren traded passes. Lindgren launched a shot at the net that Schneider, who was in a furious net-front battle with Andrew MacWilliams, emerged on top. He still got his stick on Lindgren’s shot as the puck hit Wilcox, went up in the air, over his shoulder and landed over the goal line for the 3-1 lead.
The Pack drew the game’s first blood on a well-executed breakout play.
Chris Bigras sent the puck to Bobby Butler. He and Holland went in on a two-on-one. Butler’s shot was stopped by Wilcox but the rebound went right to Holland, who tallied his second goal of the season and his first since opening night against Providence, a stretch of 17 games without a goal. Holland leads the Wolf Pack with 14 assists.
“It felt good to get that monkey off my back so to speak. Obviously, Butler made a nice shot and the rebound just landed on my stick and it was nice to see one finally go in. It was not a shortage of chances, they just haven’t been going into the back of the net. Hopefully, this starts me to get a few more in,” said Holland.
Pack Scratches:
Ty Ronning, Dawson Leedahl and Vince Pedrie
Wolf Pack Lines:
Nieves-Beleskey-Meskanen
Butler-Holland-Gropp
Fogarty-Gettinger-Lettieri
Fontaine-O’Donnell-Schneider
Gilmour-Lindgren
Bigras-O’ Gara
Hajak-Crawley
NOTES:
The Rangers brass sent Lettieri, reassigned earlier in the day, to Hartford. Even though Boo Nieves is in Hartford, the Rangers recalled Steven Fogarty to play Monday night against Dallas.
Lettieri has just four minutes of playing time against Florida Saturday night.
The Pack will play a post-Thanksgiving home-and-home with Bridgeport Friday in the Park City and Saturday might in Hart City.
The last Pack on the ice in warmups, Shawn O’Donnell, Gabriel Fontaine, Ville Meskanen and Vinni Lettieri.
Rochester’s Redmond is in the Top Five in goals with 12. He had a four-game scoring streak stopped in Providence in a 3-2 OT loss last night.
Rochester lost Friday night to the high-octane Springfield offense, 9-4.
The Americans are 11th in the AHL on the powerplay and the Wolf Pack are 13th. On the PK Wolf Pack are 17th and Rochester are 22nd entering the game.
A pair of Dineens were in the house in Hartford. Gord, Rochester’s Assistant Coach, and Shawn, a scout for Nashville and a one-time New Haven Nighthawk.
