Catch a glipse of the future of the NHL — and the New York Rangers — when Madison Square Garden Network broadcasts the 2010 AHL All-Star Classic live, starting tonight.  The two day event gets underway this evening with the All-Star Skills Competition at 8:00pm and concludes Tuesday night with the game itself, beginning at 6:00pm. (Those outside the MSG viewing area can check the broadcast schedule for local broadcast information.)

This year the Hartford Wolf Pack will once again be represented by a pair of players.  Sophomore blueliner Bobby Sanguinetti will be making his second appearance at the annual event, though his participation last year was limited to the Skills Competition after he was hit in the mouth with a puck in the Wolf Pack’s final game before the All-Star break.  The New York Rangers’ 2006 first round pick will join the top US- and European-born players in the AHL on the cheesily-named PlanetUSA Team.

Sanguinetti will be joined by Wolf Pack scoring leader Corey Locke, who’ll be making his third straight trip to the Classic, and fourth in his six-year career.  Locke is tied for the all-time AHL All-Star Classic career scoring lead with Martin St. Pierre with eight points and will lead a squad of Canadian natives on the Canadian Team.

For more information on the even, including the full rosters for both the PlanetUSA and Canadian squads, see the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic web site.

The Hartford Wolf Pack gave up a goal on the first shift of the game, then two more 17 seconds apart in the 10th minute of the first period, allowing the Manchester Monarchs to take a lead they’d never relinquish.

Jordan Owens got the lone goal for the Wolf Pack in the second half of the first period, giving him points in back-to-back games since returning to the line-up from injury.  Evgeny Grachev picked up an assist, giving him his third point in two games this weekend.

The Atlantic Division-leading Monarchs added another goal in the third to complete the scoring at 4-1.

Of greater concern is an apparent head or shoulder injury suffered by P.A. Parenteau during the second period.  The Pack’s second leading scorer was hit awkwardly into the boards by Manchester enforcer Kevin Westgarth midway through the second period and did not return to the game.

We left early in the third period to head into the city for the Rangers game (most fun I’ve had at the Garden all season – thanks boys!) so for the full recap, I leave you with Bob Crawford’s write-up below.

Manchester Monarchs 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 1

Manchester, NH, January 17, 2010 – Corey Elkins had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Bernier made 35 saves, Sunday at the Verizon Wireless Arena, to lead the Manchester Monarchs to a 4-1 Atlantic-Division victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The loss was only the Wolf Pack’s fourth in regulation in the last 15 games (9-4-0-2) and dropped the fourth-place Pack to 22-16-1-4 (49 pts.) on the season.

The Wolf Pack fell behind on the game’s first shift, with Elkins scoring for Manchester at the 36-second mark.  Juraj Mikus pushed the rebound of Andrew Campbell’s point shot in front to Elkins, who slid it past Hartford goaltender Matt Zaba (21 saves).

The Monarchs then upped the lead to 3-0 with a pair of goals in 17 seconds starting at 10:34.  Tom Cavanagh scored a power-play goal to make it 2-0, on a shot from the top of the right circle.  Then, at 10:51, John Zeiler put in a wraparound to make it a three-goal Manchester advantage.

Jordan Owens got the Wolf Pack on the scoreboard at 13:17 with his sixth goal of the year, assisted by Evgeny Grachev and Nigel Williams.  Grachev, headed behind the net, banked the puck off the outside of the goalpost to Owens at the left side of the slot, and Owens beat Bernier over the catching glove.

The Wolf Pack picked up their play significantly in the second period, outshooting Manchester 14-6, but could not solve Bernier, who came into the game with the AHL’s second-best save percentage (93.8) and fifth-best goals-against average (2.05).

The third period also favored Hartford, which enjoyed an 11-3 shots advantage, courtesy of five power plays.  Bernier held strong, however, and Bud Holloway provided the final margin with a goal at 1:04.  From the right-wing side, Holloway snapped a shot into the top corner over Zaba’s catching glove.

The Wolf Pack ended up 0/7 on the power play and fell to 2-3-0-0 in the season series against the Monarchs, who lead the Atlantic Division at 26-13-1-4 for 57 points.

