First Period
Pack outshot the Pirates 14-7 but a Tomas Pock turnover at the Pirate blue line resulted in an odd man rush and a 1-0 Pirate lead.

Second Period
Less than a minute in, Mike Ouellette found some open space, skated down the right wing side and fired a slapper on goal. Pirate goalie J.S. Aubin made the initial stop, but put the rebound right out in the high slot, where Andrew Hutchinson swooped in for the goal. The Pack took the lead at 12:43 when Hugh Jessiman carried the puck into the Pirate zone, only to lose it to a poke check. But Lauri Korpikoski came in right behind him, picked up the loose puck and fired a snap shot high on the stick side of Aubin. The Pirates’ Andy Schneider tied it back up less than 4 minutes later when he beat Pack starter Miika Wiikman with a slapshot from the left point, through traffic. The Pack controlled the pace of play throughout, outshooting the Pirates 13-5.

Third Period
The Pack got screwed by the officials yet again as a puck was touched by multiple Pirate high sticks before it dropped behind Wiikman and into the net. The goal was originally credited to Michal Birner before being changed to Brett Festerling. They had no choice but to change it, since apparently the argument for why it wasn’t waved off was that Birner didn’t actually touch it with his high stick. That would have been fine, if Festerling’s stick hadn’t also been above the cross bar. But ever since Portland coach Kevin Dineen threw a hissy fit after game one over a penalty he felt was missed just prior to the Pack scoring the winning goal, the Pack haven’t gotten the benefit of any calls. Wiikman threw a fit of his own (and his blocker — twice) when the goal was allowed to stand. The goal kicked the spirit out of the Pack, who didn’t really threaten the rest of the way as the Pirates clamped down and played solid defense. The hockey gods seemed to be doing their best to help the Pack out, as four different empty net attempts by the Pirates were either shot wide or whiffed, but the Pack couldn’t get anything going in the Pirate zone.

Season over.

Pack Scoring
2. Hutchinson (2) (Ouellette) 0:50
2. Korpikoski (1) (Jessiman) 12:43

Lines
Were constantly changed. They ended up something like this:
Dupont - Anismov - Parenteau
Owens - Korpikoski - Bourret
Byers - Moore - Jessiman
Pyatt - Ouellette - Gratton

Potter - Hutchinson
Baranka - Sanguinetti
Pock - Taylor

Wiikman / LeNeveu

Three Stars
1. Jean-Sebastien Aubin
2. Andrew Hutchinson
3. Andy Schneider

The Pirates pushed the Pack to the brink of elimination tonight with a 4-3 win, thanks in large part to their continued undisciplined play.

Hartford got off to a much better start in this game than in any of the three previous games in the series, for the most part controlling the pace of play through the first 8 minutes. But despite puck possession time, the Pack had only two shots on goal to show for it, compared to the Pirates’ one. Then at 8:28 the Pack got themselves into their first penalty trouble of the night when Tomas Pock took exception to a Pirate crowding goaltender David LeNeveu after the whistle, earning himself a roughing penalty and giving the Pirates their first of 6 power play opportunities. The pack killed it off, and went on to get the first goal of the game for the first time in the series, at 11:03, when a clearing pass by Pirate defenseman Brian Salcido deflected off Greg Moore’s skate into the high slot, where Alex Bourret was able to get to it first and fire it past Pirate goaltender J.S. Aubin from just to the right of the hash marks.

It looked like the Pack took a two goal lead with around five minutes to go in the period when Bobby Sanguinetti fed Artem Anisimov, who was in down low on a 2-on-1 with Josh Gratton, from just inside the Pirate blue line. Anisimov looked to pass first before firing a quick wrist shot high to Aubin’s stick side. But referee Francois St. Laurent immediately waved the goal off, explaining only that the whistle had already blown, leaving Pack play-by-play man Bob Crawford to speculate they must called the play for offsides. No replay was available to confirm or deny that suspicion, but it was St. Luarent who must have made the late call, because the linesman made no signal. When play resumed, Gratton squared off with Pirate winger Darryl Bootland. Both connected on a fair number of shots before Gratton got the upper hand, landing a hard right that sent Bootland to the ice.

