Miika Wiikman made a big statement tonight, stopping 37 shots to notch his second shut out in three games — on Al Montoya Bobblehead Night. With his performance, Wiikman moved up to 3rd in the AHL in save percentage (.924) and 5th in the league in goals against average (2.16). As I overheard while leaving the Civic Cen….err… XL Center: “Al who?”

The Pack got on the board early, at 1:50 of the first during a 4-on-4, when Andrew Hutchinson fed a breakout pass to Ryan Callahan, who carried the puck into the Providence zone and slid a shot/pass along the ice towards the net. Dane Byers was able to get a stick on it as he crashed the net and deflect the puck in between the right post and Providence goaltender Jordan Sigalet. The remainder of the first period, and the entire second period, would pass without a goal, with Providence getting the majority of chances in the second, outshooting the Pack 16-6 and forcing Wiikman to make a number of good saves. To their credit, the Pack played a very tight, defensive game, and were good at clearing rebounds from the slot and preventing second and third chances. The highlight of the second came when Providence forward Jeff Hogan was awarded a questionable penalty shot (he got a good shot off), but Wiikman made the save look easy.

The Pack were able to expand their lead to two at the half way point of the 3rd when Tommy Pyatt controlled the puck on the boards behind the goal line, then wrapped it around from the right side through the crease to Brodie Dupont, who was able to put it past Sigalet from the left side of the slot. For Pyatt, it was his first point in 7 games. For Dupont, his first point in 8 and his first goal in 25.

As they’ve been doing a lot lately, the Pack got themselves in trouble late, when Callahan took an offensive zone tripping penalty (his second penalty of the game) at 17:19. That allowed Providence to pull their goalie for the approximate 1 minute of 6-on-4. But the Pack would hold on, and Ouellette would ice the win with 24 seconds to go when he skated the puck out of the zone and fired an empty netter from the red line.

This was the 6th game the Pack played against the AHL-leading Bruins, and only their first win. It was only their 8th regulation loss in 45 games played this far. Over the course of the game, Providence definitely carried the play, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd, but with the exception of the last-minute penalty, the Pack showed poise and confidence in holding on the lead. The Bruins ended up outshooting the Pack 37-21, and a number of them were pretty good chances that forced Wiikman to earn his shut out.

High Jessiman sat out the game with a hyper-extended elbow. Ivan Baranka missed his 4th game with a shoulder injury.

Pack Scoring
1. Byers (12) (Callahan, Hutchinson) 1:50
3. Dupont (6) (Pyatt, Korpikoski) 10:00
3. Ouellette (3) (Byers, Moore) 19:36 (EN)

Lines
Byers - Anisimov - Callahan
Parenteau - Moore - Bourret
Dupont - Pyatt - Korpikoski
Ouellette - Owens

Liffiton - Taylor
Potter - Hutchinson
Pock - Sauer

Wiikman / Montoya

Three Stars
1. Miika Wiikman
2. Andrew Hutchinson
3. Dane Byers

This was the dominant performance I’ve been waiting for from Ryan Callahan. After going two games without getting on the scoreboard, Callahan finished the night tonight with two goals, an assist, and numerous additional scoring chances to go along with some feisty penalty killing. Miika Wiikman also put up another strong performance, making a number of tough saves in the third when the Sharks really started to apply pressure.

The Pack were dominant in the first, but Sharks rookie goalie Taylor Dakers put up a good fight, stopping 14 of the 15 shots the Pack put on the board. Callahan started the scoring off on the power play at the 11:55 mark when he made a strong move out from the far boards boards into the high slot, and then dished the puck down to Dane Byers at the left side of the net. Byers skated out in front of the net unchallenged and put a pretty backhander past Sharks goalie Taylor Dakers. The Pack finished the period outshooting the Sharks by a 15-6 margin. The only negative of the Pack’s dominant period was that they lost Hugh Jessiman to some kind of injury, as he took his last shift at around the 6 minute mark and did not return the rest of the game.

Wiikman gave up his only goal of the game at 8:43 of the second after a shot by Sharks winger Lukas Kaspar struck a player in front and deflected directly across the crease to Patrick Traverse, who was all alone at the left side of the net. Wiikman didn’t have a chance to get across to stop him. But the Pack responded two and a half minutes later, when Byers threaded a nice, hard cross-crease pass from the right side of the net to an open wide open and waiting Callahan who needed only to tap the puck into the empty side of the net. Callahan then topped off the scoring at 14:09 on a beautiful breakaway goal. Artem Anisimov got control of the puck in the high slot in the Pack’s zone and chipped the puck out ahead of Callahan, who turned on the jets big time to pull ahead of Traverse to go in on the breakaway, with Traverse right on his tail the whole way. He pulled a beautiful forehand-backhand-forehand deke and put the puck around Dakers to give the Pack the 3-1 lead, which they would hold the rest of the way.

