BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack deserved a better fate.
Ed Wittchow’s goal with 5:48 remaining in regulation would prove to be the only goal either goalie surrendered in a playoff-type atmosphere as the Hershey Bears tripped up the Wolf Pack in a 1-0 Friday night battle at the XL Center before 4.489 fans.
Left winger Ryan Dmowski (Old Lyme/Gunnery) had the puck along the left wing boards,but couldn’t get it past Shane Gersich who won the one on one battle and gained possession.
He got the puck to Brian Pinho who found Wittchow open coming off the left point top of the left wing circle he one timed wired a shot off the far post for his fifth of the season.
The perfect shot nothing Wolf Pack goalie J.F. Berube could do about it.
“It was tough for us it was two huge points we wanted and we know how big games are at this time of the year. We just gotta try to take a positive out of it there were a lot of good things we did tonight,” noted Berube played his fifth game as a member of the Wolf Pack
The Pack threw a barrage of 17 shots at Hershey’s Vanacek in the third period and he stopped them all and they came from everywhere and everyone.
From Mason Geersten low bullet at 1:21 to Matt Beleskey two minutes later the red light stayed off.
Danny O’Regan at 4:25 was denied and then Dmowski on a left wing rush at 5:31 the Wolf Pack were in constant forward motion.
Patrick Newell at 12:28 off a smart rush into the Hershey end of the ice was stifled and Nick Jones screaming in off the right wing lost his edge at the last second for his shot attempt.
Boo Nieves back in the lineup after 13 games filling in for Tim Gettinger with a high wrister at 10:04 that couldn’t crack the wall Vancek was building around the Hershey net.
“We deserved a better outcome. Forget about tonight, move onto to tomorrow and get back at it,” remarked Berube.
With a tripping penalty in the final minute of regulation on recently acquired Daniel Sprong it was golden chance for the Wolf Pack, but a six on four advantage couldn’t produce a goal for Hartford.
Steven Fogarty had two chances one right on the Bears doorstep,but no room to maneuver to shoot on Vanacek was available.
Matt Beleskey backhander missed the target and then Darren Raddysh with the last of his four shots for the game with 11.4 seconds was the last chance that was repelled by the Bears netminder.
A last second faceoff win and the found its way to Vinni Lettieri saw his big blast blocked by the Bears Beck Malenstyn went all the way back behind the Wolf Pack net ending the game.
The two teams meet again tomorrow at 7pm at the XL Center,but the Bears (36-18-3-3, 78 points) have a five point lead on the Wolf Pack (31-17-6-5) in the Atlantic Division.
Utica kept Charlotte five points behind the Wolf Pack with a 2-1 win over Checkers, but Providence moved three points ahead of Hartford with a 2-1 overtime win at home against Springfield.
For head coach Kris Knoblauch there is not much you can find fault in a game like this.
“Besides the first 10 minutes I thought we played a pretty good game. Give a lot of credit to Hershey they’re a good hockey team.”
In the second period only nine shots were registered between the two teams and the Berube an stopped former teammate Matt Moulson’s bid with 2:56 left in the period.
Then Philippe Maillet, a fellow Quebecer tried his luck from the right wing as time expired at the end of the second period with the two chatting in French likely about Berube’s snatching his attempt away.
“He is friend from back home we chatted a bit nothing too dangerous,” chuckled Berube about a light moment in this intense game.
The Pack had two big chances by Vinni Lettieri with just officially counting.
Lettieri in his garden spot top of the left wing circle, but on his back foot let one go that hit the post and few minutes later darting off the right wing was stopped by Vanacek with 5:52 left in the period.
“It’s a matter time before those go in Vinni had the right spot just hit post there,” remarked Berube.
The Pack also weather an intense Bears shift in which they kept Hartford in their zone for almost two minutes
The first period was a chess match as each team sought to see where they could create chances, but the period still saw an early momentum swing.
