Last season, the Pack were an impressive 6-1 in games that went to a shoot out. This season, they’ve been anything but impressive, with a shootout record of 2-7, including a string of 6 consecutive losses coming into today’s game. Their record still may not be very impressive, but thanks to a clutch goal from rookie Jordan Owens and some sharp goaltending by Miika Wiikman, at least their 6-game shootout losing streak is — and their current winning streak is now up to five games.

The game certainly didn’t start off on a good note, when on the first shift of the game, the Pack found themselves scrambling deep in their own zone, losing track of recent returnee Jeff Tambellina, who fed Ben Walter right on the door step. Walter put the puck past a scrambling Miika Wiikman only 21 seconds into the game. The Pack’s next shift didn’t go any better as they allowed Bridgeport’s Trevor Smith to skate in on a 2-on-1 at the 1:00 mark. Smith’s wrist shot from the right circle beat Wiikman cleanly up top on the glove side. Fortunately, the Pack were able to settle down after dropping two goals in the first minute of the game, and the two teams traded chances through the first half of the period. At the halfway point, the Pack converted one of those chances when P.A. Parenteau gloved a Bridgeport clearing pass just inside the Bridgeport blueline and sprinted in towards the slot to fire a backhander on goalie Joey MacDonald. MacDonald made the save, but Lauri Korpikoski followed up on Parenteau’s drive, found the rebound and put it over MacDonald. The period would end with the Pack down 2-1 with a slight lead in shots at 14-13.

The Pack got off to their own quick start in the second, when Parenteau got the puck at the bottom of the right side circle and passed it up to Greg Moore at the hashmarks. Moore fired a wrist shot high on MacDonald through a screen, tying the score at two. Starting at the 10:23 mark, Bridgeport took a succession of penalties that resulted in the Pack getting two opportunities 5-on-3. The first started at 11:48 and lasted for 35 seconds. The Pack were unable to convert on that one, but at 16:50 they got a second chance, this time lasting a minute and 24 seconds. And with just three seconds remaining in the initial penalty, P.A. Parenteau scored his 32nd of the season after he retrieved the puck at the left side of the net, circled down below the goal line and back up to the face off dot, where he fired a perfectly placed wrist shot past MacDonald to give the Pack their first lead in the game. They’d finish the period with the lead, and a dominant 17-6 lead in shots.

With all the penalties that had been assessed to Bridgeport in the second, you had to expect that it was just a matter of time before the Pack got called for one or two of their own, and that time came 2:02 into the second when Mitch Fritz was called for holding. On the ensuing power play Tambellini fed Jamie Fraser with a nice pass for the tap in from just off the left post. The Pack got another power play of their own at 6:07, during which Parenteau put a shot off the post. Bridgeport had the better of the chances through the period, and Wiikman needed to come up big a number of times. By the time the period ended, neither team had been able to break the tie, so it was off to overtime after a period in which the Pack was outshot by a margin of 15-9.

In overtime it was all Pack, despite what a mere 4-2 shot advantage might suggest. The Pack controlled the puck for the vast majority of the overtime period, right up until, with 9.2 seconds left Michael Sauer gambled at the Bridgeport blueline and Tambellini was able to push the puck past him and skate in on a breakaway. But Wiikman came up with the save of the game, gloving Tambellini’s shot and allowing the Pack to get in to the shootout.

Bridgeport opted to let the Pack shoot first, and MacDonald stopped Korpikoski and Moore, and Anisimov shot wide. Wiikman made the first two saves, but was beaten on a deke by Ben Walter in the third round. Both Parenteau and Tambellini were stopped in the next round, meaning Jordan Owens needed to score to keep the game alive. The AHL rookie and recent healthy scratch came through in the clutch, coming in wide from the right side, cutting across the net and waiting until MacDonald was down to put the puck past him. That left Wiikman needing to stop Steve Regier to prevent a Bridgeport win, and he did. Hartford coach Ken Gernander sent Korpikoski back out for the first round of sudden death, and he came through, deking backhand and putting the puck past MacDonald on the forehand. That left Wiikman facing Walter, who’d scored earlier in the shootout. This time Walter bobbled the puck as he approached the crease, and Wiikman took the opportunity to poke it away, giving the Pack their fifth straight win, and first shootout win in seven attempts.

Pack Scoring
1. Korpikoski (21) (Parenteau, Moore) 10:00
2. Moore (26) (Parenteau, Hutchinson) 0:33
2. Parenteau (32) (Pock, Hutchinson) 18:11 (PP) (5-on-3)

Shootout Scoring
1. Korpikoski - Save
1. Fredder - Save
2. Moore - Save/Poke Check
2. Smith - Save
3. Anisimov - Wide
3. Walter - Scores
4. Parenteau - Save
4. Tambelini - Save
5. Owens - Scores
5. Reiger - Save
6. Korpikoski - Scores
6. Walter - Save/Poke Check

Lines
Korpikoski - Moore - Parenteau
Byers - Anisimov - Gratton
Taylor - Ouellette - Owens
Fritz - Jessiman

Hutchinson - Potter
Brown - Sauer
Taylor - Pock

Wiikman / LeNeveu

Three Stars
1. Jordan Owens
2. P.A. Parenteau
3. Jeff Tambelini

It’s hard to pick an angle from which to tell the story of last night’s game. Is it the Pack’s second complete annihilation of an opponent in three games? Their team record-setting 9 goal margin and record-tying 10 goals in a game? Is it the pre-game scrum in which the teams engaged in during warmups, which brought Springfield out to start the game fired up and physical, only to see that physical edge neutralized after Theo Pechkam charged Mike Ouellette and Mitch Fritz mauled him in response, inspiring the Pack to systematically shut down the Springfield power play and pick up their own physical play? Was it Andrew Hutchinson breaking Tomas Pock’s franchise record for points by a defenseman? Recent ATO-signee Mike Taylor picking up two goals and an assist in only his second professional game? Or maybe the best angle is to point out that the Pack seem to be coming together at just the right time, climbing into a tie in points for 2nd place in the league, opening up a 9 point lead on third place division rival and likely playoff opponent Portland, and trimming first place Portland’s lead to only 6 points. Whatever it is, it was sure fun to watch!