A minute and a half later Pack captain Andrew Hutchinson put the Pack back down a man when he was called for cross checking mere seconds after getting away with a trip on the same Portland player. The Pirates made them pay with good puck movement in the Pack zone, ending with Jason King beating LeNeveu with a wrist shot from the left circle. Hutchinson made up for his penalty with just four seconds to go in the period when he beat Aubin with a blistering, unscreened slap shot from the top of the left circle during a 4-on-4 that resulted when Alex Bourret and Portland winger Simon Ferguson were whistled for coinciding roughing penalties at 19:10.

Early in the second the Pack got themselves in penalty trouble once again, when Corey Potter took one of the three two-minute minors he’d be whistled for on the night at 1:10. Once again the Pirates made the Pack pay, when Stephen Dixon deflected a point shot from Joe Callahan past LeNeveu at 2:41, knotting the score. Less than five minutes later they took the lead when defenseman Brett Festerling intentionally fired a shot from the point wide of the net, bouncing it off the back boards and out in front of the net, where Mike Hoffman, who returned after serving a one game suspension for elbowing Anisimov in game 2, was ready, waiting and wide open to put it past LeNeveu at 7:25.

Potter took his second minor of the game — for slashing — at the halfway point of the period, but the Pack were able to kill it off. At 16:57 they got their first opportunity with the man advantage, and used that chance to knot the score back up at 3 when Korpikoski fed Parenteau at the hashmarks for a quick redirection through the five hole on Aubin at 18.19.

The Pack got their second and final opportunity on the power play just 24 seconds into the third, but were unable to convert. Potter then took his 3rd minor of the game — this one for hooking — at 9:04, but the Pack killed it off. But with just under 5 minutes to play in the game, the Pack lost an offensive zone draw, allowing the Pirates to break out of their zone and into the Pack zone with a 3-on-2. Saturday’s hero Bobby Ryan fed Dixon down low for his second of the game, giving the Pirates the 4-3 lead with only 4:20 left to play in the game.

On the next shift, Alex Bourret ensured the Pack would not be able to battle back when he charged in from the top of the circles on Portland defenseman Joe Callahan behind the net, earning himself a 5-minute major for boarding with just 3:58 to play in the game. Despite getting jumped by a Portland player in retaliation, Bourret’s penalty was the only one called on they play, setting the Pack up to finish the game shorthanded.

Desperate to generate offense despite being down a man, Gernander sent out some unusual forward pairs on the PK, including a pairing of Mike Ouellette and Anismov. For Anisimov it was only his second shift on the PK all season, with the first resulting in a shorthanded goal in a 10-1 thrashing of Springfield at the end of March. The decision almost paid off again, when Anismov was able to steal the puck off a Pirate player just inside the Pack blueline and feed it to Paretneau, who’d come on for Ouellette on a line change. Parenteau skated in on a partial breakaway, but was stopped by Aubin. Parenteau then retreived his own rebound and put it back in front of the net, where Anisimov and another Pack player fought to get a stick on it. Aubin was able to freeze the puck, but not before the Pack had drawn a penalty with just 1:31 to go in the game. That allowed them to pull LeNeveu to get the 5-on-4 advantage for the remainder of the game. But the Pirates were once again able to hold them off, and take the 3-1 series stranglehold, sending the series back to Hartford for a potential series-clinching game 5 on Tuesday.

Notes

• Potter’s 3 minor penalties in this game give him 7 in four games in the series.
• Portland were 2 for 6 on the power play, and are 5 for 26 in the series.
• The Pack’s power play, which was ranked second in the league in the regular season, has gone only 2 for 22.

Pack Scoring
1. Bourret (1) (Moore) 11:03
1. Hutchinson (1) (Parenteau) 19:56
2. Parenteau (3) (Korpikoski, Baranka) 18:19 (PP)

Lines
Byers - Korpikoski - Parenteau
Jessiman - Moore - Bourret
Ouellette - Anisimov - Gratton
Lee - Pyatt - Owens

Pock - Taylor
Potter - Hutchinson
Baranka - Sanguinetti

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Stephen Dixon
2. Brett Festerling
3. Greg Moore

The Pirates rode the return of Bobby Ryan from his latest stint with Anaheim to a 3-2 win and 2-1 series lead over the Wolf Pack tonight in front of a crowd of 3,848 at the Cumberland Count Civic Center in Portland.