The Sharks came out really strong in the 3rd, dominating play and giving the Pack just about all they could handle. But the Pack showed confidence and poise in not getting rattled, and Wiikman came up big when he needed to, stopping all 11 shots he faced in the period while the Pack mustered only 4 against the Sharks. By holding on for the win, the Pack improved their record against the Sharks this season to 6-0 and gave themselves at least a point in 8 of their last 9 games while keeping pace with 2nd place Portland, who remained 1 point ahead of them in the standings after coming from behind to beat Wilkes-Barre. The Pack still have a game in hand.

Wiikman improved his record to 11-4, with a 2.30 GAA and .917% save percentage. That ranks him 8th among AHL goalies in goals against and 13th in save percentage.

The Pack face the first place Providence Bruins tomorrow night at home, in a game which will most likely feature Al Montoya in goal, since it’s Al Montoya bobblehead night at the XL Center. The Pack have come closer to beating Providence each time they’ve played, pushing them to OT in each of the last two, but have yet to hold on for a win.

Pack Scoring
1. Byers (11) (Callahan, Pock) 11:55 (PP)
2. Callahan (4) (Byers, Potter) 11:16
2. Callahan (5) (Anisimov, Sauer) 14:09

Lines
Byers - Anisimov - Callahan
Parenteau - Moore - Bourret
Dupont - Korpikoski - Jessiman
Pyatt - Ouellette

Liffiton - Taylor
Hutchinson - Potter
Pock - Sauer

Wiikman / Montoya

Three Stars
1. Ryan Callahan
2. Dane Byers
3. Miika Wiikman

Cherepanov talks about the World Junior Championships in an interview on the Russian web site LiveHockey.ru, posted on January 20, 2008.

In an exclusive interview for “SG” Alexei Cherepanov evaluated the tournament which brought the Russian team bronze medals.

- Lesha, tell us all you’ve learned by comparison. Did this junior championship give you more difficulty than last year’s?

- Of course, purely psychologically, it had to be more difficult. Much more attention was paid to me. I also felt some physical problems. The bronchitis noticeably affected me. I was already ill when I was playing for Avangard, then on gathering in Novogorsk it got worse and it was difficult to rehabilitate myself. In the first game after shifts I was practically gasping. But to sum it up, yes, I agree, my play in this championship wasn’t brilliant. But the main result was a medal. So the tournament, certainly, was a positive.

- Scouts from the New York Rangers - the club which chose you in the 2007 NHL Draft - kept track of your performance?

- Yes, Vladimir Lychenko [legendary former defensman for team USSR - "SG"] works for them in Russia. We communicated with him the day before I departed for the Championships. In the Czech Republic I quite often saw him in the stands.

- What did you talk about?

- Nothing in particular, just general things. My health, how I played.

- Can the Canadians be beaten?

- They certainly became weaker. From the team that played against us in the autumn Super Series, four guys have already moved on to the NHL. The Canadians had weaknesses. On this occasion the Swedes were just slightly not good enough to be able to to take advantage of them.

- And did the Swedes in general surprise you?

- In this tournament I did not see anything out of the ordinary. I think last year the level of the Championship was more serious. So, by the way, was the hype around that tournament. In the Czech Republic for many games the stands were empty. There were few souvenirs. I myself bought practically nothing - a hat and some disks of our games.

- Did you normally disagree with Nemchinov? Is it true you were reprimanded?

- Its agreed that all these conversations are internal team issues. I don’t wish to bring out anything in the press.

- In the last months your play has been periodically appraised in terms of “is he a diva or not”? Does such talk make you angry?

- It is very difficult to hide that. In my opinion, my play has not gotten worse. I’m simply scoring less. But at the same time I’ve improved myself in small ways, in the strength battles.

- And how do you deal with “star fever”?

- I believe if a person has decided something, it is complicated to change his mind. Let people talk if they have nothing better to discuss. For me the most important thing is to perform for the team. And whether I’m on the first line or not is of no importance.

- Konstantin Ivigin

The Wolf Pack got their first shut out of the season tonight behind the strong play of Miika Wiikman and some strong last-minute penalty killing. For Wiikman, it was his first North American pro shutout, as he makes a strong bid for taking over the starting role from a struggling Al Montoya.