Hartford Wolf Pack 1 At Manchester Monarchs 4
Jan 17, 2010 – Verizon Wireless Arena

Hartford 1 0 0 – 1
Manchester 3 0 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Manchester, Elkins 13 (Mikus, Campbell), 0:36. 2, Manchester, Cavanagh 3 (Kolomatis, Elkins), 10:34 (pp). 3, Manchester, Zeiler 4 (Cliche), 10:51. 4, Hartford, Owens 6 (Grachev, Williams), 13:17. Penalties-Westgarth Mch (interference), 3:03; Williams Hfd (tripping), 10:06; Garlock Hfd (roughing), 16:14; Soryal Hfd (roughing), 16:14; Clune Mch (roughing), 16:14; Nolan Mch (roughing), 16:14; Weise Hfd (hooking), 19:37.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Parenteau Hfd (tripping), 6:26; Parenteau Hfd (roughing), 8:58; Owens Hfd (fighting), 11:34; Clune Mch (fighting), 11:34; Westgarth Mch (boarding), 11:34.

3rd Period-5, Manchester, Holloway 12 (Voynov), 1:04. Penalties-Couture Hfd (fighting), 1:50; Walker Mch (fighting), 1:50; Holloway Mch (tripping), 5:08; Byers Hfd (roughing), 7:18; Voynov Mch (boarding, roughing), 7:18; Weise Hfd (slashing), 9:13; Nolan Mch (cross-checking), 9:13; Nightingale Hfd (fighting), 11:11; Westgarth Mch (elbowing, fighting), 11:11; Kroll Mch (tripping), 15:26; Elkins Mch (slashing), 17:07; Soryal Hfd (slashing), 19:27.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 11-14-11-36. Manchester 16-6-3-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 of 7; Manchester 1 of 5.
Goalies-Hartford, Zaba 3-4-1 (25 shots-21 saves). Manchester, Bernier 18-10-4 (36 shots-35 saves).
A-5,613
Referees-Ghislain Hebert (49).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Brian MacDonald (72).

Evgeny Grachev scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner at 3:19 of extra time, giving the Hartford Wolf Pack their second consecutive overtime victory over the Providence Bruins, 3-2.

The goals were Grachev’s first since the pair he scored in a game against Bridgeport on January 2nd.  In fact, of the rookie forward’s eleven goals this season, six have come in a trio of two goal games.

P.A. Parenteau scored the other Wolf Pack tally, and Matt Zaba stopped 36 shots to earn his second win in three games since breaking back into Hartford’s goalie rotation earlier this month.

Grachev opened the scoring at 7:18 of the first period when he took a drop pass from Ryan Garlock and fired a laser beam over Providence netminder Dany Sabourin’s shoulder.

Providence forward Mikko Lehtonen has scored half of his twelve goals this season against the Wolf Pack, adding his sixth on Saturday night on the rebound of Andrew Bondarchuks‘ shot at 3:37 of the second period to knot the score at one.

Parenteau broke a rare six game goal drought at 15:20 of the period with a perfectly placed stick-side wrist shot from the hashmarks to once again give Hartford the lead.  He was fed by Dale Weise, the AHL’s Player of the Week, who extended a point-scoring streak to five games, but saw his four game goal-scoring streak brought to an end in the game.

The Bruins poured on the pressure in the final frame, outshooting the Wolf Pack 11-6.  It looked like Pack would be able to hold them off, but Guillaume Lefebvre scored on a delayed hooking call on sophomore defenseman Nigel Williams with 3:59 to go to send the game in overtime.

Both goaltenders got a workout in the contest, stopping 36 shots apiece — Zaba on 38 shots, while 30 year old journeyman Sabourin faced 39.

It was the final shot tha resulted in Grachev’s first career overtime goal at 3:19 of the extra period.  The 19-year old Russian deflected David Urquhart’s shot from the point to give the Wolf Pack their seventh victory in nine games.  Jordan Owens, returning to action for the first time since being struck in the face with a puck on December 19th, also assisted on the play.

The Pack are back in action Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm, when they travel to Manchester to face the Atlantic Division leading Monarchs.

Scoring:
1. HFD Grachev, (10) (Garlock), 7:18
2. PRO Lehtonen, (12) (Bodnarchuk, Larman), 3:37
2. HFD Parenteau, (13) (Weise), 15:20
3. PRO Lefebvre, (5) (Fata, Roche), 16:01
OT. HFD Grachev, (11) (Urquhart, Owens), 3:19

Three stars:
1. Evgeny Grachev
2. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
3. Jordan Owens