The Wolf Pack continued their domination of the Springfield Falcons tonight with a 6-1 win in Springfield, their 4th win in a row, extending their current points streak to 11 games and improving their record over their nearby rivals to 6-1-0-0 on the season.

Rookie Brodie Dupont got the scoring started at 8:10 of the first when he cashed in on the rebound created by the strong play of Lauri Korpikoski. Korpikoski picked up the puck from ECHL call-up Bruce Graham behind the net, and skated out around the right side of the net, firing a quick shot on goal from in close at a sharp angle. Springfield goalie Jeff Deslauriers couldn’t control the rebound and the puck ended up out front of the net where a wide-open Dupont picked it up in the slot and put it in the open side of the net. That was the only scoring of a fairly even period, in which the Falcons had the edge in shots (11-8) primarily because of an advantage in power plays (3 compared to the Pack’s 1).

But as it seems they do often lately, the Pack broke the game open in the second period, scoring 4 goals on the way to taking a 6-0 lead. Greg Moore got the first at the five minute mark of the period on a play started by Montoya, who controlled the puck in front of the net and fired a long pass to P.A. Parenteau along the right boards at center ice. Parenteau fed Moore, who had a step on the Falcon defender as he broke into the offensive zone and fired a quick wrist shot over Deslaurier’s shoulder from just above the hash marks. The goal, his 20th of the season, allowed Moore to re-take the team goal scoring lead from Parenteau, with whom he’d been tied. Parenteau’s assist was one of two on the night, which gave him his 50th point (in 50 games), and a 6 point lead on Moore. It also moved him into 10th in the AHL in scoring.

Artem Anisimov increased the Pack’s lead to three 46 seconds later after defensemen Corey Potter jumped up on the rush, carrying the puck deep into the Springfield zone, holding it briefly in the corner before firing a perfectly-timed pass into the crease as Anisimov arrived on the doorstep to deflect it past Deslauriers. It was Anisimov’s 2nd goal in as many games, and 4th point in his last three. It also spelled the end of Delauriers, who was pulled in favor Devan Dubnyk. For Potter, it was one of three even strength goals he was on the ice for, improving his +/- on the season to +22, one behind Pack leader Moore. Moore and Potter’s +/- figures earn them the 3rd and 4th highest rankings in the league, respectively.

Michael Ouellette added a goal of his own at 17:03 of the period on a delayed penalty he drew himself when he was tripped as he drove to the net with the puck. He got the shot off, but Bourret was able to get to the rebound and feed Andrew Hutchinson for a shot which Dubnyk couldn’t control, giving the rebound right back to Ouellette at the hash marks.

I had to leave as the Pack went on the PK at 18:07 of the period, but Dane Byers capped off the 2nd period scoring just 10 seconds later with a shorthanded goal. The Pack had the edge in shots in the period, 9-6.

I missed most of the 3rd period, but Korpikoski capped off the Pack’s scoring just 33 seconds in on a 5-on-3 power play. It was Korpikoski’s 12th of the season, bettering last season’s number with more than a quarter of the season remaining. It was also his 5th point in the last 3 games and earned him his second consecutive 1st star of the game. I was able to check in just past the halfway mark of the period, just in time to see the Pack get into penalty trouble, ultimately costing Montoya his a chance at his first shutout of the season. First Bourret went off for roughing at 12:05, then 8 seconds later Jake Taylor was called for hooking, putting the Pack down by two men. Moore took a slashing penalty just a minute and eleven seconds later, and compounded the problem by arguing the call and earning himself an additional two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, setting up what would have been an extended 5-on-3 had Springfield not gotten on the board less than a half a minute later. Falcon defenseman Theo Peckham got the puck deep in the pack zone and fired a centering pass across the crease which Montoya inadvertently deflected into his own net when he tried to break up the pass. It was a tough break for Montoya, who looked sharp through the two periods I saw. The Falcons outshot the Pack 18-3 in the 3rd, suggesting yet another game where the Pack seemed to do their best to let the opposition back into the game in the final period. This time only the one goal got through, however, and the Pack went on to improve their record to 33-13-2-5, pulling to within 6 points of league-leading Providence, who lost to Portland, who remain 4 points behind the Pack for 3rd in the Atlantic Division, though the Pack have 2 games in hand. Portland and Hartford face off in Hartford tomorrow night.

