There is nothing more excruciatingly boring than watching a game involving the last-in-the-league Lowell Devils. So forgive the lack of detail below, since my attention frequently wandered.

The only scoring of the first 45 minutes of play came with just 57 seconds remaining in the first period when P.A. Parenteau skated the puck out from the corner across the crease, getting Devils goalie Frank Doyle to lay himself out in an effort to block the bottom half of the net. No luck, as Parenteau was able to put the puck around him and get the Pack he all-important (especially when facing the trapping Devils) first goal. The Devils outshot the Pack 9-5 but had maybe one good scoring chance to the Pack’s three. Brodie Dupont fought Ivan Khomutov in the closing minutes, but even that was fairly dull, with Khomutov getting a few early shots in before Dupont got in one of his own and both went down to the ice.

The bad news of the period was that Al Montoya appeared to suffer an injury of some sort in the process of making a kick save towards the end of the period. He stayed hunched over after play moved up ice, and skated around during the next stoppage as if testing/stretching something. He finished out the final minutes of the period, but did not return for the second period. No word yet on what the injury may be. Wiikman took his place to start the second and was immediately tested by a point-blank shot on which he came up big with his glove. There was no scoring in the second period, and the Pack’s 12-10 advantage in shots probably makes it sound more interesting than it was.

At the 5:20 mark of the third Mark Sauer made a unwise attempt to poke the puck away from the Devils Barry Tallakson as he skated through center ice and was left in a trail of dust as Tallakson rushed in on a 2-on-1 and fired a snap shot over Wiikman’s shoulder from the left circle. Sensing they might actually run the risk of giving a point or two away, the Pack began to wake up as the period went on. At the 16:55 mark Greg Moore drew an offensive zone interference penalty off of Lowell’s Ryan Murphy, setting up the eventual game winner just under a minute later when Moore whiffed on a pass from Byers, but had the puck land directly in front of Ivan Baranka as he pinched in from the left point and put a slap shot past a screened Doyle. The game looked settled at that point, but Wiikman was forced to make one more game-saving stop, as a Devil found the puck on his stick at the open side of the net with under a minute remaining, but Wiikman somehow got across to get a pad on it.

The win gave the Pack 77 points in 56 games, moving them within 4 points of division- and league-leading Providence, who they face tomorrow in Hartford with the opportunity to move to within 2 points.

With the goal, his team-leading 22nd, Parenteau picked up his 7th point in the last 4 games. His 55 points in 53 games ranks him 7th in the league in scoring. Moore and Byers picked up the assists on both goals — for Moore it was his 8th point in the past 6, and for Byers, his 9th in the last 6. Wiikman looked sharp after a less-than-spectacular showing on Sunday against Bridgeport and climbed back into 4th among all AHL goalies in GAA.

The only real negative surrounding the team is an increasing list of injuries. Captain Andrew Hutchinson missed his second game with a groin injury, and was joined on the sidelines by defenseman David Liffiton, also out with an unspecified injury. The Pack signed Charlotte’s Jared Nightingale, the ECHL’s leader in fighting majors, to a PTO contract prior to the game. He was paired with former Michigan State teammate Corey Potter, but didn’t really impress, getting beaten through the neutral zone and in battles along the boards a few times. Hugh Jessiman returned after missing one game, but the injury to Montoya has to cause some concern, regardless of how well Wiikman has been playing. Tommy Pyatt went back on the list of healthy scratches, along with Bruce Graham.

Hartford Scoring
1. Parenteau (22) (Moore, Byers) 19:13
3. Baranka (5) (Moore, Byers) 17:47

Lines
Hossa – Anisimov – Bourret
Byers – Moore – Parenteau
Dupont – Korpikoski – Jessiman
Ouellette – Owens

Sauer – Pock
Baranka – Taylor
Potter – Nightingale

Montoya / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Ivan Baranka
2. Barry Tallackson
3. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau

That the Pack came out slow and sluggish in their fourth game in five nights, the day after an emotional win over their nearest Atlantic Division competition, missing two veteran leaders in Andrew Hutchinson and Hugh Jessiman, probably shouldn’t be a surprise. All good things come to an end at some point, and for the Pack tonight brought the end of a streak in which they went 12 straight games without being beaten in regulation. That it happened against Bridgeport also shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as the Tigers, and particularly goaltender Joey McDonald, really seem to have the Pack’s number this season. This was the 5th win in 6 games this season for the baby Islanders (2 in the shootout), after dropping 9 of 10 games to the Pack last season.

