Artem Anisimov scored the game-tying goal midway through the third and added the deciding tally in the shootout as the Hartford Wolf Pack rallied from a 2-0 first period deficit to defeat the Providence Bruins 3-2 in a shootout and extend their lead over the second place Bruins to two points.  In the process, they also secured a playoff berth for the 12th consecutive season — each year since the franchise first took to the ice in the fall of 1997 — the longest active post season streak in the AHL.

Matt Zaba stopped 23 of 25 shots through 65 minutes of play, and blanked all four Providence shooters he faced in the shootout.  P.A. Parenteau followed up on Anisimov’s first round shootout score and beat Bruin netminder Tuukka Rask in the fourth round to put the game out of reach for the visitors.

Patrick Rissmiller got the Wolf Pack’s first goal, giving him points in three straight games, and nine of his last eleven.

It didn’t look good for the Pack early, as the Bruins and 23-year old center Vladimir Sobotka caught their hosts napping off the opening face-off and took a 1-0 lead just 22 seconds into the contest.  Sobotka carried the puck in on a 2-on-1 with Finnish winger Miiko Lehtonen and opted for the shot, beating Zaba from the right face-off circle.

Providence doubled its lead at 9:30 of the period when rookie Matt Marquardt took a pass down low from Zach Hamill and backhanded it by Zaba for his ninth goal of the season.

The teams were even in shots in the first period at eight apiece, but whatever words of wisdom coach Ken Gernander imparted upon his minions during the first intermission seemed have the desired effect, as they Wolf Pack outshot the Bruins 16-7 and 14-7 in the final two periods of regulation.

Rissmiller cut Providence’s lead in half at 5:48 of the second period when he put the rebound of Bobby Sanguinetti’s shot from the point past Rask for his 11th goal of the season.

Despite their best efforts, the Wolf Pack were unable to beat Rask again until 11:31 into the final frame, on their sixth and final power play of the game.  Paul Crowder, playing in his fifth game after finishing his career at the University of Alaska-Anchorage and signing with the Rangers last Friday, made a nice move to cut around a Bruin defender and backhand a feed to Anisimov for a one-timer from the right circle.  The assist gave Crowder his first point as a professional, and Anisimov’s 33rd goal of the season moved him in into fourth in the league in goals while knotting the score at two.

With first place on the line, the Pack played more cautiously the rest of the way, looking for at least a point.  They got it when the final buzzer sounded to end regulation, and had the edge in the overtime period until Corey Potter slashed the stick out of a Bruin’s hands, earning the 1-minute overtime penalty.  With the 4-on-3 advantage, Providence turned the ice into a shooting gallery.  But the AHL’s leading scoring defenseman, Johnny Boychuck, missed on three consecutive set-ups at the left point, and Zaba stopped all three Bruin shots that did find their way to his net in the extra session to send the game to a shootout.

Anisimov scored on the first shot of the skills competition, using a modified version of his usual  forehand-backhand deke to put the puck between Rask’s legs rather than top shelf.  After Rask stopped attempts by Crowder and Rissmiller, Parenteau scored on a wrist shot from the high slot.  Zaba then stopped the fourth and final shootout attempt he faced to give the Pack the win and a guaranteed visit to the Calder Cup playoffs.

Notes:

• Former Rangers head coach Tom Renney was in attendance, fueling speculation that his time with the Rangers organization is not finished.
• Goaltender Miika Wiikman returned to the line-up after suffering a lower body injury last weekend.  He served as backup to Zaba, allowing Maxime Daigneault to be returned to Charlotte.
• Anisimov has goals (5) in four straight games after going four straight without a point, his longest dry spell of the season. His 16th power play goal of the season ties him for fifth in the league.
• Potter’s season of ill-advised and poorly-timed penalties continues.  The defenseman has 82 penalty minutes in 62 games, all minors except for a single 10-minute misconduct.  His penalties have put his team down by two men eight times, and canceled out Wolf Pack power plays three times.

Scoring:
1. Sobotka (16) (Lehtonen, Boychuk) 0:22
1. Marquardt (9) (Hamill, Lukacevic) 9:30
2. Rissmiller (11) (Sanguinetti, Potter) 5:48
3. Anisimov (33) (Crowder, Dupont) 11:31 (PP)

Lines:
Bell - Rissmiller - Parenteau
Pyatt - Crowder* - Owens
Dupont - Ouellette* - Anisimov
DiDiomete - McBride - Sugden

Potter  - Sanguinetti
Nightingale - Fahey
Denisov - Urquhardt

Zaba / Daigneault

* Crowder and Ouellette swapped places after the first period.