Random Notes
- Mike Sauer missed his second game with a knee injury
- Tommy Pyatt was a healthy scratch for the 2nd consecutive game
- Referee Frederic L’Ecuyer probably didn’t make many friends on the Pack with what seemed to be wildly inconsistent call of the game. Of those I saw, the most questionable was probably a 2 minute instigating penalty (and requisite 10 minute misconduct) in the second after Bourret threw a huge, but clean, open-ice hit, for which the Falcon’s Theo Peckham did everything in his power to try to draw Bourret into a fight. Jessiman stepped in, providing a willing partner for Peckham, who was all over Bourret, but somehow he drew the instigator.

Pack Scoring
1. Dupont (8) (Korpikoski, Graham) 8:10
2. Moore (20) (Parenteau, Montoya) 5:01
2. Anisimov (9) (Potter, Bourret) 5:47
2. Ouellette () (Hutchinson, Bourret) 17:03
2. Byers (16) 18:17 (SH)
3. Korpikoski (12) (Parenteau, Hutchinson) 0:33 (PP)

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

Pock – Hutchinson
Baranka – Potter
Liffiton – Taylor

Montoya / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Lauri Korpikoski
2. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
3. Andrew Hutchinson

For the second game in a row the Pack tried to give away a win they seemed to have in the bag, but managed to hold on, racking up their 3rd straight win and extending their undefeated-in-regulation streak to 10 games in the process.

The Pack started the game looking like a team that had just had a rare weekend off, coming out sluggish and looking disjointed and out of sync at both ends of the ice. They had trouble clearing the puck out of their own end throughout the period, but thanks in large part to some solid goaltending by Al Montoya, managed to escape the first period with a scoreless tie. The Pack’s 8-7 advantage in shots makes it look more even than it actually was.

The Pack came out much stronger in the second, and held the Falcons without a shot until just before the 11 minute mark of the period. Dane Byers had just gotten the scoring started on the power play at 10:12 when he took a perfect pass from Hutchinson as he drove to the net, deflecting the puck past Springfield goaltender Jeff Deslaurier. Lauri Korpikoski doubled the Pack’s lead four and a half minutes later when he took the puck in the far corner, skated behind the net, wrapped around the front of the net, turned, and snapped a quick shot over Deslaurier’s shoulder. Jordon Owens got the primary assist after being boarded along the far boards as he pushed the puck down the boards to Korpikoski. Owens crumpled and was slow getting up, and David Liffiton was quick to go after the Falcon’s Tim Sestito for the hit, with both players drawing 5 minute fighting majors, thought it wasn’t much of a fight. The original hit went unpenalized. Owens skated slowly to the bench after the hit, but didn’t miss a shift. The Pack finished the period with the 2-0 lead and 12-6 advantage in shots.

The Falcons got on the board at the 8:38 mark of the third period when Colin McDonald fired a soft shot towards the net which deflected off Pack defenseman Corey Potter’s skate and past Montoya. But the Pack built the lead back up to two only 32 seconds later when Tomas Pock fired a hard snap shot at the net from the left point just as Huge Jessiman broke for the net from the left corner and crossed right in front of the crease as the shot arrived. He was given credit for the goal, though I’m not sure if he deflected it off the stick or off it went off another part of his body. Deslaurier’s argued that he’d been interfered with, but referee Tudor Fiotu had none of it. Jessiman played a strong, physical game, throwing his body around and playing aggressively on a line with Anisimov and Bourret in his first game back after missing 6 with a hyperextended elbow.