The lone goal of the game came on the power play at 8:28 of the first off the stick of Bourret, who took a beautiful cross-crease pass through traffic from Parenteau and wristed the puck past Rats goalie Michael Leighton, who had no chance to get across in time. Liffiton got in his first fight since returning from a concussion with a minute and a half left in the period, but it ended up being more of a wrestling match than anything else. The Rats outshot the Pack 13-11 in a pretty evenly played period.

The second saw the two teams swap opportunities, with the Pack having perhaps a slight edge in quantity, though not necessarily quality. Wiikman was forced to make some tough and timely saves, but nothing too spectacular. There were a number of missed calls that could have gone in the Pack’s favor through the middle of the period, but alas, referee Chris Brown decided to more or less let the teams play… until the final minutes of the game, anyway. (More on that in a second!) The Pack finished the period with a 10-6 advantage in shots.

The third brought more of the same. Both teams generated some good chances and had stretches where they applied pressure deep in the other’s zone, but there weren’t an abundance of high quality scoring opportunities. Honestly, I was convinced the Pack were going to give this one up, because, they continually tried to get too fancy, or to do too much by themselves and lost the puck as a result. They were given a gift power play at the 9:31 mark when former Ranger property Jacob Petruzelak was called for a really soft cross checking penalty but were unable to generate much until the final seconds of the penalty. The Rats would get theirs back, however, with 3 minutes 13 seconds to go in the game when Moore was called for a somewhat suspect holding penalty. With about a 1:45 to go the Rats pulled their goalie to get the 6-on-4 advantage.They managed to generate a number of good chances, applying pressure down low in front of the net. With 1 second to go in Moore’s penalty, following a bit of a shoving match which ensued after Wiikman froze the puck, referee Brown inexplicably decided to call an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Liffiton. That gave the Rats a 1 second 3-man advantage and let them finish out the remaining 1:13 of game with the 6-on-4 advantage once Moore returned. Fortunately, some very good PKing on the part of the Pack, a couple good saves by Wiikman, and the good luck of Albany sending some shots wide allowed the Pack to hold on to the win and put an end to their 3-game winless streat (0-1-2). It also allowed them to draw within 1 point of the idle Portland Pirates for 2nd place in the division.

Pack Scoring
1. Bourret (8) (Parenteau, Moore) (PP) 8:28

Lines
Parenteau - Moore - Bourret
Byers - Anismov - Callahan
Dupont - Korpikoski - Jessiman
Pyatt - Ouellette

Liffiton - Taylor
Hutchinson - Potter
Pock - Sauer

Wiikman / Montoya

Three Stars
1. Miika Wiikman
2. Michael Leighton
3. Alex Bourret

The Wolf Pack followed up the Rangers loss with an OT loss to the baby Bruins in Providence this afternoon, 4-3. What’s most frustrating is that they were within 1:20 of taking 2 points in regulation after Moore broke a 2-2 tie on a shorthanded breakaway with just 6 minutes ramaining. It would have been their first win over Providence, who are still tops in the AHL, this season.

Only saw parts of the game, so here are some random notes:
- Ivan Baranka did not play. I don’t know why.
- Wiikman was in goal
- Callahan was held scoreless for the first time in his 7 games in the AHL
- Andrew Hutchinson has 6 points in his last 3 games and 10 in his last 8.

Pack Scoring
1. Hutchinson (8) (Potter) 3:06
1. Parenteau (16) (Bourret, Hutchinson) 13:01
3. Moore (18) (Parenteau) 14:00 (SH)

Three Stars
1. PRO - 22 Jeff Hoggan
2. HFD - 5 Andrew Hutchinson
3. PRO - 11 Nate Thompson

While on paper it may look like the penalties they took — including a pair of overlapping 5 minute majors — cost the Wolf Pack the game, it was perhaps the Portland penalty on which the Pack failed to score that was the real turning point in this game.

The Pack got off to a great start, getting on the board just over two minutes in on an early power play when a series of tick-tack passes saw Callahan move the puck in from the left point to Hutchinson pinching in on the right, who then passed it back across to Byers, who put it in from the doorstep. The Pack had the clear advantage throughout the first, and at 8:19 the built their lead to two when, with Montoya pulled on a delayed penalty, Anisimov took the puck from Baranka in the Pack zone, skated it into the neutral zone and passed it up to Callahan, who skated it into the left faceoff circle, where he fired a bullet of a wrist shot over Portland goalie Mike McKenna’s shoulder. The Pack held the Pirates without a shot through at least the first 16 minutes of the first period (and held them to only 2 in the period), including through a power play opportunity when Dupont took a hooking penalty 11 minutes in.