As they have in each of the two previous games in this series, the Pack put themselves back on their heals with a penalty in the first minute of play. In the first game it was P.A. Parenteau who took a tripping call at the 23 second mark. In game two, Corey Potter was whistled for tripping just 50 seconds in. Tonight Parenteau once again put the Pack down a man early, taking a slashing call at the :27 mark. Unlike in the previous two games, the Pack were able to kill off the early penalty, but it gave the Pirates the opportunity to get off to a good start and dictate the tone of play through the first period. And it finally paid off for them at the 16:13 mark when Geoff Platt beat Pack goaltender David LeNeveu to give Portland the 1-0 lead. Just over two minutes later, the Pack were back on the defensive, killing their third penalty of the period, when Portland took their first two-goal game of the series when Ryan picked up his second point of the night with a goal at 18:22, while Josh Gratton looked on from the penalty box.

The Pack battled back in the second, scoring two goals in just over two and a half minutes. At the six minute mark a line of Mike Ouellette, Artem Anisimov and Gratton, one of four new line combinations put together by coach Ken Gernander for this game, kept the puck deep in the Portland zone, forcing Portland to ice the puck off consecutive defensive zone draws. Portland won the third faceoff, but Anisimov was able to get control of the puck behind the net and walk out to the left side, where he spun and put a shot on goal. Portland goaltender J.S. Aubin made the initial save, but left a rebound which Ouellette was able to get a stick on for a second shot before being unceremoniously dumped by a Portland defender in front of the net. Aubin stopped that shot as well, but again couldn’t control the rebound and Anisimov was able to pull the puck out of the pile of bodies and put it up over Aubin to make it 2-1 at the six minute mark.

Two minutes and thirty-seven second later as both teams were in the midst of line changes, Alex Bourret found Corey Potter streaking down the left side. Potter was able to use his speed to get past the Portland defenseman and cut in on Aubin alone — one of three such opportunities in the game for Potter. In this instance, Aubin made the initial save, but couldn’t control the rebound, which Greg Moore was able to put past him to make it 2-2 at 8:37.

But a hooking penalty by Tomas Pock would put the Pack back on their heels at 12:03 and give Portland their fourth power play of the game. The Pack were able to kill it off, but only 8 seconds after Pock returned, Portland defenseman Joe Callahan fired a shot on LeNeveu from the left point. LeNeveu left a juicy rebound right in front, where a breakdown in defensive coverage left Jason King all along in front to put it in the open side of the net.

The Pack were given a perfect opportunity to answer back twenty seconds later when Pirate winger Simon Ferguson was whistled for hooking, but their primary power play unit of Dane Byers, Lauri Korpikoski and Parenteau struggled to even get the puck in the zone. The second unit of Hugh Jessiman, Anisimov and Alex Bourret faired a bit better, and the Pack were able to generate some momentum after the power play expired. But just over a minute and a half later a tripping penalty on Corey Potter put the Pirates back on the man advantage. The Pack killed it off, and in the closing seconds of the period fed Potter for a breakaway as he exited the penalty box. Potter put a good move on Aubin, but Aubin was equal to the challenge and swallowed the rebound as the buzzer sounded marking the end of the 2nd period.

The Pirates controlled the pace of play for large periods of time in the 3rd, pinning the Pack in their zone, though they had only 4 shots on goal to show for it in the period. Over the few shifts they were able to apply consistent pressure on the Pirates, the Pack were only able to generate 4 shots of their own. Their best opportunity came when Jordan Owens fed Mike Lee down low about halfway through the period. Lee was in alone on Aubin and appeared to pull the puck around him on the forehand with the entire side of the net wide open, but Aubin either got a toe on it, or Lee shanked the shot on what appeared to be a sure goal. And once again the Pack’s formerly potent power play failed to capitalize on a prime opportunity when P.A. Parenteau drew a holding call on Bruno St. Jacques at 15:18. As they did all game, the Pack power play struggled to get set up in the Pirate zone, insisting on attempting fancy chip plays at the Pirate blue line rather than getting the puck deep in the zone. And on the rare occasions they did set up in the Portland zone, they opted for risky cross-ice passes looking for the perfect shot, rather than putting pucks on net and looking for deflections and rebounds, as they have all season.