Anisimov seemed to have put the game away for the Pack less then two minutes later on a play that he started by forcing a turnover in the high slot which found its way to Bourret along the half boards. Bourret moved the puck up the boards to Jessiman at the point, and he floated the puck towards the net. Anisimov intercepted it on his backhand on its way in, spun, stickhandled around a Springfield defender and fired a quick wrist shot past Deslauriers.

With a 4-1 lead, it looks like the Pack had the game in the bag, but lazy play in their own zone allowed Marc Pouliot to pick up two goals in just over two minutes at 14:01 and 16:08 to cut the lead to one. On the first, P.A. Parenteau allowed Pouliot to stickhandle around him and go in on the net. Pouliet was able to fire a quick wrist shot past Montoya’s glove hand. On the second, Pack defenseman Liffiton and Jake Taylor were MIA when Patrick Thoresen found Pouliet all alone right on Montoya’s doorstep.

The Pack didn’t make the last four minutes easy on themselves, taking a couple ill-advised icing calls, but were able to hold on in the end. With the win, the Pack maintained the 8 point gap with league-leading Providence, who also won tonight, and their 4 point lead on 3rd place Portland, on whom they still have a game in hand.

Random Notes
- The assists on Anisimov’s goal were officially credited to Bourret and Potter, but the Pack’s play-by-play man Bob Crawford believes it was Jessiman at the point, and I tend to agree, so the scoring may be changed.
- Defenseman Michael Sauer suffered and un-specified injury in last Friday’s game and did not play.
- Rookie Brodie Dupont took an awkward hit in the 1st and appeared to suffer a leg injury. He did not return.
- Tommy Pyatt was a healthy scratch.

Pack Scoring
2. Byers (15) (Hutchinson, Pock) 10:12 (PP)
2. Korpikoski (11) (Ownes, Graham) 14:43
3. Jessiman (11) (Pock, Bourret) 9:10
3. Anisimov (8) (Bourret, Potter) 10.59

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

Pock – Hutchinson
Baranka – Potter
Liffiton – Taylor

Three Stars
1. Lauri Korpikoski
2. Marc Pouliot
3. Hugh Jessiman

The Pack won a wild one tonight, turning what appeared to be a laugher in the 2nd period into a nail-biter in the 3rd. You had to expect a penalty-filled game when referee Terry Koharski, fresh off Wednesday’s game where he handed out a mere 5 minor penalties, called the Pack’s Andrew Hutchinson for a hooking penalty only 23 seconds into the game. The Pack killed it off, allowing the Bruins only a single shot again with the advantage. They stormed back a mere 10 seconds after the power play ended, with Greg Moore scoring off a quick wrist shot from the high slot on the Pack’s first shot of the game. Two shots and a minute and eleven seconds later, the Pack would find the twine again after Alex Bourret forced a turnover and Artem Anisimov picked up the puck and dished it off to Taylor, who scored on a slapshot from the right point. One minute later it became obvious that this game wasn’t going to be a repeat of the tight defensive battle the Pack participated in on Wednesday, when the Bruin’s Nate Thompson was able to break down the right side unchallenged to snap a wrist shot over Pack goalie Al Montoya’s shoulder on Providence’s second shot of the game.

Things settled down a bit on the scoreboard, but got increasingly nasty in the ice with P.A. Parenteau and Martins Karsums swapping Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalties at 8:47 and Dane Byers and Matt Lashoff trading roughing minors at the 16:20 mark. The nastiness would really heat up with 5 seconds to go in the period when Providence’s Jeff Hogan was called for goaltender interference and Parenteau and Jonathan Sigalet each earned 10 minute misconducts. When the buzzer sounded five seconds later to signal the end of the period Providence defenseman Sean Curry completely lost his composure and jumped an unsuspecting Byers and had him down on the ice pounding on him before Byers was even able to drop his gloves. Curry picked up a 2 minute minor for instigating, a 5 minute major for fighting and a game misconduct, while Byers got away penalty-free. Corey Potter and Matt Hendricks would pick up matching fighting majors of their own, but the Pack would head into the 2nd period with 1:55 of a 2-man advantage plus almost a full 5 minutes of major penalty time on which to score.

