VERSUS
Is it too soon to start hitting the panic button on the Hartford Wolf Pack’s season? Afterall, they’re just sixteen games into a long 80-game season, but after viewing how the team is playing of late, it’s getting close.
The Pack needed a win Saturday night, but instead got hammered in a shootout dropping a 4-3 decision to the Lowell Devils before 4,271 at the XL Center in Hartford. The Rangers’ top farm team did fight hard in the third period to rally back from two two-goal deficits. However it took a terrible play by the Devils Brad Mills to give the Pack the chance to tie the game when he took a horrible high sticking penalty sending the tip of the blade of his stick under the visor of Brodie Dupont’s helmet opening an ugly gash on the side of his head giving the Pack a four minute advantage with just 1:07 remaining.
With just 6.1 seconds remaining in regulation, Artem Anisimov tied the score with his second goal of the game off a beautiful deflection of a Cory Potter shot from the right boards past Lowell goaltender, rookie Jeff Frazee (30 saves). The goal at least gave the home team a standings point. But to be fair, had they not played such a lackluster effort prior to that against what is clearly an inferior team, it might not have had to come to that.
“It was gutsy to tie it at the end, but we’re still striving for some consistency,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander told reporters in the locker room after the game. “Desperation is one emotion, but we’ve got to find a different emotion that works for you to play the first two periods. You can’t wait until your backs are against the wall and use that as a tool because teams are too good.”
Miika Wiikman, who had played a pretty solid game to that point, was horrendous in the shootout. He faced six shooters and only stopped one shot. Tyler Eckford scored twice as the Pack made a valiant effort and even came back from a goal down in the shootout. Unfortunately after scoring on his first attempt, Anisimov was unable to when he went on the second of his back to back attempts and the Devils won the shootout 5-4.
The Pack had trouble controlling the puck all evening. In the first period, Wiikman (19 saves) was forced to pull the team’s collective bacon out of the fire twice just within the game’s first ten minutes. Wiikman’s positioning was solid on a shorthanded breakaway by Ryan Murphy just 1:40 into the contest and again on Eric Castonguay’s attempt at the 9:59 mark as both missed the net.
While the Pack did manage to control play for most of the first period, their only real scoring chance came when the game’s First Star, Anisimov hit the post with a hard shot at 15:36.
The Pack’s inability to have a real finisher on the roster besides P.A. Parenteau was more evident in the second period. At 1:30 Brodie Dupont missed on an empty net in front of him after Frazee had fallen and slid away from the net. The Pack had possession as Frazee scrambled to get back into position, but the team never took a shot. Even when Frazee did manage to get back, he did so without a stick and the Pack were unable to take advantage.
Wiikman then stood tall as once again, clumsy puck handling nearly cost them. At 3:17, Ethan Graham was stripped by Second Star of the Game, Alexander Vasyunov who seemed to have all day to take the puck unchallenged and walk up the middle of the ice with it and fire a shot on Wiikman. The Swedish netminder made a beautiful save and clamped down on the attempt keeping the game scoreless.
Two more failed two-on-one breakaways for the Pack came up empty. The first on a Greg Moore and Parenteau rush at 4:00 and then later Dale Weise and Anisimov came up empty on their bid at 10:27.
Former Wolf Pack player, now Lowell Devil Chad Wiseman broke the deadlock at 11:19 when he threw the puck in front of the net from the right point and it was deflected in past Wiikman by Michael Swift. For Wiseman it was his fifth point in six games since signing with Lowell.
Another former Wolf Pack player, Pascal Rheaume took a puck away from Michael Sauer at 19:08 and broke in on an odd man rush but again, Wiikman put the threat down with some smart, well positioned play.
It is probably a better than 50-50 bet that Wolf Pack Head Coach wasn’t his normal humble, quiet self talking to his team between the second and third periods. Gernander essentially rearranged all four lines and sat Brandon Sugden the entire period.
At first, it clearly didn’t help.
Just 58 seconds into the third period Jon DiSalvatore took advantage of a poor defensive decision by both Cory Potter and Bobby Sanguinetti as both chased the puck to one side of the net. DiSalvatore took a feed from Vasyunov, who won the battle against both the Pack defensemen, and skated around to Wiikman’s right. DiSalvatore initially tried to tuck it under the Pack netminder, but with no defense to contend with was able to recover the puck and lifted it over Wiikman despite his best effort to contain him. Just like that the Pack trailed by two.
Right after that goal, it must have set off a panic button in the young Pack players minds, as a different team emerged at the face off. With the puck at the Devils own blueline, Moore picked up a loose puck and charged down the left wing boards, splitting the Devils’ defenders, and beat Frazee with a beautiful shot low to the right post cutting the lead in half.