I was only able to listen to the first period on the radio while driving home from the Garden after the Rangers game, but things got off to a bad start early, when just 32 seconds into the game referee Tudor Floru called simultaneous penalties on Ivan Baranka (Holding) and Corey Potter (Tripping), putting the Pack down two men right off the first shift of the game. That left the Pack without their two top defensemen (in the absence of Hutchinson, who sat out the game with “muscle soreness”). It took just over a minute for Bridgeport to get on the board on the 5-on-3. And just two minutes after that they built up the lead to two. By the time I got home and turned on the video feed during the first intermission, Bridgeport had built up a 3 goal lead on an 8-5 advantage in shots, in what proved to be a rough night for goaltender Miika Wiikman, who, in making his first start in 6 games, saw his GAA drop from first in the league to 4th. I didn’t see the first three goals, so I can’t really comment on his performance, but Pack play-by-play man Bob Crawford did comment later that none of the goals Wiikman let in seemed soft to him. It just seemed that the entire team failed to put in their best effort in the first period.

The Wolf Pack came out much stronger in the second and managed to get on the board when Dane Byers scored on a delayed penalty call which he drew as he carried the puck into the zone. He passed the puck off to Greg Moore, who fed P.A. Parenteau for the initial shot, which McDonald stopped. But Byers was left alone in the slot to pick up the rebound and tuck it in just inside the right goal post. It was the 5th consecutive game in which he scored a goal (he has 6 in the span), which is a season high for a Wolf Pack player and a career high streak for Byers. It was also the only time the Pack would get on the score board, though the dictated the pace of play through the majority of the second two periods.

But the Pack’s dominance wouldn’t keep Bridgeport from adding a fourth goal in the 3rd period. At the 9:44 mark of the period the Tigers had a rare shift where they were able to apply pressure and keep the Pack pinned in their own zone, and the Pack failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities to clear the puck. On one such attempt, Bridgeport forward Justin Bourne was able to get the puck at the blueline and feed it down to Trevor Smith, who was all alone right in the slot and was able to put the puck past Wiikman. The goal, which came after a number of game-breaking saves by Bridgeport goalie McDonald, took the wind out of the Pack’s sails. Although they managed to outshoot the Tigers 13-5 in the second, and 15-5 in the third, they couldn’t get the puck past McDonald, who’s been very strong in each of the games he’s faced the Pack in this season.

There was a scary moment in the 3rd when Pack defenseman Michael Sauer, playing in his first game back after missing 3 with a slight knee injury, and Bridgeport winger Pascal Morency skated towards the end boards in the Pack’s zone to retreive a dump in. As they approached the boards they came together, and Sauer used his size and strength advantage to shrug off Morency, who fell awkwardly into the boards. He stayed down on the ice as Bridgeport’s Jeremy Coliton challenged Sauer (in what was a short-lived fight) and was eventually put on a backboard and removed from the ice on a stretcher. There was no word on his condition by the end of the broadcast.

The Pack’s power play, ranked 3rd in the league heading into the game, was held scoreless in 6 attempts, very obviously missing the presence of the AHL’s leading scoring defenseman. In Hutchinson’s absence, Ivan Baranka seemed to pick up the bulk of the extra minutes. Jordon Owens returned to the line up in place of Hugh Jessiman, who I suspect was injured, though no reason for his presence on the scratch list was given by Crawford. Tommy Pyatt also returned to the lineup after missing three straight games as a healthy scratch, taking Bruce Graham’s place in the lineup.

Pack Scoring
2. Byers (18 ) (Parenteau, Moore) 9:10

Lines
Byers – Moore – Parenteau
Hossa – Anisimov – Bourret
Dupont – Korpikoski – Ouellette
Owens – Pyatt

Baranka – Potter
Liffiton – Taylor
Pock – Sauer

Wiikman / Montoya

Three Stars
1. Steve Regier
2. Joey MacDonald
3. Trevor Smith

In honor of Hockey Weekend Across America my husband and I decided to take in a double header today, and headed straight from a Ranger win at the Garden to Hartford, where we were able to witness the Wolf Pack’s 5th consecutive win, and 12th consecutive game in which they picked up at least a point.

It didn’t take the Pack long to get the second largest crowd of the season (7,539) into the game. Marcel Hossa, in the first game of a conditioning stint, set up in front of the net on the power play and was able to deflect an Andrew Hutchinson point shot past Portland goaltender Mike McKenna. Portland forward and 2005 #2 overall draft pick Bobby Ryan tied it up just under 4 minutes later, but the Pack got their 2nd of three power play goals on the night just a minute and 42 seconds later when Hutchinson fired a laser of a slap shot into the top corner of the net from the left point. The Pack ended the period with a 15-9 advantage in shots, largely the result of a 3-1 advantage in power play opportunities.

