CANTLON: GILMOUR GOAL GIVES HARTFORD WIN IN OT 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – John Gilmour’s breakaway goal in overtime, his second of the game, gave the Hartford Wolf Pack a 6-5 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds. The win snapped a two-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center before 3,519 fans.

The game-winner came when Springfield’s Matt Mangene fell down off an attempted spinarama. The puck came right to Ville Meskanen (three points) and the swift-skating Gilmour took the lead pass and skated in off the left wing, went from the forehand to the backhand and slipped it past Samuel Montembeault just 32 seconds into the extra session.

“I had speed coming in,” a grinning Gilmour said. “I didn’t want to overthink it too much and just went with my move and lucky it worked,”

Gilmour had an assist in his three-point effort.

Peter Holland couldn’t resist a friendly jab at Gilmour. “It figures Gilly scores the winner, though he lost the shootout in practice the other day.”

Gilmour expressed the general sentiment. They survived and persevered while the personal stat portion of the ledger was filled. “It was a battle out there tonight. We’re not happy that we gave up that many goals, but we’re happy with the win.”

It was a game of emotions with 11 lead changes, so maintaining poise and composure was not easy to come by.

“We didn’t want to drop too far below .500. We have to start chipping away at this. Springfield is a team ahead of us. We were a desperate team in the third period and it showed. We did have that resiliency and that’s a good team over there in Springfield. We showed we can play with them,” Gilmour said.

The Pack is back to .500 with a 15-15-2-2 (34 points). That places them in sixth place in the Atlantic. Springfield retains fourth place with a record of 15-11-4-3 (37 points).

Pack head coach, Keith McCambridge, was thoroughly pleased with the hair-raising Helter Skelter level of the game.

“In a game like this, when they go back and forth, you have to make sure you’re on the right side of momentum swings. For a majority of the game, we did a good job of that.”

The Wolf Pack took the lead back at 5-4 when Gabriel Fontaine scored his second of the night.

The play started after an off-balance shot from the left point by Brandon Crawley that got to the net. Bobby Butler played the rebound and put a shot on net, but it was stopped. The puck went to the right wing side where Fontaine retrieved it and put a sharp angle backhander past Montembeault.

“I think I got a little lucky on that one,” Fontaine said with a laugh. “Tonight was a game of emotion, and whoever was gonna score last would get those two points and we needed them.”

Fontaine played with Montemebault in youth hockey in Quebec and again in the QMJHL when the two were in Sherbrooke.

After a Mangene shot hit a post, the Thunderbirds knotted the game at five at 7:19. Mangene spotted Joel Lowry on the right wing and sent a diagonal pass to Matt Marcinew, playing in his seventh game on a PTO deal, came off the left wing and put the puck in the back of the net for his first AHL goal.

Just as they had in the first period, in the second, the Thunderbirds scored first.

On the powerplay as a result of a late first-period scrum that saw the Wolf Pack’s Rob O’Gara get an extra two minutes for roughing with Riley Stillman. Ryan Lindgren and JT Brown each earned 10-minute misconducts.

At 1:32, Mangene, an ex-Sound Tiger, was at the right point. He feathered a pass to Dryden Hunt, who then took a slap-shot from the left wing side. That shot was stopped by the Pack’s Marek Mazanec’s pad, but the rebound went right to Blaine Byron’s stick and he quickly buried his ninth goal and tied the game at three.

Springfield was then able to take advantage of a poor goaltender interference call to Fontaine to reestablish the lead.

Sebastian Repo was in front of Mazanec and took Hunt’s pass and turned put a shot on net. Mazanec made the stop, but had no control of it. The second whack got the puck to dribble over the goal line and regain the lead at 4-3. It was Repo’s fifth of the season.

The Pack answered back as Holland, who had three points on the night, gained positioned down low on the Thunderbirds defense and he slipped in his tenth of the season. Defenseman Ian McCoshen and Montembeault were on the ice at 16:23 and the game was then tied at four for each side.

Meskanen’s play impressed the veteran.

“It was such a skill play of him to get the puck to me at the top of the crease with all that traffic in front. To be honest on a shot like that you close your eyes and shoot,” Holland said. “Ville is really coming along. I had no idea how good of a player and sniper he is at the start of the year.”

Matt Beleskey nearly gave the Pack the lead back on a late five-on-three power play chance. Beleskey sent a blistering slap shot at Montembeault. At 6’5, Montembeault was able to see the puck despite traffic in front and made a dandy glove save.

Despite a four-game losing streak and a playing in Syracuse the previous night, it was the Thunderbirds who grabbed the lead first.

Lowry was thirty feet out on the left wing and took a pass from McCoshen. He then snapped his seventh of the season past a screened Mazanec at 6:12.

The Pack have been responding quickly when surrendering goals and did so on their first power play just 1:44 later.

Fresh off a two-game suspension, Holland dished the puck to Gilmour who took advantage of a rolling screen in front of then et. He fired his eighth of the season past Montembeault, who was making his fifth straight start for the Thunderbirds. The power play goal came at 7:52 that has had it struggles lately.

“We have so many good pieces here. Gilly has a good shot. Mesk has a good shot in the middle, so sooner or later they’ll start going in for you. It’s just a matter of time before it starts to click,” said Holland.

McCambridge was happy to be able to write Holland’s name on his lineup sheet.

“We really missed him those two games because he was playing such good hockey before the suspension. You can’t replace players like Peter, who’s one of the top centers in the American Hockey League, if not the top. It was very nice to have number 22 on the bench again.”