The Pack got their second power play opportunity of the game at the 15:16 mark when Bobby Ryan took a tripping penalty, but they were guilty of trying to be too fancy with the puck, and allowed Portland to kill it off without much trouble.

The Pack’s real opportunity came at the 19:31 mark when Portland center Geoff Platt took a somewhat marginal 5-minute high sticking major — one of three such calls in the game. But through the final 30 seconds of the 1st and the first 4:29 of the first, the Pack were unable to pose a serious threat, playing without any sense of urgency and struggling to get into the zone and set up. Just as the penalty expired, Pock bobbled the puck at his own blue line and had it taken away by Tyler Bouck, who fed it to Platt as he was coming out of the penalty box. Platt went in alone on Montoya and beat him high with a quick wrist shot. The goal signaled a huge shift in the momentum of the game.

Portland would tie it up at 2 just a little over two minutes later on the rush when Ryan took a pass from Platt, deked Montoya with a quick forehand-backhand move, and put up high with the backhand. Korpikoski regained the lead for the Pack just before the sixteen minute mark on a 4-on-4 when Ouellette dropped the puck back to him on the rush and he fired a hard slapshot past McKenna from the top of the left circle. In between, Baranka would be forced to defend himself in a fight with Jason King after throwing a hard hit along the boards (he held his own) and Bourret would square off with Simon Ferguson off the ensuing faceoff (Ferguson the clear winner). Bourret’s fight was apparently a response to a hit Ferguson threw against him in the 1st.

To close out the second it would be Korpikoski getting his stick up high on a Portland player, in the offensive zone, drawing the 5 minute major with 1:10 to go in the period. The Pack would hold on and escape the period with the 3-1 lead, outshooting the Pirates 11-7, for a 18-9 advantage on the game.

But the Pack would dig themselves a deeper hole just 59 seconds into the third when Jake Taylor drew another 5 minute high sticking major in a battle in front of the net. Like Platt’s first period call, I’m not convinced it was worthy of a major, but that’s how it was called, and it would come back to haunt the Pack just 20 seconds later when King tied it up. The Pack would get a bit of a break when Andrew Ebbet was called for a phantom goalie interference call after he was dumped into Montoya. That allowed the Pack to just about finish the first major with a 4-on-3 instead of a 5-on-3. But after both Korpikoski and Ebbet returned, with the Pack still down 5-on-4, Petteri Wirtanen would give the Pirates their first lead of the game, 4-3.

The Pack refused to concede the game, however, and Hutchinson tied things up around the halfway point of the 3rd when Parenteau got the puck through to him as he cheated in from the point on the power play. Put the Pack’s penalty problems weren’t finished. Callahan would take a tripping penalty with 5 minutes left, but the Pack would kill it off. Then with 54 seconds to go, Callahan came back to the bench slow after a long shift and Parenteau jumped out too fast, causing the Pack to be called for Too Many Men. The Pirates would fire a bunch of shots towards the goal over the remaining 54 seconds of regulation, getting some timely blocks by the defensemen and a number of good saves by Montoya to earn the Pack a point in the standings.

It would take only 33 seconds of 4-on-3 overtime play for the Ebbett to end up with the puck and fire it high over Montoya’s glove to give Portland the extra point and a 4 point cushion on 2nd place in the Atlantic Division standings (though the Pack do have 2 games in hand). The Pack finished the game with a 28-20 advantage in shots, after matching the 10 shots Portland took in the 3rd, despite their advantage in power play time in the period.

Random Notes
- Liffiton returned to the lineup and played well. He was physical and involved — hard to believe he’s missed the last 34 games.
- The Pack dressed 7 d-men, with Pock taking a couple shifts at forward, as well as playing the point on the PP.
- Pyatt was the healthy scratch to make room for Liffiton.
- Bourret was hospitalized briefly last night for abdominal pain, but was released and checked out by team doctors today. No issues were found, and he was able to play in tonight’s game.

Lines
Dupont - Moore - Parenteau
Byers - Anisimov - Callahan
Bourret - Korpikoski - Jessiman
Pock - Ouellette

Potter - Hutchinson
Baranka - Taylor
Liffiton - Sauer

Montoya / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Geoff Platt
2. Andrew Hutchinson
3. Ryan Callahan

The Wolf Pack made it a perfect 3 games in 3 nights road trip tonight with a 3-1 win over the Hershey Bears — the team that jumped out to a 4-0 1st period lead on them at home just 9 days ago before holding on for the 5-4 win.

