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