The Wilke-Barre/Scranton Penguins arrived in Hartford on Saturday night riding a three game winning streak that had propelled them into second place in the East Division.  They undoubtedly hoped to extend their lead over the third place Bridgeport Sound Tigers with a victory against the Hartford Wolf Pack, but left Connecticut’s capital disappointed, having dropped a 4-1 decision to the home team as the American Hockey League wrapped up the first half of its season and headed into the All-Star break.

The Pack spread the scoring around, getting goals from rookie defenseman David Urquhart, All-Star Artem Anisimov, the suddenly-hot Mike Ouellette, and Greg Moore, who broke a nine-game goal-scoring drought with an empty net goal in the final minute of play. Goaltender Miika Wiikman bounced back from his last start, in which he was pulled early in the second period after giving up four goals on thirteen shots, and stopped 32 of 33 shots he faced from the league’s third highest scoring team.

The game didn’t start well for Wolf Pack, who fell behind on a power play goal just 3:39 in when Mark Letestu was able to sweep his own rebound around a sprawled Wiikman.  The lead held through the remainder of an opening period that featured some good scoring chances for both sides, and a heavyweight bout between Hartford’s Brandon Sugden and the Penguin’s Paul Bissonnette at 8:36.  After the two heavyweights traded a number of rights that failed to reach their intended target, Bissonnette tried to pin Sugden up against the glass.  In the process, he lost his hold on the 6-4, 230 pound winger, who was able to get his right hand free and fire off a volley of bombs which hit their mark and dropped the baby Penguin to his knees.

Hartford started its comeback just shy of the midpoint of the second period.  Urquhart accepted a feed from Brodie Dupont, who’d earn the game’s first star honors with two primary assists and continued strong play along the boards, and fired a low shot towards the net from the center blueline.  The shot travelled through a clump of bodies and may have deflected off a Penguin defender before beating Wilke-Barre netminder Adam Berkhoel between the pads.

The third period kicked off with the score knotted at one and the Pack holding a one-shot advantage, 20-19.  Hartford’s heroes would waste little time taking the lead on the power play in the final frame.

PlanetUSA All-Star team representative Anisimov gave the Pack their first lead of the game and the eventual game-winner at 1:37 of the period on the power play.  Defenseman Brian Fahey put a shot on goal from the point which deflected off Dupont, who was parked right in front of the net causing havoc.  The puck trickled to the right of the goal, where Anisimov pounced to put it over Berkhoel on the backhand. The tally was Anisimov’s 21st, tying him for seventh in the league in goals.  His 48th point moved him into a tie for fourth over-all in the AHL.  It also gave him a point in eight consecutive games, tying the season high points-scoring streak by P.A. Parenteau that ended Friday night.  It was also the seventh game-winner of the season for the second-year pro, which ties him for fifth over-all in the league.

Ouellette gave the Wolf Pack some breathing room at 7:52 with his eight of the season, also on the power play.  Tom Pyatt carried the puck into the Penguin zone along the left wing boards before dishing it to Ouellette, who one-timed it past Berkhoel as he crashed down the slot.  It was the Dartmouth graduate’s fifth point in his last five games.  Pyatt’s assist gives him points in four straight games, and 17 points (8 goals, 9 assists) in his last 23 games.

Wiikman was forced to come up with a number of game-saving stops in the third, including a saves on the Penguins’ leading goal scorer Chris Minard and and Nick Johnson.  He finished with 32 saves to earn second star honors.

Moore put the game away with just 58 seconds remaining when he scored his first goal in nine games into an empty net off.  The goal came off an unselfish pass from Patrick Rissmiller, who controlled the puck in the Pack end and carried it up ice and across the blueline before dishing it to Moore for his 13th of the season.

Hartford entered the game with a chance to tie the Providence Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division, but a win over Springfield allowed the baby B’s to remain two points ahead of the Pack.  Portland and Worcester also won their final games before the All-Star Game break, leaving the Pack tied with Portland with 51 points while Worcester is one point behind with 50.  Both teams have a game in hand.

