The Hartford Wolf Pack traveled to Springfield on Saturday night and came away with their most decisive victory of the season, a 7-2 thrashing of the bottom-feeding Falcons.  Dale Weise had a career-high four-point night with two goals and two assists and defenseman Vladimir Denisov added a goal and two assists for a career mark of his own.  Brodie Dupont, Artem Anisimov and Corey Potter each added a goal and an assist.  Miika Wiikman stopped ten of eleven shots through two periods before leaving the game after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Colin McDonald in the final minute of the second period.  McDonal earned a five-minute kneeing major on the play, and the Pack made them pay with a pair of power play goals. Maxime Daigneaut replaced Wiikman in the third and also stopped ten of eleven; it’s unclear whether the decision was simply a move to rest Wiikman for Sunday’s big match-up with Providence or if he was injured on the play.

I missed the game in favor of a trip to the Garden, and though I’ve watched most of it in the AHL Live archives, there’s no time for a full game-wrap.  You can get more from the Wolf Pack web site, Howlings, or, for the Springfield perspective, The Republican.

Providence lost their second game in a row in Bridgeport on Saturday night, giving the Pack a 3-point lead in the Atlantic Division as the two teams head into their Sunday afternoon face off in Providence.  It was Hartford’s third win in a row, and 13th of their last 16, and gave them their 40th win of the season.  It’s the six year in a row the franchise has hit the 40 goal mark, tying an AHL record.

Scoring:
1. Dupont (15) (Weise, Anisimov) 2:00
1. Weise (9) (Dupont, Denisov) 9:21
2. Denisov (3) (Bell, Weise) 7:46
2. Linglet (7) (Potulny, Stone) 7:56
2. Nightingale (2) (Denisov) 14:29
2. Potter (9) (Owens) 14:56
3. Weise (10) (Owens, Sanguinetti) 1:21 (PP)
3. Anisimov (29) (Potter, Rissmiller) 4:09 (PP)
3. Potulny (30) (Stone, Wild) 13:41 (PP)

Lines:
Bell – Rissmiller – Parenteau
Pyatt – Ouellette – Owens
Dupont – Anisimov – Weise
DiDiomete – Crowder – Sugden

Potter – Sanguinetti
Nightingale – Sauer
Denisov – Fahey

Wiikman / Daigneault

Three Stars:
1. Dale Weise
2. Vladimir Denisov
3. Brodie Dupont

Patrick Rissmiller scored a goal and added two assists to lead the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 3-1 victory over the Portland Pirates in Portland on Friday night.  The win, coupled with Providence’s shootout loss to Albany, gave the Wolf Pack sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division with 84 points.

Portland got on the board first, courtesy of diminutive rookie Nathan Gerbe, who scored with a long wrister from the left point that beat Miika Wiikman, in his sixth straight start, through a screen.  Hartford outshot the Pirates 13-12 in the period, despite being whistled for four consecutive penalties in the frame by referee Ian Croft.  Gerbe’s 25th of the season came on the second of those penalties, while tough guy Brandon Sugden was in the box for tripping.

Rissmiller knotted the score with an unassisted four-on-four tally with 58 seconds remaining in the period.  The veteran forward chipped the puck away from Portland defenseman Mike Kostka at the Pack blue line and carried it down the left wing boards before slapping it past Portland starter Jonas Enroth for his 10th of the season.

The Wolf Pack dominated the third place Pirates in the second session, outshooting their northern neighbors by a 16-4 margin en route to building a two goal lead.  P.A. Parenteau tied Artem Anisimov for the team lead in goals with his 28th of the season at 5:12 of the frame when he finished a pretty tick-tack-toe play that started at the right point with Rissmiller.  The Belmont, MA native fed Mark Bell as he streaked down the slot, drawing two Portland defenders to him before dishing it to Paranteau in front for the tap in.

Upset with a hip check by Bobby Sanguinetti that sent him flying moments earlier, Portland’s 5-foot-6 Gerbe met a clean check by Bell with an elbow, then added a cross check for good measure, giving the Pack their second power play of the period at 13:28.  Fourty-nine seconds later, defenseman Brian Fahey let loose a cannon from the left point that beat Enroth through a screen to give the Pack a two-goal lead.