For the third game straight, the Pack got off to a good start, getting a number of scoring opportunities early and drawing a power play opportunity just 2:27 into the game. They were unable to convert, and Hershey eventually began to even out the play. At around the halfway point of the period, Hershey’s Louis Robitaille, the AHL’s leader in penalty minutes, had a shift on which he took big runs at two different Pack defenseman (Sauer and Pock) deep in the Pack zone, energizing both his team and the crowd. But on his next shift, Robitaille was challenged by rookie Brodie Dupont near center ice, and accepted. The two exchanged a few quick punches each, but as Robitaille tried to switch hands Dupont caught him with a hard left that sent him down to the ice. Dupont’s win helped stem the Hershey tide, and a minute and a half later the Pack went on the power play. Through the first two periods Gernander used two different units specifically for the power play: the first had Callahan centering Byers and Parenteau, and the second with Anisimov centering Korpikoski and Jessiman. It was that unit that cashed in when Jessiman got the puck along the left side goal line and skated it out in front for a quick shot that Bears goalie Frederic Cassivi was able to stop. But he couldn’t control the rebound, and both Anismov and Korpikoski were right on the doorstep to put it home. Korpikoski got credited with the goal, his second in as many nights. The Pack would finish the period with the 1-0 lead and a 14-9 advantage in shots.

Hershey got on the board just over 4 minutes into the 2nd when Andrew Gordon got the puck on the goal line and skated out towards the front of the net. Pock flopped to the ice to try to prevent a pass, but allowed Gordon to walk right out between him and the net and catch Wiikman moving as he cut across the crease untouched. The remainder of the second period was a fairly even affair, with teams trading chances and both goalies needing to come up with big saves. The period ended with the teams still tied 1-1 and the Pack with a slight advantage in shots (11-9) for the period.

The Pack got an early 5-on-3 to start the 3rd when Chris Bourque (son of Ray) took a hooking penalty and Joe Motzko got 2 of his own for unsportsmanlike conduct when he argued it. However, the Pack’s first unit of Byers - Callahan - Parenteau with Pock and Hutchinson never really threatened through the 1:50 they were on the ice before Callahan took a hooking penalty. The Pack killed off the ensuing power play. Jessiman was called for slashing at the 7:05 mark, just as the Pack were beginning to regain some of their momentum. The Pack would kill it off (in fact, the PK was perfect on the night) and get a power play of their own 33 seconds later. This time, Gernander opted to roll his regular top lines on the power play, and it paid off. The unit of Byers - Anisimov - Callahan, along with Pock and Hutchinson on the points moved the puck around the Hershey zone beautifully before Anisimov ended up with in on the right faceoff dot and fired a hard snap shot through a screen of Callahan and Byers and right past Cassivi. It would hold up as the game winner.

Wiikman would be forced to make a number of tough saves through the remainder of the game, and the Pack would be forced to kill off one more penalty at the 15:10 mark when Sauer took a hooking penalty, but they showed poise holding the lead. Byers iced it with an unassisted empty net goal with 21.1 seconds to go. The Pack would finish the game outshooting the Bears 36-23.

Random Notes
- With the win, Wiikman improved his record to 8-3-1.
- Hutchinson has points in 4 straight games, but looked shaky in his own zone tonight.
- Sauer also struggled. The penalty he took resulted when he was beaten to the outside coming into the Pack zone. Anisimov got back and kept the Hershey player to the outside, but he was able to get a pass through and Sauer had to hook the recipient to prevent a good scoring chance. That’s the third time I can remember him getting beaten to the outside this weekend.
- The Pack were 5-for-5 on the penalty and 2-for-6 on the power play
- Jessiman returned after missing last night’s game with an “undisclosed” injury
- Bourret missed the game with an undisclosed injury, apparently the result of his fight last night

Pack Scoring
1. Korpikoski (9) (Jessiman, Baranka) 15:51 (PP)
3. Anisimov (7) (Hutchinson, Callahan) 11:14 (PP)
3. Byers (7) 19:38

Lines
Byers - Anisimov - Callahan
Dupont - Pyatt - Parenteau
Koprikoski - Ouellette - Jessiman
Graham - Owens

Baranka - Taylor
Potter - Hutchinson
Pock - Sauer

Three Stars
1. Artem Anisimov
2. Lauri Korpikoski
3. Frederic Cassivi

The Wolf Pack broke their 3-game losing streak tonight by defeating the Norfolk Admirals 4-2, despite their best attempts to give the game away with a 3rd period parade to the penalty box. Lucky for them, the Admirals are 2nd to last in the AHL and were utterly unable to cash in on the opportunities.