Tempers flared as the final buzzer sounded. It looked initially like Parenteau might have started things off by going after St. Jacques, but a penalty to Hugh Jessiman for elbowing at the twenty minute mark suggests he might have kicked things off with a late hit off camera. Bourret had also upset the Pirates bench minutes earlier with a hit that appeared to leave a Portland player in pain as he made his way slowly to the bench. Regardless of the cause, all 12 players on the ice paired off, including Aubin, who paired off with a Hartford forward, since LeNeveu had been pulled for the extra skater in the closing minute of the game. In the end, only Parenteau and St. Jacques and Jessiman and Callahan dropped the gloves, with Jessiman and Callahan earning game misconducts for engaging in a secondary altercation.

Pack Scoring
2. Anisimov (1) (Ouellette) 6:00
2. Moore (1) (Potter, Bourret) 8:37

Lines
Byers - Korpikoski - Parenteau
Jessiman - Moore - Bourret
Ouellette - Anisimov - Gratton
Pyatt - Lee - Owens

Hutchinson - Potter
Pock - Taylor
Baranka - Sanguinetti

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Bobby Ryan
2. Geoff Platt
3. Corey Potter

The Cliff Notes:

• Mike Lee replaced Josh Gratton in the line up while Gratton served a 1 game suspension as the result of a kneeing penalty he took in a knee-on-knee hit with Portland’s Brett Festerling. Festerling was not in the lineup for Portland last night.
• Michael Sauer was hurt on hit in the corner from Portland captain Tyler Bouck and left the ice with assistance, favoring his right knee. He reportedly left the XL Center on crutches last night after the game.
• The first Portland goal was a slapshot from the center point through a screen. Pack goaltender David LeNeveu nearly trapped it between his arm and body, but it trickled through and over the goal line.
• The Pack’s first goal was all Andrew Hutchinson, who got the puck at the right point and skated along the blue line to the left point to open things up a bit. He then skated a few steps in towards the top of the left circle and threw a wrister at the next which Dane Byers deflected on the way in.
• Second Pack goal was the result of lots of hard work. The Pack upped their battle level in the final 5 minutes of the period, and had a number of consecutive shifts during which they kept the puck deep in the Portland zone.  Mike Ouellette, who’d come on for Artem Anisimov as the start of a line change, Dane Byers and Alex Bourret all worked the puck down low. It looked like Oullette got the initial shot on goal, and then a battle ensued, with all three getting whacks at it from the slot. Ouellette was finally able to roll it over Pirate goaltender J.S. Aubin.
• Bourret and Anisimov were both hurt in the same shift in the first minute of the 3rd period. It looked like Bourret might have taken a slash on the arm/wrist, as he was obviously cradling it as he left the ice. Anisimov might have just gotten the wind knocked out of him. Bourret went to the locker room with the trainer, but returned about two-thirds of the way through the 3rd and played the rest of the game. Anisimov stayed on the bench, missed a shift, but returned and played the rest of the game.
• Portland’s tying goal was a bit of a softie on LeNeveu’s part — just a floater from the right point, no screen, no traffic. It trickled through him, and another Portland player was there to knock it the rest of the way over the goal line.
• The Pack looked, in the first overtime period in particular, like a team that was just waiting for the winning goal to be scored so they could get off the ice. Shots at one point were somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-2 in favor of the Pirates.
• About halfway through the 2nd OT period Parenteau took an undisciplined slashing penalty (the Pack took too many penalties in general, and could have been called for more than they were). On the ensuing power play, Corey Potter deflected Jason King’s shot on LeNeveu, handcuffing him. He made the save, but left a rebound, which Michal Birner put up over top of him from in close.
• According to Howlings Rangers brass including Glen Sather, Gordie Clarke, and Benoit Allaire were in the house last night. Bad night for the team not to show up. Based on last night’s performance, LeNeveu, Jordan Owens, and maybe Andrew Hutchinson and Mike Ouellette deserve their contracts.

