CANTLON: WOLF PACK UPEND UTICA, 3-1 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – In what could have been a preview of a possible playoff game, the Hartford Wolf Pack continued their home ice winning ways beating the Utica Comets 3-1 in a spirited, well-played contest between two of this season’s most-improved AHL teams.

“Both games this weekend were like playoff games. Last night in Providence, a big divisional game, usually there can be a let down the next game. There wasn’t tonight,” said Pack head coach, Kris Knoblauch. “The first period tonight was probably our best period of the year and our goaltender (Adam Huska) played so well when they had a big push in the second period.”

The Wolf Pack record improves to 21-8-2-5 (49 points). They move four points ahead of the second place, Hershey Bears, who were 2-1 winners over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The Wolf Pack will visit Hershey on Wednesday.

“Both teams played well. We both wanted the points and we got it,” Huska, who picked up his sixth win of the season, said.

The third period, like the two that proceeded it, was a back-and-forth affair as each team sought an important goal. For Hartford, they were looking to add some cushion, while for the Comets, the goal was to tie the game.

The Pack used a five-minute major power play to their advantage and got their cushion goal. However, a four-on-four situation developed during the major and the Wolf Pack used the open space to their advantage as well.

A great passing sequence began with Darren Raddysh making a superb outlet pass to Matt Beleskey. The former Boston Bruin then put a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Phil Di Giuseppe who split then Utica defense like the Red Sea and deposited his 11th of the season into the net at 11:25.

“I was actually yelling at Raddzy to pass it to me,” Di Giuseppe said. He was ribbing his teammates with mock surprise about his “poor” passing skills. “It was a pretty bad pass to Beleskey, who luckily got a bouncer from the whole length of the ice.” As he continued to laugh with Raddysh nattily-attired in a fisherman’s knit cap and bow-tie waiting for him to finish in the locker room.

The whole advantage came out of a wild sequence of events.

The shift before, behind the play, Di Giuseppe made an outlet pass. After releasing the puck, Di Giuseppe got steamrolled by the Comets’ Vincent Arseneau and then left in a heap at the Pack blue line on the right wing.

Pack defenseman Mason Geersten was in the neighborhood and wasted little time in challenging him. The two had a spirited bout that Geersten got the better of.

In the meantime, while the action went on behind him, Danny O’Regan still sought out the cushion goal and was initially stopped by a sensational Michael DiPietro (37 saves) at 9:21.

The play is emblematic of how this group of players have become a team.

“We really understand each other on-and-off the ice. We all know our jobs on the team, and it’s always fun in the locker room,” remarked Huska.

The Comets tested the Wolf Pack in the second period.

“We were flying in the first, and they woke up in the second and they started pushing us, but our defense played well,” said Huska (26 saves).

Huska had little work in the first period but got plenty after as the Comets flew all around him. They out-shot the Pack 16-14. Huska stopped 15 of Utica’s attempts.

Wacey Hamilton, Reid Boucher and Dylan Bljus were all denied by Huska on excellent opportunities.

“They were pushing from the side and coming right to the front of the net. My defense helped out on the rebounds, It’s all a goalie can ask for,” said Huska.

The Wolf Pack had their chances to get the third goal.

Geersten left point drive was stopped, Tim Gettinger at 8:30 was open, but the full effect of his chance was stopped because of slash called on Guillaume Brisebois.

Nick Jones and Patrick Newell were stopped on a two-on-one. and Vinni Lettieri and defenseman, Nick Ebert, had solid chances. DiPietro kept them out of the net for Utica.

The Comets finally were able to get one past Huska.

It came off a rebound from a hard shot by Kole Lind. Huska stopped a shot with his right arm, but it came right back to the wrong guy, Boucher, who quickly put it past the Pack netminder at 16:04. It was his 21st goal to narrow the Wolf Pack lead to 2-1.

The Wolf Pack grabbed the first lead on a seemingly simple play.

Boo Nieves won the initial offensive zone draw and the Wolf Pack maintained possession of the biscuit.

Raddysh came up the left-wing boards and sent a short pass to Nieves who curled to the top of the left wing face-off circle. He saw two Wolf Pack players converging in the slot and launched a shot toward the net.