Springfield got off to a quick start, scoring just 54 seconds in when Jake Taylor fell down at the Springfield blue line with the puck and Stephen Werner stole the puck and skated in on a 2-on-1 and beat LeNeveu through the five hole for what could only be termed a softie. LeNeveu looked a little shaky through the first period, but fortunately, the team made sure that didn’t matter by beginning their onslaught before the period ended. First came Greg Moore at 7:05, on the power play, when he took a cross-crease pass from Lauri Korpikoski and put it in the open side of the net. Then Corey Potter, sneaking in for a back door play, took a signature cross-ice pass from P.A. Parenteau in the left circle and fired it past Springfield goalie Devan Dubnyk to give the Pack the 2-1 lead almost 7 minutes later. That’s how the period would end, with the Pack coming back strong to hold a 12-9 advantage in shots.

The real fun started about halfway through the second, when, after they killed off three consecutive Falcon power plays, the Pack finally got one of their own and converted when Dane Byers tapped in an Andrew Hutchinson rebound for his 23rd of the year at 9:54. Thirty-four seconds later, Jessiman picked up his 3rd goal in as many games on yet another strong rush after he skated the puck up the left side and cut in on net and put the puck past Dubnyk. That sent Dubnyk out of the net in favor of backup Glenn Fisher, who was playing in his first AHL game — it wouldn’t be a good debut.

Just under three minutes later Mike Ouellette stuffed home a pass from Mike Taylor, giving the former Ivy Leaguer Taylor his first professional point at 12:37. He got his first professional goal not long after, on a shorthanded rush with Moore after Moore stole the puck in his own zone and used his speed to beat the Springfield defenseman and feed Taylor for the tap in at 17:08. A minute and forty seconds later, Hutchinson broke Pock’s single season scoring record when fired a hard slap shot past Fisher, giving the Pack a 7-1 lead that they’d take to the locker room at the end of the period a minute and twelve seconds later.

Firsher’s debut ended with the 2nd period, and Dubnyk returned to the Springfield net to start the third. Despite making an impressive save on Moore a minute in, he couldn’t do enough to keep the Pack from piling up the goals — despite the fact that coach Ken Gernander rested his top offensive players like Moore, Parenteau, Korpikoski and Byers for the majority of the third period. Taylor picked up his 2nd of the game just 3:03 in off a nice feed from Ouellette, and four and a half minutes later Josh Gratton made it 9-1 with a backhander off a scramble in front at 7:38. Despite the crowd’s call for “we want 10!” it looked like that’s where the score would end up, especially when Gratton was called for interference at 17:39, giving Springfield the opportunity to finish most of the game on the power play. But with just under 30 seconds to go Springfield defenseman T.J. Kemp, who was the goat on a number of the Pack’s goals, fell down with the puck just inside his own blue line, allowing Artem Anisimov, on his first ever shift as a penalty killer for the Pack, to pick it up and skate in alone on Dubnyk. And it looked like he might blow it, after skating in too close and leaving himself with no place to put the puck, but — showing great patience and skill with the puck — he toyed with Dubnyk until he gave him a hole through which to shoot it, for his first ever shorthanded goal at 19:38.

Notes
- Ivan Baranka left the game with a shoulder injury in the 2nd period after taking a hard hit along the boards. He did not return, and Tomas Pock dropped back to defense after starting the game at forward.
- With a Pack win today in Bridgeport, and a loss by Portland in Albany, the Pack can clinch 2nd place and home ice advantage for the first round.
- The Pack have won 4 in a row, by a combined score of 25-6. They are 1-1-0-1 in their last 10.
- Hutchinson’s lead over the second highest scoring AHL defenseman is 12 points.
- Parenteau has 15 points in his last 9 games and is 4th in AHL scoring.
- Moore and Jessiman both have 9 points in their last 6 games.
- Korpikoski has 9 in his last 9. Byers 6 in 6. Pock 4 in his last 3.
- Anisimov has 7 in his last 7 games, and has moved into a tie for 13th in rookie scoring.

Pack Scoring
1. Moore (25) (Korpikoski, Parenteau) 7:05 (PP)
1. Potter (4) (Parenteau, Hutchinson) 13:55
2. Byers (23) (Hutchinson, Pock) 9:54 (PP)
2. Jessiman (15) (Gratton, Anisimov) 10:28
2. Ouellette (12) (Taylor, Fritz) 12:37
2. M. Taylor (1) (Moore, Sauer) 17:08 (SH)
2. Hutchinson (17) (Jessiman, Ouellette) 18:48
3. M. Taylor (2) (Ouellette, Fritz) 3:03
3. Gratton (10) (Anisimov, Jessiman) 7:38
3. Anisimov (13) 19:38 (SH)

Lines
Korpikoski - Moore - Parenteau
Byers - Anisimov - Jessiman
M. Taylor - Ouellette - Pock
Fritz - Gratton

Potter - Hutchinson
Brown - Baranka
J. Taylor - Sauer

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Mike Taylor
2. Andrew Hutchinson
3. Hugh Jessiman

This year’s edition of the Hartford Wolf Pack continued to re-write the record book tonight when they defeated the Worcester Sharks for the 8th time this season, the first time in the history of the franchise that the Pack has swept an 8-game season series. Even more impressive: at no point in any of those games has the Pack trailed the Sharks on the scoreboard.