Pack Scoring
2. Byers (2) (Hutchinson, Parenteau) 3:31
2. Ouellette (1) (Bourret, Byers) 17:50

Lines
Korpikoski - Moore - Parenteau
Byers - Anisimov - Bourret
Owens - Ouellette - Jessiman
Fritz - Lee - Pock

Hutchinson - Potter
Taylor - Sauer
Baranka - Sanguinetti

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Michal Birner
2. David LeNeveu
3. Jean-Sebastien Aubin

The Pack finished the regular season by winning their 50th game of the season to finish with a 50-20-2-8 record for a franchise record 110 points, giving them the 3rd best record in the AHL.

Notes

• The Pack finished with the 3rd highest goals for (266) in the AHL and tied for the 5th lowest goals against (198).
• The Pack finished with the 2nd best power play in the league (21%) and 12th best penalty kill (83.7%)

Pack Scoring
1. Parenteau (34) (Moore, Korpikoski) 0:22
2. Potter (5) (Korpikoski) 7:44
3. Sauer (4) (Moore, Gratton) 3:30

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

Pock - Sauer
Baranka - Potter
J. Taylor - Sanguinetti

Wiikman / LeNeveu

Three Stars
1. Lauri Korpikoski
2. Jeff Tambellini
3. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers have been one of the few teams that have made life difficult on a consistent basis for the Hartford Wolf Pack this season. Tonight, with their season on the line, needing at least a point to keep their playoff hopes alive, Bridgeport put forth their least impressive effort to date, allowing the Pack to roll to a 5-2 win with minimal effort. In the process, the Pack set a franchise record for points in a season with 108, one more than the 1999-2000 Calder Cup-winning team.

The Pack took the lead 6:31 into the first when Tomas Pock broke up a Bridgeport scoring chance and fed Alex Bourret, who’s returned from his 14-game absence looking to prove he deserves a prominent role in the Pack’s playoff run. Bourret carried the puck into the Bridgeport zone and fed Michael Sauer, who’d jumped up on the play to make it a 3-on-2, as he arrived at the right side of the net. Sauer shoveled Bourret’s pass towards the net along the ice, partially fanning on the shot, but the puck glanced off the inside of the right post and into the net to make it 1-0.

Artem Anisimov gave the Pack a 2 goal lead at 18:27 after Hugh Jessiman stripped the puck from a Bridgeport player just inside the Sound Tigers’ zone and passed it down low to Anisimov, who was able to put a backhander up over Bridgeport goaltender Joey MacDonald from the right side of the net. But off the ensuing faceoff Jessiman went from hero to zero when he was whistled for a hooking penalty at 18:49. Less than a minute later, with only 14 seconds to go in the period, Bridgeport cut the Pack’s lead in half when Tim Jackman scored his first of two goals on the power play.

The Sound Tigers carried their momentum into the second, looking more engaged in the game than they had in the first, while the Pack looked a lot like a team who’d clinched their playoff berth weeks ago and was looking ahead to the playoffs. Just before the halfway point of the period, at 9:42, Jackman got his second goal of the game to tie things up at two with a blinding wrist shot from the top of the circle that beat an unscreened David LeNeveu cleanly.

On the next shift, Lauri Korpikoski showed off his tremendous speed by breaking past two Bridgeport defenders to go in on a partial breakaway, drawing a penalty shot when a hook prevented him from getting a clean shot off. On the penalty shot he got in too close to MacDonald before trying to make a move, and was stopped on what amounted to a pretty unimpressive attempt. The period finished with the two teams tied, after the Sound Tigers outworked the Wolf Pack, forcing them to take the only three penalties called in the period, including a bench minor for two many men.  The advantage in power play time lead to a 13-7 shot advantage for Bridgeport for the period.

But the Pack came out harder in the third, and somehow managed to make stripping Bridgeport of any hope of making the playoffs look easy. Jessiman got what would ultimately be the game winner at 4:28 after another strong forecheck on which he was able to once again strip Bridgeport of the puck in their zone and feed it down to Byers behind the net. Byers then passed it back out front, where Jessiman was able to get a stick on it and knock it past MacDonald from in close.