“Those were two solid plays on that goal. Boo made a real nice move, and Vinni, great skill to finish on that play,” said Knoblauch

Lettieri made a mid-chest (legal) re-direct with his stick that DiPietro had zero chance on at 4:08.

For Lettieri, it was his 13th goal of the season and second in two games.

The Wolf Pack would extend their lead to 2-0.

O’Regan was behind the net and found Vincent LoVerde coming off the left point into the face-off circle. The right-handed shooter wired a perfect wrist shot to the short-side high over DiPietro’s right shoulder at 7:41.

Two small plays made this goal happen.

First Raddysh, who was at the right point, kept the puck in. He fed Di Giuseppe who perfectly reversed along the right wing boards. He went around the back the net and up the left wing boards and gave it O’Regan.

“I was just able to squeeze some space and get it to Danny and he made the pass and Vinny made a great shot there and this is something we could build on in the game,” remarked Di Giuseppe.

LINES:

Nieves – Gettinger – Lettieri
O’Regan – Kravtsov – Di Giuseppe
Jones – Beleskey – Gropp
Zerter-Gossage – Newell – McBride

Raddysh – LoVerde
Keane – Geersten
Rykov – Ebert

SCRATCHES:

Ryan Dmowski (Healthy)
Jeff Taylor (Healthy)
Lias Andersson (Suspension)
Gabriel Fontaine (Season-ending shoulder surgery)

NOTES:

The three A’s were worn by LoVerde, Nieves and Beleskey.

Lettieri registered his first goal in six games against Providence the night before. His last one came on December 17th in Charlotte against the Checkers. It was his first multi-point effort in eleven games and ironically that was against Providence on December 8th.

Two AHL All-Star selections will come from Hartford. Rookie Joey Keane made the the starting lineup. Goalie Igor Shesterkin, who is playing in his first year as a goalie in North America, is also heading to the All Star Game Classic in Ontario, CA at the end of the month.

Shesterkin joins Wolf Pack history as the third first-year goalie to earn the honor. The others were Kazakhstan native, Vitali Yeremeyev, in 2000-01 in his one only year in Hartford. He is now a goalie coach with Dynamo Moscow (Russia – KHL). The other is Robb Stauber, who in 1997-98, the Pack’s first season, who was recently selected to be an Honorary Captain at the All-Star Classic in Ontario, CA.

The two parent clubs met late last night as Vancouver beat the Rangers 2-1 scoring a goal in the first minute of the game and the last minute of the game. The Rangers finished 1-3 on their Canadian road trip.

Steven Fogarty’s ice time during his four games in New York have been 3:25 in Toronto, 8:46 in Edmonton, 5:40 in Calgary, and 3:16 in Vancouver. He has just one shot on goal and one hit in those four games.

Boucher saw his league best 16-game point scoring streak end last night at home in a 3-2 loss to Springfield. Boucher is now tied for the AHL scoring lead with Drake Batherson of Belleville, each has 41 points. Boucher’s 21 goals are second. Gerald Mayhew of Iowa has 23.

The WJC medal games tomorrow are a Scandinavian final battle for Bronze between Sweden and Finland. Then another chapter in the Gold medal game between Canada and Russia.

Former Utica Comet, Cole Cassels, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Andrew Cassels, was released by Belleville earlier in the week signs an AHL deal with Wilkes Barre/Scranton for the rest of the year.

WOLF PACK FAN JERSEY OF THE NIGHT:

A #39 Dan Cloutier and a real blast from the past. #34 Mike Martin, who played just the first year of the Wolf Pack. A #44, Whalers Dave Babych jersey and two QMJHL jerseys. #8 Samuel Thibault of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar who’s now with Norfolk (ECHL) and the very classy unique red and gold of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan jersey. #55 of Guillaume Brisebois who plays for Utica.

A third jersey of the Maine Mariners, the Wolf Pack Double AA affiliate, a gorgeous powder blue Maine Blueberries #27 of captain Zach Tolkinen, the ex-QU Bobcat who played nine games in Hartford last year.