But again, poor defensive play in their own end at 5:09 put them back down by two goals as Vasyunov was left all alone with both Potter and Sanguinetti out of position when DiSalvatore stripped Mike Ouellette in his own end and found the young Russian alone on the left porch. Wiikman had no chance and it was 3-1.
The line combinations that Gernander sent out finally paid off at 13:38 of the third when, while on a delayed penalty, Weise came up the right wing with speed and got behind the Devils defenders and centered a terrific pass to Anisimov, who was being pulled down from behind. However, Anisimov got enough of his stick on the pass to deflect it between Frazee’s legs.
The Pack still struggled to get the puck behind Frazee, who was standing on his rookie head, keeping the Pack at bay. At 14:50 he made a tremendous stop on a Weise shot from a great Patrick Rissmiller feed.
The Pack then bungled a great three-on-one shorthanded breakaway opportunity when they got overanxious and entered the zone offside.
The AHL’s new rule of only one minute penalties in OT cost the Pack dearly. Mills’ infraction, which still had 1:53 left on it was reduced in overtime to 54 seconds. The Pack sent out their most experienced players in an attempt to end, Moore, Rissmiller, Parenteau and Fahey. However they were unable to muster any real solid scoring opportunities and after four shots on goal by each time over the five minute extended period.
“Every game is going to have ebb and flow, but it’s a tough road to hoe when you’re always trying to come from behind and give a last-ditch effort,” Gernander said. “We’re pleased with a lot of the stuff we saw in the third period, but we’ve got to have that for closer to 60 minutes.”
Bruce Berlet reports with his usual pin point perfection at HartfordWolfPack.com while for the Lowell perspective there is a small blurb in the Lowell Sun.
For the stat hungry, there is of course the GAME SUMMARY and the OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET.
NOTES
* The Pack attendance of 4,271 was higher than their average of 3,713 after 11 home games. They’re currently 18th in attendance overall. For those still dreaming of seeing an NHL franchise in Hartford, it’ll NEVER happen with numbers like that.
* There are currently three former ex-Pack players in the top 15 in scoring (Alexander Giroux at 6th, Jeff Taffe at 9th, and enigma Jamie Lundmark at 13th). Not one current Pack player is there. Parenteau is tied with nine others for 21st with 17 points. Artem Anisimov is tied with eight others for 31st with 16 points.
* Speaking of former Pack players, Al Montoya, the second highest winner in net in Hartford history, is currently sporting stat s of a 1-8 record with a 3.37GAA and a .875%. His replacement, Miika Wiikman, sports a 6-6-2 record with a 2.66GAA a .908%, is second overall in minutes with 857 and fourth in saves with 377.
* The Pack are now 23rd overall in both the power play (13.6%) and penalty kill (80.4%).
* After winning three-in-a-row at the end of October, the Pack are 3-4-0-1 since then.
LINES
RISSMILLER – MOORE – Parenteau
Dupont – Anisimov – Weise
Owens – Ouellette – Ford
Soryal – Pyatt – Sugden
Denisov – FAHEY
Potter – Sanguinetti
Graham – Sauer
Wiikman
(Assistant Captains in BOLD CAPS)
Revised lines in the third period
Soryal – Moore – Owens
Dupont – Pyatt – Parenteau
Ford – Ouellette – Sugden (Hardly got off the bench)
Rissmiller – Anisimov – Weise (was by-far the best trio)
SCRATCHES
Byers – Knee (Season)
DiDiomete – Healthy
Urquhart – Healthy
THREE STARS
1. HFD – 42 Artem Anisimov
2. LOW – 9 Alexander Vasyunov
3. LOW – 14 Jon DiSalvatore
ON ICE OFFICIALS
Nygel Pelletier (41), Referee
Derek Wahl (46), Linesman
David Spannaus (8), Linesman
SHOOT-OUT RESULTS
DEVILS:
7 Tyler Eckford – Stick Side – Goal
20 Ryan Murphy – Faked out – Goal
14 Jon DiSalvatore – 5-Hole – Goal
21 Pascal Rheaume – Over stick – Goal
12 Rod Pelley – Middle of chest – No Goal
7 Tyler Eckford – Over the stick – Goal
Total: 5
WOLF PACK:
18 Patrick Rissmiller – 5 Hole – Goal
17 Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau – Glove save – No Goal
47 Tommy Pyatt – Faked out – Goal
15 Greg Moore – Backhand – Goal
42 Artem Anisimov – Backhand – Goal
42 Artem Anisimov – Pad Save – No Goal
Total: 4
NEXT GAME
Saturday night in Portland against the first place Pirates at 7pm
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