BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
LAVAL, QUEBEC – The Hartford Wolf Pack are no longer unbeaten.
Off a strong third period, the Laval Rocket (5-5-1-0) pulled away from the Pack (8-1-0-1) and handed them their first regulation loss of the season, by a 4-1 score.
“They played well, but our execution wasn’t good at all. We gave the puck away and they did a good job defending. We need to be sending and receiving passes. We weren’t able to make plays and move up the ice together,” remarked head coach, Kris Knoblauch.
The Pack were not their crisp selves in part because Laval was so good at puck possession and using their sticks to force turnovers, leading directly to two Laval goals in the third period with the second goal being a classic example.
Alexandre Alain, the game’s First Star, was able to swipe the puck from Sean Day moving through center ice.
With inside position, Nick Ebert was looking to angle him off, and put a shot toward the net. Ebert’s check sent it in goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, knocking him off his feet as the puck slid into the net at 10:23.
The Rockets got their scoring fueled tallied again 1:11 later.
Again, it was a turnover that became a two-on-one for Laval with Charles Hudon on the left wing. He made no mistake launching his third over Shesterkin’s glove hand.
“I don’t know, but it was something all night. No question, those two goals were from turnovers. We just have to protect the puck and chip it past people. Passing is so important and we struggled with that at times tonight,” said Knoblauch.
In an unusual move with 4:23 remaining in the game and with a power play, Knoblauch pulled his goaltender giving the Wolf Pack the most sustained pressure in the offensive zone they had down two goals.
“I pulled him early because the power play struggled tonight, and it felt like we weren’t going to score five-on-four, so let’s try six-on-four. We started to push and play with more desperation. It just wasn’t our night,” the Pack coach said.
Two of the four shots came off the Sherbrooke native, Gabriel Fontaine, who had family on hand, hit one off the pipe. The other stung Laval goalie, Charlie Lindgren.
It was no small solace for Fontaine.
“They were just two chances, not goals. We’re looking forward to Friday. We just didn’t have our full passion tonight. We’re trying to force plays. We didn’t get pucks behind them, so were gonna learn from it for Friday,” Fontaine said.
It sounds trite and repetitive, but very factually correct. Laval had more puck possession and more quality shots as Shesterkin kept the Wolf Pack in the game in second period.
At 9:47, Alain swooped in all alone and Shesterkin shut the door. Lukas Vejdeno sent Joe Cox in off the left-wing and was denied.
The Wolf Pack then caught a break as Steven Fogarty went behind the net and spotted an open Tim Gettinger in front. He took the pass and quickly buried his second past Lindgren late in the second period at 16:16.
“Tim has earned the move up. He has been playing so well. That goal is proof of that,” said Knoblauch.
The Wolf Pack power play went 0-4 and is clearly struggling. One of its aces, Vinni Lettieri, had two shots and fanned on a quality opportunity.
“He doesn’t do that often. He is getting enough space for shots. I don’t want him taking shots from along the boards. I want them in the middle of the ice.”
The Rocket made the home fans happy with the game’s first tally on the power play.
Hudon won the face-off and got it back to Phil Varone, with the forward working the left point on the power play and launched a shot through traffic. Shesterkin made the save but couldn’t control the rebound.
Laval’s Michael McCarron, a 6’6 center, was able to out-muscle the Pack’s Mason Geersten and slipped his first of the season from the left side of the net into the goal.
The Wolf Pack got into a bit of horse race through sections of the first period with Shesterkin saving it from being a larger score in the Rocket’s favor.
Vejdeno scooted around a defenseman, and Shesterkin used his right pad to keep the goal horn from blaring. He also stopped the rebound shot.
Xavier Ouellette shot from the right point and was rejected by a blocker pad save.
The two best Pack shots came off the stick of Vinni Lettieri.
LINES:
O’Regan-Beleskey-Di Giuseppe
Gettinger-Lettieri-Fogarty
Nieves-Fontaine-Newell
Jones-Ronning-Meskanen
Day-Raddysh
LoVerde-Ebert
Geersten-Keane
SCRATCHES:
Jeff Taylor
Lewis Zerter-Gossage
NOTES:
Knoblauch was non-committal on his starting goalie for Friday and hinted another Montreal area (Notre Dame de Grace locally known N.D.G.) product, Zerter-Gossage will likely be in the lineup.
Wolf Pack Director of Player Development, Jed Ortmeyer, was in the house.
Condolences to former Beast of New Haven GM, David Gregory, on the passing of his father Jim Gregory 83, after a long illness. He was five days shy of his 84th birthday.
Jim was among the longest executives in a variety of capacities in the NHL from head of Central Scouting where Davis has been a scout for many years.