The two teams played a fairly even first period, with the Sharks having the edge in play through the first half of the period. At the 12:38 mark, Artem Anisimov, who’s been playing a more physical game of late, but has also been on the receiving end of some really heavy hits in recent games, took a hard but clean check from the Shark’s Brennan Evans just inside the Sharks zone. Jessiman, always quick to jump to the defense of the Pack’s youngest player, immediately challenged Evans and the two dropped the gloves. Evans connected with an early punch, possibly bloodying Jessiman’s nose, but Jessiman came back strong, getting the upper hand with his long reach and ultimately earning the decision. The period ended in a scoreless tie, with the Sharks having a slight advantage in shots (8-6) in part due to a 2-1 advantage in power play opportunities.

The Pack got on the board early in the second, after Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss played the puck outside the trapezoid and earned himself a delay of game penalty at 1:26. The Pack’s power play, ranked second in the league, but only 11th at home, capitalized a minute and a half in when Jessiman found himself wide open with the puck on his stick at the top of the circles and blasted a slap shot past Greiss. Jessiman would figure in the next Pack goal as well, and earn himself the Gordie Howe Hat Trick, when at 13:23 Corey Potter fired a shot on net from the point. Greiss made the initial save, but Jessiman got a stick on the rebound and either passed it off to Byers or had his rebound come out to Byers, who was set up in his usual spot on the doorstep and put the puck past Greiss.

Teams hate to give up a goal late in the period, but that’s just what the Pack did, after the puck took a strange bounce off the boards and handcuffed LeNeveu, cutting the Pack’s lead to one with only 1:37 to go. But with just 23 seconds left in the period, Lauri Korpikoski regained the Pack’s two goal lead after Greg Moore won an offensive zone faceoff to Ivan Baranka, who fired a shot from the center point that was blocked in front. But the rebound came right to Korpikoski, who wasted no time in putting it in the net from the high slot. The Pack finished with a dominating 15-9 advantage in shots in the period.

I missed the third, but checked in briefly towards the end to find the Pack still with the 3-1 lead and 1:41 seconds to go in the game. I figured that was the end of that, but low and behold came home later to find out that the Sharks had managed to make things interesting by putting one in with the extra skater on with 52 seconds to go. But the Pack held on for the win, giving them 97 points in 72 games played, and a 7 point lead on the third place (and upcoming first-round playoff opponent) Portland Pirates, who lost to the lowly Lowell Devils, 4-1, and have now dropped three in a row and are only 5-5-0-0 in their last 10.

Notes
- Mitch Fritz returned to the line up after missing all but the first two games of the season due to shoulder surgery.
- Mike Taylor played his first professional game after signing a try-out contract with the Pack earlier this week after the conclusion of his final season at Harvard.
- Both Greg Moore (7pts) and Hugh Jessiman (6pts) are currently riding 5-game point scoring streaks.
- P.A. Parenteau was held scoreless for the first time in 5 games. In those 5 games, he piled up 10 points.
- Lauri Korpikoski has 8 points in his last 8 games

Pack Scoring
2. Jessiman (14) (Moore, Pock) 2:57 (PP)
2. Byers (22) (Jessiman, Potter) 13.23
2. Korpikoski (20) (Baranka, Moore) 19:37

Lines
Korpikoski - Moore - Parenteau
Byers - Ouellette - Gratton
D. Taylor - Anisimov - Pock
Fritz - Jessiman

Hutchinson - Potter
J. Taylor - Sauer
Baranka - Brown

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Hugh Jessiman
2. Greg Moore
3. David LeNeveu

After Wednesday night’s game, in which the Pack allowed 39 shots against goaltender Miika Wiikman, coach Ken Gernander challenged his team to start providing Wiikman with better support. Tonight they responded, limiting the Springfield Falcons to only 16 shots while firing off 45 of their own as they clinched a playoff berth for the 11th consecutive season with a dominant 4-1 win over the Springfield Falcons.

The game got off to a rocky start when just 7 seconds in Lauri Korpikoski hit Springfield’s Mike Gabinet from behind along the boards near the penalty boxes. Gabinet had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher, and Korpikoski was given a five minute boarding major and a game misconduct, two minutes of which were canceled out by an instigator penalty taken by the Falcon’s Tim Sestito, who challenged Korpikoski immediately after the hit. Both players also received 5 minute fighting majors. The Pack provided a glimpse of what was to come when they dominated the two minutes of 4-on-4 play and killed the remaining three minute power play off with relative ease. It took them until 16.36 of the period to get on the board, after defenseman Ivan Baranka fired a shot from the center point which was initially blocked, but P.A. Parenteau found the rebound on his backhand to put home his 30th goal of the season on a power play. But it took the Falcons only 1:50 to tie things up with a power play goal of their own, the result of some really nice passing that ended with a cross-slot feed to Springfield’s Rob Schremp for a one-timer from the right circle. The period ended with the two teams knotted at one, and the Pack having the slight edge in shots at 10-8.