The Pack got the scoring started early in the 1st with two quick goals, both courtesy of the Pack’s brand new first line of Byers - Anisimov - Callahan (who would finish with 3 of the team’s 4 goals). The first was a slapper from the right point from Taylor with both Anisimov and Byers screening the goalie. The puck deflected off Byers’ butt right in front of Admiral’s goalie Marc Denis, who didn’t stand a chance. Pack play-by-play man Bob Crawford speculated that Anisimov also may have tipped it on the way in, but he wasn’t given credit on the score sheet. The second was a similar play, this time a point shot from the left point from Corey Potter, again with Anisimov and Byers in the lane screening Denis. On the scoresheet it was credited to Potter, though again Crawford suggest Anisimov might have tipped it, and I’m more inclined to agree with him on this one. Callahan and Byers picked up the assists. The goals came within 33 seconds of one another, both before the 4 minute mark of the period. Jessiman and Jancevski squared off shortly after, with Jessiman taking the easy decision — Jancevski was never even in this one.

The 3rd Pack goal came just inside of the halfway mark of the period, once again a shot from the point, but a different cast of characters setting the screen in front. Hutchinson got the goal, but had Pyatt crashing the net and setting the screen, and possibly getting a stick on it. Six-foot-three Radek Smolenak challenged short but stout Jordon Owens to a fight 11 seconds later, and won easily. The first act of the penalty parade started shortly after when Byers took an offensive-zone holding penalty, which Potter followed up with a cross-checing penalty 45 seconds later, giving the Admirals a 5-on-3 on which they scored. Ouelette took a penalty to close out the first, whch carried to the 2nd, but the Pack were able to kill it off.

In the 2nd it was Norfolk who took the penalties early, allowing Callahan to get his 1st of the season off a real nice passing play from Byers and Anisimov on the power play. Anisimov carried it into the zone and threaded a nice pass through a defender to Byers in the right circle. Byers drew the defender to him before pushing a nice backhand pass through to Callahan, who was all alone in the left circle. Callahan took his time and fired a perfectly-placed wrist shot high, glove side on Denis. Norfolk got their 2nd shortly after the 12 minute mark when a Pack turnover in the neutral zone (maybe Ouelette? maybe Korpikoski? not really sure) lead to a 3-on-1 with only Baranka, playing in his first game since December 28th, back. Norfolk’s Karl Stewart got the pass around him to Rob Klinkhammer who was all alone down low on Montoya, who didn’t have a chance. Norfolk gave the Pack a number of power play opportunities through the 2nd, but the Pack were unable to convert on any of them.

The 3rd period saw the Pack give Norfolk 6 consecutive power plays, including a full 2 minutes of 5-on-3 when Parenteau took an unsportsmanlike conduct call after arguing a penalty call against Pock. They have the Admirals ineffectiveness to thank as much as their own penalty killing that it didn’t end up a much closer game than it was.

Montoya had to make a number of key saves, and came back strong after an extremely poor performance last Friday saw him lose the start against Lowell on Saturday. A couple of his most impressive saves came early in the game, and were a matter of him recovering for his own miscues (one misplaying the puck behind the net and having to make a sliding save coming back out front from behind the net, the other a sprawling glove save as he stretched across the crease to stop a Norfolk player who was in alone after his poke check attempt missed.)

Despite getting on the board with an assist in the first, Callahan started a little tentatively, and didn’t have the puck on his stick nearly as much as Byers and Anisimov, but he found his groove by the second and was engaged and involved and skating hard and generating chances. That top line got a TON of ice time, at even strength and on the PP, and Callahan also spent time on the PK with Byers.

Pack Scoring
1. Byers (6) (Taylor, Baranka) 3:21
1. Potter (2) (Callahan, Byers) 3:54
1. Hutchinson (6) (Potter, Parenteau) 9:39
2. Callahan (1) (Byers, Anisimov) (PP) 4:21

Lines
Byers - Anisimov - Callahan
Parenteau - Pyatt - Bourret
Korpikoski - Ouelette - Jessiman
Dupont - Owens

Baranka - Taylor
Hutchinson - Potter
Pock - Sauer

Montoya / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Dane Byers
2. Ryan Callahan
3. Justin Keller