Three Stars:
1. Artem Anisimov
2. Tuukka Rask
3. Patrick Rissmiller

The Hartford Wolf Pack made it look easy as they topped the Albany River Rats by a final score of 5-1 in the New York capital on Friday night.  Mark Bell and Artem Anisimov each scored twice and P.A. Parenteau added a goal and two assists to keep the Wolf Pack one point ahead of the second place Providence Bruins, who also won against Worcester.  The Bruins travel to Hartford on Saturday night for a huge Atlantic Division match up that could determine first place in the division.

Matt Zaba made his return to the Wolf Pack net after missing eight games with a hand injury suffered on March 7th against Springfield.  It was the perfect game to ease him back into action, as he faced only 20 shots, and only a few of them of the challenging variety.   Miika Wiikman missed his second game with a lower body injury suffered last Saturday against Springfield.  Maxime Daigneault backed Zaba up on the bench,

The Wolf Pack, which hadn’t played since last Sunday’s 5-3 loss in Providence, got off to a slow start against the Rats, falling behind at the 1:45 mark when Mike Oullette lost the puck to Ryan Weston along the boards just inside the Pack blue line.  Weston quickly dished it to Tomas Pospisil, who beat Zaba from the top of the left circle.

Just past the midpoint of the period leading scorer Parenteau took a hip check as he entered the Albany zone and fell hard against the boards, requiring the attention of Hartford trainer Damien Hess.  He got the ultimate revenge on his next shift when at 14:29 he scored his 29th of the season.  Rookie defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti, who finished the night with two assists, cut in from the right point with the puck, carrying it down low on the left side before backhanding it to Parenteau on the goal line to the left of Albany goalkeeper Justin Peters.  Parenteau found a hole between Peters and the post from the near impossible angle, tying the score at one.

Anisimov tallied his first of two on the night with only 46 seconds remaining in the period with a beautiful individual effort. The Pack’s leading goal scorer stripped the puck from an Albany player in center ice and carried it down the left side on a partial breakaway, shielding it from an River Rat defender as he cut across the crease and finished on the backhand for his 31st of the season.  The goal would stand as the game-winner, giving the big Russian center his team-leading eighth of the season, ranking him just one behind league-leader Ryan Vesce.

The lone goal of the second period came off the stick of Bell, who took a pass from Patrick Rissmiller in the high slot and fired a hard snap shot past Peters.  The puck hit the bar in the back of the net with such velocity that it ricocheted straight out, causing spectators to wonder if it had instead hit the post.  But referee Ryan Fraser was in perfect position to see the play and immediately signaled the goal.  It was Bell’s 15th of the season and third in 11 games with the Wolf Pack.

Bell wasn’t done there.  The Pack would improve their 10th-ranked power play to 18.3% with two man-advantage goals in two third period opportunities, leaving them 2-for-4 in the game.  In a similar play to his first goal, Bell took Parenteau’s feed from the goal line at the hashmarks and snapped a shot over Peter’s glove at 9:33.

Anisimov got the Wolf Pack’s second power play marker of the period, and the final tally in the game, at 17:52.  Defenseman Brian Fahey put the puck on net from the right point, and Anisimov was waiting at the right side of the crease to swat the rebound behind Peters for his 32nd of the year.

The Wolf Pack outshot the River Rats 8-7 in the first and 8-6 in the third, while the Rats took a 7-6 advantage in the middle frame, giving Hartford a combined advantage of 22-20.  The Pack penalty kill thwarted all five of Albany’s power play attempts to improve to 82.7%, tying it for 15th in the league.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division, Portland and Worchester both won to move within a point of third place Manchester, which held steady at 76 points, 12 back of Hartford’s 88, after their loss to Providence.  The Devils, who were on the losing side in Portland, are now five points back of the fourth and final playoff spot with just nine games remaining.  The Devils could help the Pack out on Saturday, as a Wolf Pack win over Providence coupled with a Lowell victory over Worcester could clinch a playoff berth for the Pack for the 12th consecutive season.

Highlights of the game are available from AHL Live.