Just past the halfway point of the period Ivan Baranka, in his first game back after missing 5 with a shoulder injury, controlled the puck in his own zone and fed Anisimov, who skated down the right boards into the Bridgeport zone, where he was joined on a 2-on-1 by Mitch Fritz. Anisimov threaded a perfect pass through the skates of the defender to Fritz, who swatted the puck in the open side of the net for the first goal of his injury-shortened season. Only a few shifts later the scenario was repeated, this time with Josh Gratton joining Anisimov on the carbon-copy 2-on-1. But this time the pass came a second late and Gratton wasn’t able to get enough on it to get it past MacDonald.

Bridgeport did have a number of good opportunities in the third, forcing LeNeveu to come up with a number of tough saves. With around two minutes remaining, they pulled MacDonald and applied furious pressure in the Pack zone. But with 1:28 remaining, Baranka managed to get a stick on a Bridgeport pass and Anisimov picked up the loose puck before another Bridgeport player could control it, and lofted it out of the zone to a waiting Lauri Korpikoski, who put it around a Bridgeport player and into the empty net from just outside the Bridgeport blue line, sealing the victory and sending the baby Islanders to the golf courses with their big brothers.

Notes

• LeNeveu made 27 saves for his 3rd straight win in his 3rd straight start. Since joining the Pack he has a 1.83 GAA and a .924 save percentage.
• Jessiman has 14 points in his last 12 games.
• Korpikoski has 14 points in his last 15 games.
• Anisimov was a team-high +4 on the night and had his second 3 point night in the last 7 games. He has 14 points in his last 16 games.
• Late in the 1st Bobby Sanguinetti blocked a shot with his right foot/leg and hobbled off the ice in obvious pain. He was helped over the bench and assisted down the runway to the locker room, but returned for the second period.

Pack Scoring
1. Sauer (3) (Bourret, Pock) 6:31
1. Anisimov (16) (Jessiman) 18:27
3. Jessiman (18) (Byers) 4:28
3. Fritz (1) (Anisimov, Baranka) 10:44
3. Korpikoski (23) (Anisimov, Baranka) 18:32 (EN)

Lines
Korpikoski - Moore - Parenteau
Byers - Anisimov - Jessiman
Gratton - Ouellette - Bourret
Fritz

Hutchinson - Potter
Baranka - Sauer
Taylor - Sanguinetti
Pock

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Hugh Jessiman
2. Tim Jackman
3. Artem Anisimov

The Pack improved their season record over their nearby rivals in Springfield to 9-1 with a business-like win over the Falcons in Springfield tonight.

The first period was a scoreless affair, with the Pack having the better of chances, out-shooting the Falcons 10-6. There were no penalties called in the period (only 2 minors all game), with the exception of a pair of fighting majors that were handed out to Josh Gratton and Theo Peckham at 14:23. Gratton got a few early punches in, but then the two players locked up and wrestled, before Peckham got a hand free and threw a few late punches and managed to get Gratton’s jersey up over his head, at which point the linesmen jumped in to break it up. Seconds earlier a Falcon player had challenged Alex Bourret, who was playing his first game after missing 14 with first a concussion and then a stomach virus. Bourret simply skated away as the misguided soul dropped his gloves.

Hartford got on the board first early in the second, at the 2:45 mark, when Artem Anisimov picked up a loose puck during a goal mouth scramble, moved across the front of the net and somehow squeezed a backhander through a crowd that included both Mike Taylor and Mitch Fritz, putting it behind Springfield goaltender Devan Dubnyk.

Springfield would get it back just under two and a half minutes later when Liam Reddox fed T.J. Kemp at the outer edge of the right circle, where Kemp fired a wrist shot short side over LeNeveu’s shoulder just as a Pack defenseman crossed in front of him, temporarily screening his view.

P.A. Parenteau put the Pack ahead during their only power play of the game at 14:27 when he was allowed to walk in from the left corner and stickhandle freely just off the left post. But Dubnyk didn’t flinch, so Parenteau tried to jam is past him — unsuccessfully. But when a Falcon tried to clear the rebound behind the net, it ended up on Parenteau’s stick instead, and this time he wrapped it in short side before Dubnyk was able to re-set himself.