Notes:

• Rookie defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti missed the game after taking a puck in the face in Friday’s game against Lowell.  The New Jersey native lost four teeth, but Bruce Berlet confirms that he’ll take part in the AHL All-Star Classic festivities, which kick off tomorrow afternoon in Worcester.
• With Sanguinetti out Vladimir Denisov returned to the line up.
• Jordan Owens returned to the line-up after missing two games with a viral infection.
• With Owens back up to speed, Mike Taylor was reassigned to Charlotte of the ECHL.
• Hartford finished two for four with the man advantage. The Pack power play has climbed to eighth in the league, converting at a 91.1% rate.  The Pack penalty kill has also been improving, climbing to 12th in the league, killing off 83.6%

Scoring:
1. Letestu (13) (Jeffrey) 3:39 (PP)
2. Urquhart (5) (Dupont, Parenteau) 9:30
3. Anisimov (21) (Dupont, Fahey) 1:37 (PP)
3. Ouellette (8) (Pyatt, Fahey) 7:52 (PP)
3. Moore (13) (Rissmiller) 19:02 (EN)

Lines:
Dupont – Anisimov – Parenteau
Owens – Rissmiller – Weise
Pyatt – Ouellette – Ford
DiDiomete – Moore – Sugden

Denisov – Potter
Nightengale – Fahey
Urquhart – Sauer

Wiikman / Zaba

Three Stars:
1. Brodie Dupont
2. Miika Wiikman
3. Mike Ouellette

For the third time this season the Hartford Wolf Pack faced off against the Lowell Devils on Friday and for the third time this season the baby Devils came away with a one-goal victory, defeating the Pack 3-2 in Hartford.  The loss denied the Wolf Pack from earning a tie for first place in the division, and coupled with victories by Portland and Worcester saw them drop all the way down to the fourth spot in the Atlantic Division, only three points ahead of the fifth place Devils.

The two teams traded first period goals, with the Pack getting on the board first.  Defenseman Michael Sauer, who played a strong all-around game, potted his second goal of the season with a hard low slap shot from the right point which beat Devils goaltender Jeff Fraze through Mike Ouellette’s screen.

The Devils answered back exactly one minute later, at 14:45 when a turnover deep in the Hartford defensive zone lead to an unassisted goal for California native Ryan Murphy.  Murphy picked up the puck behind the goal line, skated behind the net and wrapped it around the right side, sliding it under Pack goaltender Matt Zaba’s pads to tie things up at one.

The teams kicked off the second period with a pair of fights, just four seconds apart.  At 2:15 Devin DiDiomete squared off with Brad Mills in a bout in which Mills took the decision based on both quantity and quality of blows.  Off the ensuing faceoff Brandon Sugden dropped the mitts with Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond in a heavyweight match-up that ended in a draw, with both players landing some good shots.

The Pack had a couple of good opportunities to take the lead in the period.  At 8:32, just as a Hartford power play expired, Patrick Rissmiller, who returned to the line up after one game as a healthy scratch, rang a shot off the cross bar.  Then, with only 25.9 seconds remaining in the frame it appeared the Wolf Pack had taken the lead, when David Urquhart fired a slap shot through a screen into the Lowell net. But the goal was immediately waved off by referee Nigel Pelltier, who was in the process of whistling play dead in order to assess an interference penalty on Corey Potter.  The penalty negated the final 1:12 of a Hartford power play.  It was Potter’s second (deserved) interference call of the game.

Instead, it was Lowell who took the lead, just 3:02 into the third period after Stephen Gionta won the offensive zone draw off Artem Anisimov, leading to some scrambly play by the Pack in their own zone.  Lowell defender Mark Frazer ended up with the puck at the right point, and wristed a shot through a tangle of bodies to beat Zaba through the five-hole at 3:02.