It was the seventh of eight meetings between these two teams, and a potential playoff match-up, so bad blood was to be expected and resulted in three fights.  Sugden fought Jimmy Bonneau in a close bout off the draw at 11:02 of the second period and Jordan Owens jumped Steve Ward in retaliation for a hit at 16:24.  A 2:54 of the third, angry with a hit to the head Geoff Waugh, Brodie Dupont went after the bigger forward, scoring a rare win.

Portland improved their second period performance in the third, outshooting the Wolf Pack 7-6, but Hartford finished the game with a decisive 35-23 shot advantage.  Despite the questionable flip shot from the point for Portland’s first goal, Wiikman continued to look strong, making a number of tough stops, finishing with 22 saves to improve his record on the season to 20-18-0-3.  He’s expected to get the start again Saturday night, as the Wolf Pack travel to Springfield to face the Falcons, who are wallowing in last place in the division with 53 points, but always give the Pack a good fight.  On Sunday, the Wolf Pack will travel to Providence for a game that will likely decide who ends the weekend in first place in the division.

Notes:

• Captain Greg Moore was out for the Pack with what is suspected to be a concussion received in an awkward hit during Wednesday’s game against Lowell.  He was replaced by free-agent signee Paul Crowder, who was signed by the Rangers on Thursday and joined the Pack on an ATO.  The 24-year old Crowder didn’t look out of place in his debut, getting limited ice time with fourth line wingers Devin DiDiomete and Sugden.  The former University of Alaska-Anchorage player even saw some time on the penalty kill.

Scoring:
1. Gerbe (25) (Schutz, Kennedy) 12:06 (PP)
1. Rissmiller (10) 19:02
2. Parenteau (28) (Rissmiller, Bell) 5:12
2. Fahey (3) (Rissmiller, Parenteau) 14:17 (PP)

Lines:
Bell – Rissmiller – Parenteau
Pyatt – Ouellette – Owens
Dupont – Anisimov – Weise
DiDiomete – Crowder – Sugden

Potter – Sanguinetti
Urquhart – Sauer
Denisov – Fahey

Wiikman / Daigneault

Three Stars:
1. Patrick Rissmiller
2. Mark Bell
3. Nathan Gerbe

In a story posted on the KHL web site earlier today, Czech legend Jaromir Jagr confirmed that an agreement was in the works that could have seen him finish the NHL season in Edmonton had his current club, Avangard Omsk, not made the playoffs or fallen in a first round sweep. At the same time, Jagr made it clear that he would not break his KHL contract, and that any arrangements for him to play in the NHL next year would need to be negotiated by the his potential NHL club and Avangard.  In other words, any team hoping to add Jagr to their line-up next year had better have some spare cash lying around (and hope NHL HQ allows them to wire it Siberia) because that’s the only scenario by which I can see Avangard surrendering their star.

Jaromir Jagr: I don’t intend to break my contract with Omsk

Although there was speculation about Jagr’s return to the NHL in the final stage of the KHL regular season and during the playoffs, the athlete’s future is tied to Omsk, where he has an active contract for another year, reports [Czech newspaper] SPORT. At the same time, the possibility that Jagr could return to the NHL in an Edmonton uniform really did exist. The management of the Oilers reached an agreement with Avangard that in the event that the Omsk club did not appear in the playoffs or lost their first round series with Salavat Yulaev Ufa by an 0-3 account, the move of Jagr to Canada would take place.

“Yes, there was such an possibility,” said Jagr. “Both clubs discussed how that could have been done. It did not depend on me. If Omsk had asked me to go over to Edmonton, I would have done it. But I myself didn’t want it. After we made it to the playoffs, this subject was no longer relevant.” Jagr also said, that the same approach will be used next season.

“It definitely wouldn’t happen that I’d break the contract with Omsk and leave for America without permission. For that both teams need to come to an agreement between themselves. I won’t do that myself,” the athlete, who has spent 17 seasons in the NHL with Pittsburgh, Washington, and the New York Rangers, said.

UPDATE: Apparently the KHL considered the news that Jagr’s not flying the coop (for now) so important they issued an English version of the press release.  Puck Daddy’s got it for those who are interested.