Notes:

• Brock McBride, who signed an amateur try-out contract with the Wolf Pack on Wednesday after concluding his college career with St. Lawrence University, made his professional debut.  He was effective on the forecheck and strong along the boards in limited minutes centering the Pack’s fourth line.
• Dale Weise, who was having a bit of an offensive break out with 7 points in his last 9 matches, including a four point night in Springfield, missed the game with a broken thumb suffered in Sunday’s loss to Providence.  On Thursday, Weise was named the Wolf Pack’s 2008-09 American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the community.  He served as color man for Bob Crawford on the game broadcast.
• Devin DiDiomete faced the much bigger Benn Olson in the game’s only fight shortly after the hit on Parenteau in the first period.  DiDiomete made it respectable despite spotting Olson 6 inches and 15 pounds, but was the clear loser in the bout.
• Parenteau’s three points give him 78 in 72, good for fourth in the league.  Anisimov is sixth  with 73 points in 73 games.
• Anisimov’s 32 goals tie him for third in the league with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Chris Minard.  He’s the only player under 24 years of age amongst the top 10 goal scorers or point scorers.
• Rissmiller’s two assists in the game give him 13 points in his last 10 games, and 48 points in 52 games played this season.

Scoring:
1. Pospisil (2) (Weston) 1:45
1. Parenteau (29) (Sanguinetti, Rissmiller) 14:29
1. Anisimov (31) 19:14
2. Bell (15) (Rissmiller, Parenteau) 11:57
3. Bell (16) (Parenteau, Sanguinetti) 9:33 (PP)
3. Anisimov (32) (Fahey, Pyatt) 17:52 (PP)

Lines:
Bell - Rissmiller - Parenteau
Dupont - Anisimov - Ouellette
Pyatt - Crowder - Owens
DiDiomete - McBride - Sugden

Potter - Sanguinetti
Denisov - Urquhardt
Nightingale - Fahey

Zaba / Daigneault

Three Stars:
1. P.A. Parenteau
2. Mark Bell
3. Tomas Pospisil

Russian sports daily Sovetsky Sport caught up with New York Rangers forward Nikolai Zherdev in Philadelphia ten days ago and discussed the 24-year old’s play under new head coach John Tortorella, his adjustment to New York after the trade from Columbus last summer, and his desire to play for Team Russia at the World Championships.  Their interview, originally published on March 17th, is translated below.

Rangers forward Nikolai Zherdev: So far I haven’t been invited to the national team

17 March 2009, №38-В(17770)
N. Bragilevskaya

The new coach of the Rangers, John Tortorella, doesn’t hide that he is dissatisfied with Nikolai Zherdev’s play — from the new year forward he has scored only seven goals.

John Tortorella stated that Zherdev isn’t scoring enough: “I talked with Nik about his productivity. I’m not prepared to take drastic action. But I expect Zherdev and the team to change their game. For the time being we’re in a slump. But I believe that we can overcome it.

The New York press writes that in one of his recent games Zherdev took a stupid penalty, and because of it a goal was scored and Tortorella planted the forward on the bench. And the next day at practice he put him on the third line. Nikolai got angry and at the end of the session even smashed his stick on the ice.

My conversation with Zherdev took place after the first of a pair of games between Philadelpia and the Rangers. And while on Saturday the Flyers prevailed (4:2), yesterday the New Yorkers took revenge (4:1).

- It seems to me that Tortorella is a more strict coach than the recently dismissed Tom Renney.

- I agree that the new coach has a tougher style. But I pay attention to his instructions and try to carry them out. I can’t be afraid of mistakes in the game. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not playing.

- And what happened in practice?

- I didn’t like my stick. It was bad. - Zherdev said with such a serious face that I had to believe him.

- Let’s change the subject. Tell us how it is to live in New York after the the summer’s trade from Columbus.

- I already feel at home. I rented an apartment in Manhattan. Do people on the street recognize me? Who needs me… Columbus was a small, quiet city. Everything was convenient for me there. But in New York there are more interesting places. For example, restaurants where you can go after the game. As it is there are no differences when you’re immersed in the season — games, traveling.

- Recollect how you learned about the trade.

- I was in Russia. They called and said that I might be traded. And in a few days they called back and said that I had been traded. My first reaction? Mild shock. And then I thought about it and decided that the Rangers are not a bad choice.

- If the New Yorkers don’t get into the playoffs, will you go to the World Championships?

- For the time being no one has talked with me about this subject. I always say that I want to play for the national team. But now the main thing for me is the Stanley Cup. Since childhood I’ve wanted to win that prize.

- Who did you root for then?

- I always loved Detroit. I even watched the playoffs last season when the Wings became champions.

- How’s your health?

- A week ago I had the flu. But now everything’s normal.

- With whom do you socialize most now?

- With Antropov, he was recently traded to us. We share a room on the road now.

- Do you occupy hotels by nationality on the Rangers?

- But we are different nationalities. He’s Kazakh, and I’m Ukrainian.

- But you were born in the USSR and play for team Russia.

- I played for the junior team. And I was born in Kiev, in the Ukraine. And therefore according to the NHL I am considered a Ukrainian. But I’m ready to play for Team Russia in Switzerland. The main thing is that I’m invited.