Springfield went up 2-1 as the direct result of Lias Andersson holding onto the puck too long.

Andersson dangled with the puck coming from the right wing to center and tried to get a perfect shot dead center, but the puck hit a skate and went wide.

Springfield raced out of transition with it and Jason MacDonald fed Ryan Horvat and he spotted an open Anthony Greco.

At 16:08. a top Pack killer the last several years, Greco with Crawley, on his tail was able to fire his 15th past Mazanec before Crawley sent him to the ice and took Mazanec and the net out at 16:08.

The next shift, the Pack put strong pressure in the Springfield zone to even the score at two.

Fontaine started and finished the play.

Fontaine retrieved a loose puck and got it to Rob O’Gara at the left point. O’Gara and his rangy stick kept the puck in at the left point zipped. They then got it over to Chris Bigras at the right point. He released a quick wrist shot, and Fontaine was in the slot about 30 feet out, made a gorgeous redirect for his fourth goal. Montembeault had no chance on it. The goal came at 18:34.

“He has a very good release on his shot and is a good player. He’s such a good skater and can pull away from players. Gabby is playing the right way and he is being rewarded (with ice time) and has made the most of his opportunity,” McCambridge said of the second year centerman.

The Wolf Pack got a power play and made quick use of it. They scored in 23 seconds to gain their first lead of the game.

Holland and Meskanen played a little give-and-go. Holland was on the left wing half wall and sent the puck back to Meskanen who was open, dead center to the net. His first shot was stopped with the left pad by Montembeault, but the puck came right back to him and he launched his eighth goal past Montembeault for his second in two nights, and into the back of the net at 19:15.

“Great read (by Ville) on where the puck was going and finding a little bit of open ice. Mesk is one of those players. He is smart with his anticipation and awareness on where the puck is going and (knowing) what the next play is,” remarked McCambridge.

WOLF PACK LINES:

Fontaine-Butler-Leedahl
Andersson-Gropp-Lettieri
Holland-Mekanen-Beleskey
Wallin-St. Amant-Melanson

Bigras-O’ Gara
Crawley-Hajak
Gilmour-Lindgren

WOLF PACK SCRATCHES:

Cole Schneider (Concussion)
Steven Fogarty (Suspension)
Tim Gettinger (Concussion)
Shawn O’Donnell (Upper Body)
Sean Day (Healthy)
Vince Pedrie (Healthy)*

• Following the game, Pedrie was reassigned to Maine.

NOTES:

It’s been a tough stretch lately for Vinni Lettieri. A puck hit in the nose with a puck in Rochester and then cut him under the eye in Bridgeport and then in this game, with 2:07 left, he was accidentally hit with a skate in the face. This latest incident occurred in the offensive zone in the right-wing corner. Lettieri quickly dropped his gloves and stick and raced to the bench. He took off his helmet and immediately went to the locker room. According to McCambridge, he’s okay but required some post-game stitching.

Lias Andersson’s, first two games back on the stat sheet shows no shots on goal and a combined minus-4 in the two games. Andersson is struggling, perhaps even trying too hard, but that is the reason he’s in Hartford, to reclaim his game.

It was not a big surprise, but the Vancouver Canucks announced a new deal of up to a six-year extension of their affiliation agreement with Utica which was expiring. The Vancouver Province reports that in the deal there is an out clause after two years, which fits perfectly.

With Seattle’s entry into the NHL being delayed a year, it also hinders the arrival of their AHL team by several years as well. The yet unnamed NHL expansion team is still in the process of selecting a city that will be home to their future prospects. Once that city is chosen and a lease agreement is signed, then Vancouver will most likely move their AHL team out to the west coast to the AHL Pacific Division. The city is likely to Abbotsford which is 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

This will begin a long desired NHL and AHL rivalry for the two Western cities in the US and Canada.

College and junior hockey have their trade deadlines and movement periods respectively.

Adam Samuelsson of Boston College (HE) is the youngest of Ulf Samuelsson’s clan. As we reported a few weeks ago, he was heading to juniors where he will play the rest of the season with the Sioux City (IA) Musketeers (USHL) that allows him to preserve his NCAA eligibility.

In seven games with the Eagles, the 6’6, 240lb. 18-year-old, rearguard was scoreless and had no penalties. Samuelsson’s Canadian major junior rights are held by the Sudbury Wolves (OHL). Had he played at the XL Center for UConn he would have been the last Samuelsson boy to play in Hartford where his father made a name for himself with the Whalers.

Joining him in Sioux City and coming from Hockey East and Beantown rival, Boston University, is Dominic Vidoli. He was scoreless in six games with the Terriers.

The other newcomer for Sioux City is Matt Steinburg, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk, Trevor Steinburg, is currently in his 17^th season as the head coach at St. Mary’s University (AUAA) in Halifax.

The younger Steinburg is a Colgate (ECACHL) commit. He will play for a short period in Sioux City. Steinburg is currently at St. Andrews College, a Canadian prep school in Aurora, Ontario. In six games, he has two goals and eight points.

Lastly, defenseman Braeden Virtue, the son of ex-Pack, Terry Virtue, was traded from the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) to the Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL) for a 2019 4^th round QMJHL draft pick. He played just seven games this season under the team’s new coach—Patrick Roy.

Wolf Pack fan jerseys of the night: #6 Ryan Malone, #17 P.A. Parenteau, and # 28 Lauri Korpikoski.