The second period had a lot more flow to it, as referee Kyle Rehman swallowed his whistle after a penalty-filled first. The score didn’t change, but by the final third of the period the Pack had complete control of the game, spending the majority of time in the Springfield zone and firing shots on Falcon goalie Devan Dubnyk at will. But Dubnyk was equal to the challenge, stopping all 14 shots the Pack put on net. At the other end, Wiikman had only two shots to contend with all period.

The Falcons came out strong in the 3rd, and it looked like they might make a game of it through the first two minutes or so, but the Pack soon re-established their territorial dominance. But Dunbnyk came up with save after save, with some of his best coming off chances by Artem Anisimov and Bruce Graham, who finished with 6 and 5 shots on goal, respectively. Finally, with just under two minutes left to play, Parenteau fired a hard, low slapper from the top of the right circle. Dubnyk stopped the initial shot, but the rebound trickled away from him. Center Tim Selsito missed the puck as he attempted to clear it from the crease, allowing Dane Byers to sneak in and backhand it into the empty side of the net for the 2-1 lead.

Since there was less than two minutes to play in the game, the Falcons pulled Dubnyk as soon as they got the puck into the Pack zone after the ensuing faceoff. But even with the extra skater they were unable to control the puck in the Pack zone and at the 19.00 minute mark, after Mike Ouellette won a defensive zone draw, Josh Gratton controlled the puck and fed Mark Lee in the neutral zone for the easy empty netter and his first AHL goal of the season. Yet Springfield didn’t learn their lesson, opting to pull Dubnyk again for an offensive zone faceoff, and once again Ouellette, the Pack’s leading faceoff man, won the draw, feeding Gratton for an empty netter of his own. By the final buzzer the Pack had outshot the Falcons 45 to 16 (21-6 in the 3rd), with Dubnyk being the only reason the game didn’t turn into a blowout.

Notes
- Bruce Graham was called up from Charlotte to sub for Brodie Dupont, who suffered what was described as a “facial cut” in a fight in Friday night’s game.
- Hugh Jessiman missed his second game with a groin injury.
- Wiikman moved from 10th up to 7th in the league in goals against average with the win. He’s currently 6th in save percentage.
- Parenteau has 7 points in his last 4 games and is 5th place over all in league scoring

Pack Scoring
1. Parenteau (30) (Baranka, Moore) 16.46 (PP)
3. Byers (21) (Parenteau, Moore) 18:06
3. Lee (1) (Gratton) 19:00 (EN)
3. Gratton (9) (Ouellette) 19:29 (EN)

Lines
Byers - Moore - Parenteau
Lee - Anisimov - Gratton
Owens - Ouellette - Pock
Graham - Korpikoski

Potter - Hutchinson
Baranka - Brown
Taylor - Sauer

Wiikman / LeNeveu

Three Stars
1. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
2. Devan Dubnyk
3. Dane Byers

It looked like the Pack just might pull another rabbit out of their hat after coming back from their second 3-1 deficit against the Philadelphia Phantoms this week to push the game to overtime, but this time they couldn’t get the goal in OT and ended up losing in the shootout for the 7th time this season.

For the second game running the Pack gave up an early goal, this time after P.A. Parenteau took a tripping penalty only 33 seconds in and Pete Zingoni scored on the power play. At 7:17, with Artem Anisimov in the box for hooking, Greg Moore took a pass in the neutral zone and skated in on goaltender Martin Houle shorthanded, but was hooked from behind and prevented from getting off a good shot. He was awarded a penalty shot, on which he scored on a pretty deke to his backhand at 8:29.

As you’d expect with teams that are playing back-to-back games late in the season, the two teams proved they didn’t really like each other with three fights on the night, the first of which came at 12:35 of the first period when Brodie Dupont faced off against Josh Beaulieu. A willing, but not always able combatant, Dupont unfortunately got tagged with a hard right to the left eye/cheekbone, and left the ice battered and bloody. He didn’t return. Philly goaltender Houle also left the game due to injury, at the 12:33 mark, but I missed the play and didn’t see how he was hurt.

Like in Wednesday’s game, the Phantoms scored early in the 2nd, in this case just after a carry-over penalty to Jesse Boulerice expired. Six minutes and 15 seconds later, Darroll Powe scored shorthanded after a comedy of errors by the Pack lead to players falling down everywhere and Powe skating out of his zone alone and in on goalie David LeNeveu for a shorthanded goal. A minute and a half later, Josh Beaulieu boarded Mike Sauer, leading Anisimov to chase after Beaulieu before Josh Gratton and former Pack player Martin Grenier squared off, dropped the gloves, and drew everyone’s attention. Gratton, coming back after missing Wednesday’s game with the flu, looked winded from the start, and after getting in a couple early shots in basically held on and tried to protect himself as best he could until the linesmen finally intervened. Nine minutes later Dane Byers would exact revenge for an un-called high stick when he challenged Powe and buckled his knees with an early, hard right.

Despite having nothing to show for it, the Pack actually played better in the second than they had on Wednesday, maintaining good puck possession, ending the period with 8-6 advantage for the period and a 18-15 advantage for the game.

The Pack started the 3rd still down by two, but that changed only 23 seconds in when Greg Moore and Lauri Korpikoski skated in on backup goalie Scott Munroe on a 2-on-1. Moore fed Korpikoski in the left faceoff circle for a quick wrist shot that beat Munroe up high. At the 7:36 mark Gratton got his 8th of the season and 3rd with the Wolf Pack with a backhander after some good work by Anisimov behind the net, knotting the score at three. At 13:46 Zingoni took a tripping penalty, allowing the Pack’s power play to go to work. And once again it looked like the Parenteau and the power play would give the Pack a come-from-behind win when he scored off the rebound of a Hutchinson bomb from the left point. But less than two minutes later the Phantoms were able to tie it up after crashing the net (and possibly interfering with LeNeveu), scoring off the goalmouth scramble. So once again the two teams were headed to overtime, after a strong final 20 minutes by the Pack in which they clearly had the momentum, outshooting the East Division leaders 14-4.