At 9:39 of the 3rd Bobby Sanguinetti picked up his first pro point of the season when he put a wrist shot towards the net that was deflected on the way in by Josh Gratton at the hashmarks. It was Gratton’s 11th of the season and 6th in 18 games with the Pack.

Bourret capped off the scoring at 19:24 of the third with an empty net goal after Lauri Korpikoski stripped the puck off a Springfield player in the Hartford zone and lofted it towards the Springfield blueline, where Bourret was waiting for it. Bourret showed poise in keeping it away from the Springfield defenseman who was covering him and managed to put it into the empty net from just inside the Springfield blue line.

The two teams ended the period tied with 8 shots each, to give the Pack the slight 29-26 advantage for the game.

Pack Scoring
2. Anisimov (15) (Fritz, M. Taylor) 2:46
2. Parenteau (33) 14:27
3. Gratton (11) (Sanguinetti, J. Taylor) 9:39
3. Bourret (9) (Korpikoski) 19:24 (EN)

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

Hutch - Potter
Pock - Sauer
Taylor - Sanguinetti

LeNeveu / Wiikman

Three Stars
1. Artem Anisimov
2. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
3. Josh Gratton

Missed this one in favor of my first trip to the Prudential Center (nice place!) Shame the Rangers didn’t get there on time for the game.

Anyway, the pertinent details, for posterity:

Pack Scoring
1. Jessiman (16) (Potter, Korpikoski) 3:30
2. Korpikoski (22) (Byers, Pock) 1:45 (PP)
3. Jessiman (17) (Byers) 8:55

Three Stars
1. Hugh Jessiman
2. Lauri Korpikoski
3. Brad Mills

The Pack lost a playoff preview tonight in Portland, locking themselves into a 2-3 matchup with the Pirates when they gave up the winning goal with just 22 seconds remaining in the game.

The game started better for the Pack than their past three have, as they managed to escape the first minute of play without going down a goal as they have in each of their last three games. Portland took the early edge in quantity of scoring chances, though the Pack probably had better quality opportunities, including a nice rush by Lauri Korpikoski who was able to split two defenseman and go in on Potland goaltender J.S. Aubin alone, only to have his weak backhander stopped. Starting at 8:03 referee Frederic L’Ecuyer started a parade to the penalty box, when he called Portland for two consecutive penalties, including a 6 second overlap that gave the Pack a brief 2 man advantage. The first was drawn by a strong drive from behind the net out front with the puck by Tomas Zaborsky, playing in his first professional game. But the Pack’s 2nd ranked power play came up short all night, no doubt due in part to the absence of leading scorer P.A. Parenteau, who was a late scratch, missing the game for precautionary reasons after taking a slash to the ankle in last night’s game in Providence.

Captain Andrew Hutchinson took an elbowing penalty to cancel out the second power play only 35 seconds into the second Portland penalty. The best opportunity of the ensuing 4-on-4 went to the Pack’s Mike Taylor, who broke in alone on Aubin but fired a backhander wide of the net. Hartford gave the Pirates one more chance on the power play in the period, at 17:23, when Corey Potter took a slashing call, but the Pack penalty kill would come up big, as it did all night. The Pirates finished the period with a 12-7 advantage in shots, as Aubin extended his shut out streak over the Pack to 4 periods, after shutting the Pack out when the two teams last met on March 2nd.

In the second, the Pirates got on the board first, just past the halfway point of the period, after Greg Moore put a hard pass into Zaborsky’s skates on a 3-on-2 rush, leading to a counter attack by the Pirates on which Wiikman made the initial save, but gave up a juicy rebound into the slot which Portland defenseman and 2nd team AHL All Star Brian Salcido was able to put in the open side of the net.

But the Pack would answer back just over three and a half minutes later when a line of Tomas Zaborsky, Jordan Owens and Mitch Fritz played a strong shift, pinning the Pirates deep in their zone with strong board work primarily by Zaborsky and Owens, who controlled the puck down low and fired a sharp angle shot on goal which deflected in off a Pirate defenseman while both Zaborsky and Fritz were wrecking havoc in the crease. Zaborsky would get the primary assist for his first professional point in his first professional game.

