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