Unlike Wednesday, when the Phantoms took an early penalty on which the Pack scored, this time it was the Pack that took the overtime penalty, at 2:41 of the extra frame. But the Pack were able to kill it off and take the game to the shootout. But as has often been the case this season, they came up short when only Korpikoski could score while Stefan Ruzicka and Ryan Potulny were able to put the puck past LeNeveu.

Notes
- Hugh Jessiman missed the game, but I didn’t catch why.
- For some reason, there were two referees tonight. The AHL usually plays with one. The refs? Chris Ciamaga and Mike McGeough.
- B2 Networks have completely revamped their feeds and are now offering much, much higher quality broadcasts online.

Pack Scoring
1. Moore, (23) 8:29 (SH/PS)
3. Korpikoski (19) (Moore, Hutchinson) :23
3. Gratton (8) (Anisimov, Lee) 7:36
3. Parenteau (29) (Hutchinson, Baranka) 14:43 (PP)

Pack Shooters
Greg Moore No Goal
Lauri Korpikoski Goal
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau No Goal
Dane Byers No Goal
Andrew Hutchinson No Goal

Lines (they changed when Dupont went down)
Korpikoski - Moore - Parenteau
Byers - Anisimov - Pock
Dupont - Ouellette - Gratton
Owens - Lee

Hutchinson - Potter
Baranka - Brown
Taylor - Sauer

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Ryan Potulny
2. Jared Ross
3. Greg Moore

After being thoroughly dominated through two and a half periods of play, the Wolf Pack managed to gut out an impressive come-from-behind overtime win against the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight in Hartford.

The Phantoms came out fast and physical from the first drop of the puck, forcing a turnover deep in the Pack zone only 60 seconds in for a shot by Phantom’s center Pete Zingoni. Wiikman made a sprawling first save to the left side of the net, but the rebound went out to the right side, where Triston Grant was standing all alone for the open net goal to give the Phantoms the early 1-0 lead. The Phantoms took it to the Pack the rest of the period, but as they’ve managed to do many times this season, the Pack somehow redeemed a seemingly lost period with a late goal when Corey Potter fired a hard low shot from the right point that Phantom’s goalie Martin Houle stopped. But P.A. Parenteau and Mark Lee both got sticks on the rebound before Lee was able shuffle it across the crease to Lauri Korpikoski, who put the puck in the open side of the net. So the Pack escaped the period with an unlikely 1-1 tie, despite getting outshot 15-9.

The seconds period brought more of the same from the Phantoms, but less good fortune for the Pack. Only a two minutes in Wiikman stopped Zingoni on a breakaway, but Grant crashed the net behind him and was able to one-time the rebound home. Less than three and a half minutes later Hugh Jessiman took a lazy hooking penalty in the offensive zone to give the Phantoms their first power play of the game, which they converted on with a deflected point shot only 13 seconds in. The Phantoms continued to dominate the play for the remainder of the period, outshooting the Pack 15-7. Had it not been for the strong play of Wiikman, who faced 39 shots by the end of the game, the score could have been much worse.

A Phantom win looked just about assured through the first half of the third, with the Pack unable to generate anything offensively and the Phantoms controlling play, winning physical battles and getting in passing lanes in all three zones. But when Denis Gauthier took a hooking penalty at 11:02 to cancel out the final 28 seconds of a Jake Taylor high sticking penalty, the Pack’s 3rd-ranked power play got a chance to go to work for the 5th time in the game. And the 5th time was a charm thanks to some nice puck movement in the Phantom’s zone. Corey Potter, on the left point, got the puck across to Korpikoski in the right circle, who one-touched it across the slot to Parenteau in the left circle for the one-timer to cut the Phantom’s lead to one.

The goal energized the Pack and just over 3 minutes later Jessiman redeemed himself for his offensive zone penalty with a strong rush up ice, crashing in on net and getting an initial shot off which Houle stopped. But Dane Byers was right behind him and backhanded the rebound past Houle to tie it up at the 16:22 mark. The Pack continued their strong play after they tied it up, and it looked like the two teams would be headed to overtime until Byers took a ill-advised hooking penalty with only 1:43 left in the game. Only 18 seconds in it seemed the Pack’s late-game efforts would be for naught, as Phantoms defensman Lars Jonsson got the puck in the high slot and fired it past Wiikman for the Phantom’s second power play goal of the game.

To the Pack’s credit, they didn’t let the goal deflate them, and after taking a time out to regroup they hit the ice and got the puck deep in the Phantom’s zone so they could get the extra skater on. In the final half minute of the period, Korpikoski and Parenteau cycled the puck deep in the right side corner before Korpikoski passed it out in front of the net, where a Phantom player intercepted it. But Byers was right there to take it back and dish it off to Greg Moore who swept it past Houle with only 15 seconds left in the regulation.

With momentum clearly in their favor, the Pack took the ice for overtime. And when Stephan Ruzicka got called for holding just 28 seconds in, the Pack got a chance to go back on the power play. It didn’t take them long to seal their unlikely comeback, when Andrew Hutchinson fed Parenteau in the high slot. With plenty of time and space Parenteau fired a perfect wrist shot past Houle as the Pack bench exploded off the bench to celebrate.