Tempers would flare at the final buzzer of the period when the players paired off for some pushing and shoving. The pairing of Dane Byers and Geoff Platt would get the feistiest, with both players eventually shaking off the gloves in the course their wrestling match. But as soon as Byers was able to get some separation, he dropped Platt with his first punch, annoying Platt’s teammate Jay Leach, who then mugged Greg Moore, who was reluctant to drop the gloves for fear of getting tossed for a secondary altercation, in return. Somehow the Pack managed to come out of the scrum a man down, after Byers was given a double minor for roughing while the other three each got two minutes each.

The Pack continued their parade to the penalty box in the third when, after killing off Byers extra minor, the they then had to kill off successive penalties by Jake Taylor (tripping), Josh Gratton (roughing), and Bobby Sanguinetti (holding) before Tyler Bouck took a hooking call to cancel out the final minute and 40 seconds of Sanguinetti’s penalty at 13:19. The string of penalties allowed Portland to spend the majority of the first half of the period in the Pack zone, and jump out to a 7-1 advantage in shots. The Pirates were clearly the harder-working team in the 3rd, and probably deserved a couple additional power play opportunities in the final half of the period. With 2:27 to go in the game Tyler Bouck and Josh Gratton took matching minors, for roughing and elbowing respectively, setting up a two minute 4-on-4 which would ultimately lead to the Pack’s demise. Just before the penalties expired the Pack committed 3 players to a 3-on-2 rush which was broken up just over the Pirate blue line, leading to a 3-on-2 counter attack by the Pirates. Salcido carried the puck into the Pack zone along the left boards and centered it into the slot where a crashing Andrew Ebbett was able to shovel the puck past Miika Wiikman despite being checked from behind. That gave the Pirates the 2-1 lead with only 22 seconds remaining in the game. The Pack would win the ensuing faceoff and pull Wiikman after getting the puck into the Portland zone, but a the Pirates controlled the puck and cleared the zone, sending Simon Ferguson in for the empty netter with just three seconds to play. The Pirates, who’d lost 5 of their last 6 games, finished the period with a 12-4 advantage in shots, and a 34-27 advantage for the game.

Notes
- Parenteau’s late scratch was said by broadcaster Bob Crawford to be precautionary. Crawford said if this had been a playoff game, Parenteau would have played.
- Parenteau’s absence allowed Mike Taylor, a planned scratch, to remain in the line up for another game
- Alex Bourret, who was set to return from a concussion yesterday, missed his second consecutive game with a stomach virus.
- Mitch Fritz has 3 points in 5 games since returning from early-season shoulder surgery
- The loss, coupled with Providence’s win, cemented the division standings, locking in a Hartford-Portland first round matchup.

Pack Scoring
2. Owens (7) (Zaborsky, Fritz) 13:33

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

Potter - Hutchinson
Taylor - Sanguinetti
Pock - Sauer

Wiikman / LeNeveu

Three Stars
1. 19 Andrew Ebbett
2. 1 Jean-Sebastien Aubin
3. 22 Brian Salcido

Game 75: Hartford Wolf Pack 3 @ Providence Bruins 4 (SO)
Pack fall to Providence in a shootout. I was at the Garden watching their big brothers fall to the Fishsticks, so didn’t see the game. Of note to most Rangers fans: Bobby Sanguinetti was a +1, had 2 shots on goal and was not on the ice for any Providence goals against. Looks like he was on the power play with Hutchinson — he was on ice for Anisimov’s goal, which came 2 seconds after a power play expired. Tomas Zaborsky did not play. The Pack outshot Providence by a total of 38 shots to 29, and had the only 4 shots in OT. Providence got on the board only 8 seconds into the game… they’ve developed a bit of a habit of going down on their first shift lately…

Pack Scoring
2. Anisimov (14) (Byers, Hutchinson) 6:45
3. Hutchinson (18) (Potter) 4:55
3. Ouellette (13) (Jessiman, Byers) 12:59

Pack Shootout
Lauri Korpikoski No Goal
Greg Moore Goal
Jordan Owens No Goal
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau No Goal
Dane Byers No Goal

Three Stars
1. Zach Hamill
2. Andrew Hutchinson
3. Matt Lashoff