Big Mason Geersten nailed Bears forward Shane Gersich with a clean, thunderous check at their blue line in front of the Hershey bench. Wittchow made a bee line from the left defensive side in the Hershey zone to battle Geersten in a spirited heavyweight fight at 6:33 with Wittchow getting the instigator on the play.
The Wolf Pack 27th ranked powerplay stalled on that chance and one right afterwards as well.
Berube made a superb stop on a two on one break denying Daniel Sprong on his attempt to score early.
Berube is familiar with Hershey from his time in Lehigh Valley.
“I’m sure there some pre-scouting done on their part, but some on my part too. I know they like to go East-West they like to find those seams, it something they do real well,”.
Saturday will be a major test for the Wolf Pack.
LINES:
O’Regan-Kravtsov-Fogarty
Jones-Newell-Gropp
Beleskey-Lettieri-Nieves
McBride-Dmowski-Ronning
LoVerde-Hajek
Ebert-Geersten
Raddysh-Crawley
SCRATCHES:
Tim Gettinger – Upper Body – Day-To-day.
Yegor Rykov – Healthy
Greg Chase – Healthy
Gabriel Fontaine – Shoulder Surgery – Season-ending
NOTES:
Knoblauch was non-committal about his starting goalie for Saturday’s night rematch.
UCONN lost Friday night in their regular season finale in Lowell 3-1 to UMASS-Lowell to finish at .500 overall at (15-15-4 and 12-10-2 in HE). The loss took away any chance of a home playoff game and will finish 5th or 6th and might play with Boston University or Northeastern next weekend.
Yale University lost Game 1 of their ECACHL opening round playoff game series 3-0 to Union College.
Big off ice changes, the Springfield Thunderbirds announced on Friday they have signed a standard five year affiliation/partnership agreement with the St. Louis Blues starting next season. Blues needed a new home after the San Antonio Rampage their present AHL farm team was sold to the Vegas Golden Knights last month.
The team will be moved there to play in the fall at the Orleans Arena in the fall as likely the Las Vegas Silver Knights until their new arena, the Lifeguard Arena presently under construction is completed.
The current parent team, the Florida Panthers who never wanted to be in Springfield in the first place will be heading a little closer to home to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Where they will surprisingly take the place of the nearby Carolina Hurricanes who we first reported three weeks ago are moving their farm team prospects to Chicago to hook up with the Wolves to save money.
We learned from an NHL source they did try to buy the Wolves,but owner Donald Levin’s price tag was a tad steep for the team.
Stockton and Calgary have extended their agreement by another year to tidy up all the AHL off ice business for the year.
The hockey world lost one of its best players today as Henri “The Pocket Rocket” Richard passed away at the age of 84 have battled Alzheimer’s the past several years.
His career numbers were simply stupendous for a player who stood in the shadow of a legendary brother, Maurice “The Rocket” Richard.
Richard was captain of the Canadiens from 1971 to his retirement in 1975, succeeding the legendary Jean Beliveau, with whom he shares the record of playing 20 seasons for the NHL club.
He was nicknamed the Pocket Rocket for his five-foot-seven, 160-pound frame.
Despite his small stature, Henri Richard was a giant in the game playing 1,256 regular-season games, another Canadiens record that he still holds. He scored 358 goals and had 1,046 points, third in team history behind Guy Lafleur (1,246) and Beliveau (1,219).
He also amassed 129 points in 180 playoff games.
His 11 Stanley Cups, one more than Beliveau and another former Canadiens captain Yvon Cournoyer, is unlikely ever to be surpassed. Seven were won when the NHL had only six teams.
He was known for his playmaking skills and determination with and without the puck, Richards twice led the NHL in assists, with 52 in 1957-58 and 50 in 1962-63. He had nine 20-goal seasons, including a high of 30 in 1959-60.
He won the Bill Masterton Trophy for sportsmanship and perseverance in 1974 and was selected to four league all-star teams.
The Canadiens retired his number 16 on December 10, 1975, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979.