And as if that wasn’t good enough, just 30 seconds later, Chris Drury tied the Rangers up with the Devils, leading to what would be a great ending to what looked like it would be a bad night all around for the Rangers organization.

Notes
- Josh Gratton missed the game due to illness
- The two teams meet again on Friday in Philadelpha.
- The scoring on the first goal in the Pack’s game against Worcester on Sunday has been changed to take an assist away from Anisimov and give it to Hutchinson

Pack Scoring
1. Korpikoski (18) (Lee, Parenteau) 19.34
3. Parenteau (27) (Korpikoski, Potter) 13:05 (PP)
3. Byers (20) (Jessiman, Anisimov) 16:22
3. Moore (22) (Byers) 19:45
4. Parenteau (28) (Hutchinson, Pock) :37 (PP)

Lines (to start, they were shuffled in the 2nd)
Korpikoski - Moore - Parenteau
Byers - Ouellette - Owens
Dupont - Anisimov - Pock
Lee - Jessiman

Hutchinson - Potter
Brown - Baranka
Taylor - Sauer

Three Stars
1. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
2. Triston Grant
3. Lauri Korpikoski

Andrew Hutchinson returned to the line up and reinvigorated the Pack power play and Miika Wiikman returned to the net and stopped 39 of 40 shots to give the Pack a 4-1 win in Worcester tonight. The win moved them back into a tie in points for second in the Atlantic Division and 3rd overall in the AHL with the Portland Pirates, who lost to Philadelphia. The Pack still hold two games in hand over Portland.

The Pack got on the board early, on their second shift of the game, when Jordon Owens took a rebound off the boards behind the net and put it past Sharks netminder Thomas Greiss for his first of two goals on the night. The original shot appeared to have come from Andrew Hutchinson, but the scoring was changed later in the game to remove Hutchinson’s assist and give it to Thomas Pock. (That could change again later this week when the scoring is reviewed.) The Pack were the better of the two teams through the period, and extended their lead to two on the power at 16:15 when Artem Anisimov, covering the right point on the power play for a pinching Ivan Baranka, fired a hard, low slap shot which Mike Ouellette was able to deflect past Greiss. The Pack finished the period looking like they were well on their way to an easy win, despite having only a one shot advantage over the Sharks (11-10).

Unfortunately, the Pack came out of the locker room to start the second period convinced they already had won the game. The Sharks were quick to remind them they still had two more periods to play. They out worked the Pack throughout the period, winning all the battles and races for the puck and drawing four consecutive power plays through the first 12:10 of the game with their hard work. That included a 31 second two man advantage after Thomas Pock took a tripping penalty a minute and twenty nine seconds into an Anisimov hooking penalty. Fortunately, the Pack penalty kill, featuring P.A. Parenteau on a regular shift for what I believe was the first game this season, was perfect on the night, killing 5 of 5 Worcester opportunities. By the time they finished killing off Pock’s penalty at the 9:30 mark of the period, they were being out shot by a margin of 11 to 1, and had forced Wiikman to come up with a number of spectacular saves. It took a flukey deflection to finally beat him just before the twelve minute mark of the period when Marc Busenburg fired a shot from the low half boards that bounced off Sharks forward Brad Staubitz’s leg and past Wiikman on the glove side. The Pack held on to the 2-1 lead through the remainder of the period, with Wiikman stopping 17 of 18 Worcester shots in the period while the Pack were only able to muster 6 of their own.

In the 3rd coach Ken Gernander changed up the lines, moving Thomas Pock, who’d been playing on Anisimov’s wing at even strength, back to defense full time and moving Hugh Jessiman up into his spot. That move paid off at 13:02 when Jessiman and Anisimov lead a rush into the Worcester zone and Jessiman fed a trailing Hutchinson in the high slot. Hutchinson skated the puck in on net, feeding a perfect pass to Owens at the left post, where he was able to lift the puck into the open side of the net. It was Owens’ second goal of the game, and fourth point in the last 3 games and gave the Pack a 3-1 lead. Only a minute and four seconds later the Pack would get a somewhat fortuitous 5-on-3 power play opportunity after Thomas Pock pushed Sharks forward Dennis Packard into Wiikman, resulting in Packard getting called for Goaltender Interference. When Riley Armstrong persisted in arguing the call, he was assessed and additional two minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, giving the Pack a two man advantage for a full two minutes. It took less than one for the Pack to cash in, when Lauri Korpikoski, parked just off the right post, threaded a pass through the crease to P.A. Parenteau at the right post, who had a wide open net to sweep the puck into, essentially putting the game away. The Sharks would get a couple more opportunities to reduce the lead, but Wiikman would prove equal the each challenge, stopping all 12 of the Sharks 3rd period shots while the Pack put up 13 of their own.

With his 39 for 40 save performance, Wiikman moved back into 8th place among all AHL goaltenders in both goals against average and save percentage (LeNeveu is 13th in both categories). During the pre-game show this evening Bob Crawford revealed that Wiikman has been battling a nagging injury, which helps explain why LeNeveu has gotten the vast majority of starts since his arrival. While the injury hasn’t been serious enough to keep Wiikman off the ice, with LeNeveu playing as well as he has since arriving from San Antonio, it’s allowed the coaching staff to err to the side of caution.

The other return of note was that of captain Andrew Hutchinson, who was back in the lineup after missing four games with a hip injury. Hutchinson’s influence on the Pack power play was immediate and obvious, with the Pack going 2 for 4 with the man advantage after getting shut out in 21 attempts in the four games Hutchinson missed. He remains at the top of the ranks for scoring by defensemen in the AHL, with 55 points in 55 games, maintaining an 8 point lead over the second place scorer, despite playing 6 games less.