And score they did, picking up 5 power play goals in under 5 minutes. Hutchinson got things started at 1:29 with a quick shot from the center of the blue line with loads of traffic in front. He then make it 3-1 only thirty seconds later with a slapshot that beat goaltender Tuuka Rask cleanly from the left point. Byers would make it 4-1 thirteen seconds later and after being forced to make a tough stop on Anisimov less than a minute later Rask was pulled in favor of Jordan Sigalet. Sigalet wasn’t able to stop the bleeding, as Byers got his second of the game less than a minute later at 5:06. Hoggan picked up an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty and 10 minute misconduct after the goal, giving the Pack another 5-on-3, on which Hutchinson scored his 3rd of the game, earning the first hat trick for a Wolf Pack defenseman in franchise history. The Pack’s five power play goals in the period also tied a franchise record for power play goals in a period.

As you might expect, the next three penalty calls in the period (and 2 more in the 3rd) went against the Pack, including 28 seconds of 5-on-3 time for the Bruins, during which Montoya was forced to come up big in a 3-shot flurry, the last of which he stopped by getting his glove up to block the shot while down flat on his stomach. The Pack killed off all three penalties in the period, but Providence got a goal back with a minute to go in the period when Aaron Slattengren fired a shot at the net from behind the goal line in the left corner, deflecting it off Montoya’s skate and into the net. Still, with a 7-2 lead as teams headed to the locker room at the end of the 2nd, a Pack win looked pretty much assured.

But the Bruins haven’t earned the AHL’s best record by giving up on games, and they came out strong in the 3rd, cutting the Pack’s lead to 4 at 1:11 when Slattengren picked up his 2nd of the game. The Bruins kept the Pack pinned in their zone for the vast majority of the period, peppering Montoya with shots and forcing him to come up with a number if tough saves. The Pack struggled to control the puck and clear the zone and rarely crossed the red line into the Bruins end when they did. They mustered a mere three shots on goal in the 3rd. The Bruin’s power play offered its response to the Pack’s strong showing when Lashoff scored at 14:52 with Dane Byers in the penalty box for high sticking, and again at 19:08 when Brett Skinner cashed in on a Parenteau tripping penalty with goalie Jordan Sigalet on the bench for the extra skater. With the Pack’s seemingly insurmountable 6 goal lead shrunk to 2 and the Bruins firing shots on Montoya at will through the final minutes of the period, the outcome suddenly seemed less than assured. But time ran out for the Bruins and the Pack escaped with a 7-5 win over a team they’d only been able to beat once in 6 previous attempts this season. Not before they surrendered a franchise record 28 shots against in the 3rd period, however, for a total of 49 shots against in the game compared to 23 shots for.

With the win, the Pack increased their Atlantic Division lead over 3rd place Portland to 4 points while shrinking 1st pace Providence’s lead to 8. They now sit second in the league with a 31-13-2-5 record for 69 points, behind only Providence. And with it’s 5 for 6 performance, the Packs’ power play improved to 4th place in the league, at 20.7%. Of course, with the Pack getting a rare Saturday and Sunday off this weekend, there’s a good chance those rankings will change by the time the Pack play their next game on Wednesday against Springfield.

Pack Scoring
1. Moore (19) (Byers, Parenteau) 2:33
1. Taylor (3) (Anisimov, Bourret) 3:44
2. Hutchinson (10) (Pock, Moore) 1:29 (PP)
2. Hutchinson (11) (Anisimov, Pock) 1:59 (PP)
2. Byers (13) (Moore, Baranka) 3:12 (PP)
2. Byers (14) (Moore, Bourret) 5:06 (PP)
2. Hutchinson (12) (Pock, Korpikoski) 6:21 (PP)

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

Potter – Hutchinson
Taylor – Liffiton
Baranka – Sauer

Montoya / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Andrew Hutchinson
2. Greg Moore
3. Aaron Slattengren