The second period started off with P.A. Parenteau’s first of two goals on the night just 58 seconds in when he intercepted a Portland clearing pass and skated in alone on McKenna for the unassisted goal. Parenteau seems to like playing against his old team, as this was the third multiple point game he’s played against them (he finish tonight with 2 goals and an assist). Hugh Jessiman faced off with Brandon Segal only 12 seconds later, in a quick, but classic hockey fight: both players squared off, removed their helmets, and danced around for a couple seconds. But Jessiman used his long reach to get a hold of Segal’s jersey, pull it over his head, and put him down with one quick punch.

But less than two minutes later Hossa threw a lazy pass through the middle of the ice just inside the Pack zone on the PK which was picked off by Pirate forward Andrew Ebbett, who walked in alone and beat Montoya through the five hole. Jessiman, looking more and more like a hockey player with each game, made a nice play just before the 9 minute mark of the period, carrying the puck deep into the Portland zone, where he held it in the corner as his linemates crashed the net, then fired it into the crease, where it deflected off a Pirate defenseman and between McKenna’s legs to give the Pack a two goal lead. It was Jessiman’s second point of the game, giving him 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 3 games since returning from injury. He’s also had three fights in that time, including two tonight, giving him one more than he needed for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

Parenteau got his second at 16:52, the result of some nice passing between him, Tomas Pock and Greg Moore just as a power play expired. The goal gave Parenteau 21 on the season, allowing him to re-take the Pack’s goal scoring lead from Greg Moore. The Pack had the slim 7-6 lead in shots in the period, but to be honest, they looked pretty dominant all game long — even when the score was 2-1 and 3-2 I really had little doubt of a positive outcome.

In the 3rd Andy Schneider got the Pirates back to within two goals when he was left wide open in the high slot (by Hossa) just as a Portland power play expired. Dane Byers capped off the scoring at the 15 minute mark of the period with a nice deflection on a Pock power play point shot. For Byers it was his 17th goal of the season, equaling the previous season’s somewhat surprising rookie mark — in 28 fewer games. It was also his fourth consecutive game with a goal. He’s picked up 5 goals and 1 assist in the past 4 games.

The Pack finished the game with four minutes of power play time after Portland’s Geoff Peters lost his cool, taking a double minor for roughing in what amounted to a mugging of Jessiman, who ended up dropping the gloves for a second time in the game with Darryl Bootland as part of the same play. This one was more of a wrestling match than a fight, however.

The Pack finished the period with a 10-8 advantage in shots, for a combined advantage of 32-23 over the course of the game. Perhaps the only negative to take from the game is that it appears the Pack lost their captain, Anfrew Hutchinson, to injury at some point during the course of the game, because he did not play in the 3rd, was not on the bench, and did not appear when he was annouced as the 3rd star of the game. Losing Hutchinson, who overtook Moore to gain the 2nd rank in Pack scoring with his two points tonight, and continues to lead all AHL defensemen in scoring, could be a significant blow to a young team who voted to name him their captain only a little more than 3 weeks ago.

Random Notes
- I saw Sauer walking through the concourse between periods, and he didn’t appear to be limping or favoring either leg, so hopefully his knee injury is of the minor variety.
- To make room for Hossa, Jordan Owens took a seat with Tommy Pyatt as a healthy scratch.
- Montoya made some timely saves early in the 1st, but wasn’t really tested much. It was his 5th consecutive start, and 5th consecutive win. While some have suggested he’s being showcased for potential trade partners, it seems to me Gernander may be going with the “stick with the hot hand” theory of coaching. It took a loss by Wiikman for Montoya to get back in the net, and I get the feeling the job is now Montoya’s until the team loses.
- Wiikman’s best chance could come tomorrow afternoon when the Pack head to Bridgeport to face the baby Islanders, who they’ve only managed to beat once in five tries this season, after dominating the season series last season.

Pack Scoring
1. Hossa (1) (Hutchinson, Bourret) 1:16 (PP)
1. Hutchinson (13) (Bourret, Jessiman) 6:42 (PP)
2. Parenteau (20) 0:58
2. Jessiman (12) (Potter) 8:57
2. Parenteau (21) (Pock, Moore) 16:52
3. Byers (17) (Pock, Parenteau) 14:59 (PP)

Lines
Byers – Moore -Parenteau
Hossa – Anisimov – Bourret
Dupont – Korpikoski – Jessiman
Graham – Ouellette

Baranka – Potter
Pock – Hutchinson
Liffiton – Taylor

Montoya / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
2. Hugh Jessiman
3. Andrew Hutchinson