After leaving last night’s contest early, Brodie Dupont did not play tonight due to what was termed “illness”. That left the Pack with only 9 available forwards. They dressed 8 defensemen instead, with Pock taking a regular even strength shift at wing on the second line through two periods, and Ryan Constant getting the odd shift at wing to complement an occasional shift on defense.

Random Notes
- After playing most of the season at a point-per-game pace, Greg Moore has only 3 points (1g, 2a) in his past 11 games. He’s been a -4 in that time.
- Artem Anisimov has moved into a tie for 15th place in rookie scoring.
- Dane Byers served the last game of his three game suspension tonight and will return to the line up on Wednesday
- The Pack have yet to lose in regulation after going into the 3rd period with the lead, going 34-0-1-3 when taking a lead into the 3rd.

Pack Scoring
1. Owens (4) (Anisimov, Pock) 1:23
1. Ouellette (8) (Anisimov, Hutchinson) 16:15 (PP)
2. Staubitz (4) (Busenburg, Packard) 11:57
3. Owens (5) (Hutchinson, Jessiman) 13:04
3. Parenteau (26) (Korpikoski, Baranka) 15:35 (PP)

Lines
Korpikoski - Moore - Parenteau
Owens - Anisimov - Pock
Lee - Ouellette - Jessiman
Gratton - Constant

Baranka - Brown
Hutchinson - Potter
Sauer - Taylor

Three Stars
1. Miika Wiikman
2. Mike Ouellette
3. Jordan Owens

The Manchester Monarchs entered the game with the AHL’s best power play and worst penalty kill. By the end of the night, they had improved in both categories, winning the special teams battle — and game — in Hartford by going 8 for 8 on the penalty kill and 1 for 4 on the power play.

The Pack got an early opportunity when referee Nygel Pelletier awarded Manchester’s Matt Moulson a hooking penalty only seven seconds into the game. But as it has ever since Andrew Hutchinson was knocked out of the line up by a hip injury five games ago, the Pack’s (still) 3rd ranked power play proved absolutely impotent, going 0 for 8 on the night and extending their power play shut out streak to 0 for 18 of the last 5 games. With 9 penalties called in the first period alone (including offsertting fighting majors for Josh Gratton and Paul Crosty - a close bout, with perhaps a slight edge to Gratton) neither team really seemed to get rolling in the period. The Monarchs took a 10-6 advantage in shots, but neither was able to get on the score board.

The Monarchs did get on the board early in the second, when at 2:08 a miscommunication between Pack forwards left a trailing Monarch wide open with the puck. It looked to me like Anisimov had motioned Pock, who was playing wing at the time, to cover one of the Monarch forwards while he took another and the defenseman on the play covered the puck carrier, but Pock opted to stay on the puck carrier, who was able to get the puck back to the wide-open trailer, who beat LeNeveu high from just above the hash marks.

Right off the next faceoff newly signed defenseman Brad Brown squared off with Manchester’s Kevin Westgarth, with Brown taking the win in a close battle. At 8:07, with Corey Potter (who played his worst game I’ve seen him play in person since the opening game of the season) in the box for holding, David Meckler fired a wrist shot from the top of the left circle through LeNeveu’s 5-hole. The goal looked an awful lot like some of the softies Montoya has been criticized for letting in, as LeNeveu seemed to have a clear view of the shooter and the puck didn’t appear to be deflected on its way in from where we were sitting. [Edit: According the Bruce Berlet of the Hartford Courant it was deflected, so ignore that.] LeNeveu did appear to be fighting the puck a bit throughout the night, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Wiikman get the start tomorrow.

Once again the Pack had a 4 to 3 advantage in power play opportunities in the period, including 52 seconds of 5-on-3 time, but despite taking a 13 to 7 advantage in shots, they weren’t able to get the puck past Manchester goalie Daniel Taylor until the 19:07 mark of the period, when Jordon Owens beat him with a rebound shot during a scrum in front of the net.

As if the news wasn’t bad enough, it seems like Brodie Dupont might have been injured at some point in the 2nd period because he wasn’t on the bench and didn’t play in the 3rd. My husband said he remembered Dupont taking a hard hit in the far corner of the defensive zone during the second, but I can’t say I noticed anything that might suggest why he didn’t finish the game. Neither Brown or Charlotte callup Ryan Constant saw much ice time in the 3rd period either, with Tomas Pock moving back on defense after having played the majority of the game (excluding power plays) on the wing. Both were on the bench in the 3rd, however.

The Pack did manage a few really good opportunities in the third, including multiple open-net opportunities for Parenteau that he shot wide. At 12:10 the Monarchs extended their lead to two on a goal which appeared to have been batted in by a high stick by Lauri Tukonen as he crashed into the crease, but the referee ruled it was a goal. And despite a valiant effort in the closing minutes and outshouting the Monarchs 13 to 5 in the 3rd, the Pack were not able to climb out of the hole they’d dug themselves, though late in the third it did appear that they had gotten the deficit back down to one, but it was ruled the puck was touched with a high stick before it went into the net. The Pack finished the game with a 32-22 advantage in shots, but their inability to cash in on multiple power play opportunities ultimately did them in.