The Pack answered back at 12:03.  Just as a Hartford five-on-three expired Zaba fired a long pass to Anisimov at the Lowell blueline.  Anisimov, who was added to the PlanetUSA line up for the AHL All Star Classic earlier in the day, carried the puck into the Lowell zone along the right wing boards, where he was met by not one, but two Lowell players.  Despite being outnumbered the 6-4, 205 pound center managed to come off the boards with the puck, feeding Ouellette for a shot from the right circle.  Fraze made the initial stop, but left a rebound which Tom Pyatt put home for his second goal in as many games and tenth of the season.  He’d also picked up an assist on Sauer’s first period goal, making it his fourth multi-point game of the season. His 23 points in 43 games more than double his11-point output in 41 AHL games last season.

The Devils scored the game winner 2:45 later when a quick snap shot from Anisimov’s former Lokomotiv Yaroslavl teammate, Alexander Vasyunov bounced off Zaba’s glove, dropping in front of the net where Barry Tallackson was waiting to bang home the rebound.

Hartford’s hope of a comeback was dealt a blow at 16:33 when Jared Nightengale was assessed an extra two minutes after starting a fight with Spiller. Nightengale was responding to a high, open-ice hit by Spiller on Anisimov, which went unpenalized.  After killing the penalty the Pack applied good pressure in the Lowell end.  But after a hand pass led to a neutral zone draw, which Ouellette won, Brian Fahey passed the puck about six feet wide of his defense partner, sending it deep into the Hartford zone, and preventing a final Hartford attack before time ran out.

Notes:

• Bobby Sanguinetti was hit in the face with a shot with just over three minutes remaining in the second period and did not return.  Bruce Bertlet reports that the New Jersey native lost two teeth and is questionable for the AHL All Star Classic, which opens on Sunday.
• The Devils, who play a strong, smothering defensive system, shut down the Pack’s top line of Brodie Dupont, Anisimov and P.A. Parenteau for the first time in eight games, ending Parenteau’s season-high eight-game scoring streak.  The line was -2 on the night.
• With his assist on Pyatt’s goal, Anisimov extended his scoring streak to seven games.  It is the third seven-game scoring streak for the 20-year old center this season.
• Vladimir Denisov returned to the press box as a healthy scratch in order to make room for Fahey. Matt Stefanishion was also a healthy scratch.  Jordan Owens (viral infection), Justin Soryal (broken hand), and Dane Byers (knee) were the other scratches for the Pack.

Scoring:
1. Sauer (2) (Ford, Pyatt) 13:45
1. Murphy (7) 14:45
3. Fraser (2) (Davis, Gionta) 3:02
3. Pyatt (10) (Ouellette, Anisimov) 12:03 (PP)
3. Tallackson (6) (Vasyunov, Pelley) 14:48

Lines:
Dupont – Anisimov – Parenteau
Rissmiller – Moore – Weise
Pyatt – Ouellette – Ford
DiDiomete – Taylor – Sugden

Potter – Sanguinetti
Urquhart – Sauer
Nightengale – Fahey

Zaba / Wiikman

Three Stars:
1. Barry Tallackson
2. Jeff Frazee
3. Tommy Pyatt

Hartford Wolf Pack forward Artem Anisimov has been added to the PlanetUSA roster for the AHL All Star Classic, to be held this weekend in Worcester.  Anisimov, who’s currently tied for fifth over-all in AHL scoring, was one of five players invited to the All Star Classic in place of earlier selections who will miss the game due to injury or call-up. Anisimov will join teammate Bobby Sanguinetti, who was named to the PlanetUSA team earlier this month.

The AHL All Star Classic kicks off with the annual Skills Competition on Sunday at 4pm EST and is follwed by the game itself on Monday night at 7pm EST.  You can get full, 2-day live coverage of all the events, including up-close interviews with the players and an online chat, at AHL Live for $14.99.  MSG Plus will also air both the skills competition (on tape delay) and All Star Game (live) on Monday evening starting at 5pm.  If you’re outside the New York area, you can check the AHL site for availibility in your area.