Pack Scoring
2. Owens (3) (Jessiman, Gratton) 19:07

Lines
Korpikoski - Moore - Gratton
Pock - Anisimov - Parenteau
Dupont - Ouellette - Jessiman
Owens - Lee

Taylor - Baranka
Potter - Brown
Constant - Sauer

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. David Meckler
2. Matt Moulson
3. Jordan Owens

I ended up seeing parts of the 3rd period and caught both Ouellette’s second goal and Gratton’s empty-netter. Ouelette’s goal was all Parenteau, he carried it into the zone, around a defender and in on net, then passed it across the crease to Ouellette who was parked at the right side of the net. It deflected off something and popped up in the air and it took Ouellette a couple whacks to get the bouncing puck in the net. Gratton’s goal came off a block by Korpikoski at the top of the circles with San Antonio having pulled the goalie for the extra skater very early (with about 3:53 to go). Korpikoski got the puck and Gratton took off out of the zone, accepted the pass just inside the red line and skated in alone with a San Antonio player chasing but not able to catch him before put it in the empty net. LeNeveu didn’t have a ton of work from what I saw. The 34 - 18 shot advantage for the Pack would seem to suggest a pretty dominant performance. Nice to see LeNeveu and Gratton be named 2 of the 3 stars for the 2nd consecutive game (both against their former team). I was very surprised to see that Montoya didn’t get the start — I’m looking forward to the reasoning behind the decision in the paper tomorrow.

Random Stuff:
- Portland lost tonight, so the Pack are once again tied with them for 2nd place in the Atlantic, but have 2 games in hands.
- Providence won, and now hold a 9 point lead on both Portland and the Pack. With the win they became the first team in the AHL to clinch a playoff berth. But after they lead the league for the vast majority of the season, they’ve fallen to 2nd behind Chicago. Hartford is 3rd.
- Not surprisingly, with Hutchinson still out, the Pack went 0 for 6 on the power play.

Pack Scoring
1. Ouellette (6) (Gratton, Owens) 11:10
2. Anisimov (12) (Parenteau, Lee) 11:23
3. Ouellette (7) (Parenteau, Korpikoski) 15:35
3. Gratton (7) (Korpikoski, Moore) 17:09 (EN)

Lines (as best I could tell by the end of the 3rd)
Korpikoski - Moore - Gratton
Pock - Anisimov - Parenteau
Dupont - Ouellette - Jessiman
Owens - Lee

Potter - Constant
Baranka - Taylor
Brown - Sauer

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Mike Ouellette
2. Josh Gratton
3. David LeNeveu

The Wolf Pack put an end to their 3 game losing streak tonight, earning a hard-fought victory over their former goaltender Al Montoya, gaining two points they owe in large part to their two newest teammates, goaltender David LeNeveu, who stopped 31 of 32 San Antonio shots, and forward Josh Gratton, who scored the game winner against his old teammates just past the half way point of the third period.

The Pack started tentatively, but found their legs by the mid point of the first period, balancing out a 5-1 San Antonio shot advantage by the end of the period. Once again they were playing without captain Andrew Hutchinson, but they were also forced to play the game a skater short, since Alex Bourret suffered a concussion in Friday night’s game and they had no spare players with them on the trip. The first period ended in a scoreless tie, with the two sides matching up even in shots at 11. Montoya looked somewhat jittery to start, but settled in to play a fairly solid game.

The Pack got on the board first, at 10:32 of the second, when Artem Anisimov won an offensive zone faceoff and got the puck over to Brodie Dupont, who fired it past Montoya high on the stick side from the high slot. The goal ended a nine and a half period (192.29 minute) scoreless streak for the Pack. The Rampage poured on the pressure late in the period, forcing LeNeveu to come up big on two tough saves in the closing minutes. And once again the teams finished even in shots, this time at 10 apiece.

Newcomer Josh Gratton, who’d taken the only penalty in the game through two periods earlier in the second, drew the Pack’s only power play opportunity five minutes into the third period when he picked up a San Antonio turnover in the right circle in the offensive zone and was tripped up as he tried to skate out in front of the net. The Pack were unable to convert, and just as the power play expired, the Rampage got on the board when defenseman Ryan Caldwell fed an uncovered Cam Paddock from the right circle for the easy tip in from just below the hash marks. But Gratton got it back at 13:12 when he shoveled home a centering pass from Greg Moore, who’d made a beautiful rush down the ice on his off wing side before cutting in on net and backhanding a pass out to Gratton. It was Gratton’s first goal and point for the Wolf Pack and earned him First Star of the night honors against his old team.

Thing would a little hairy for the Pack when referee Jeff Smith, who’d let every manner of infraction go over the Pack’s previous 5 periods, 17 minutes and 26 seconds, called Dane Byers for an accidental high stick when a San Antonio player skated into Byers’ upraised stick after he’d played the puck along the boards. There was no injury on the play, and given the calls that had been overlooked over the previous 5 periods, this call stunk of a referee trying to influence the outcome of the game. Alas, the Pack penalty kill held on, even after the Rampage pulled Montoya for the extra skater, and LeNeveu came up big when he needed to, allowing the Pack to escape with the regulation win and picking up Second Star honors. For LeNeveu, it was only his first win in 3 tries for the Wolf Pack, despite having an impressive 1.34 GAA and .948 save percentage in those three games. On the other side, it was Montoya’s first loss in three games for the Rampage, in which he’s earned a 1.63 GAA and matching .948 save percentage.

The two teams meet again on Friday in Hartford.

Pack Scoring
2. Dupont (9) (Anisimov) 10:32
3. Gratton (6) (Moore, Pock) 13:12

Lines
Byers - Ouellette - Jessiman
Dupont - Anisimov - Parenteau
Owens - Moore - Korpikoski
Graton

Baranka - Taylor
Constant - Potter
Pock - Sauer

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Josh Gratton
2. David LeNeveu
3. Cam Paddock