The Grand Rapids Griffins entered Friday’s game in Hartford tied for the top spot in the Western Conference, riding a a 7-0-1 streak and having earned shutouts in four of their previous six games.  They left the arena with their first regulation loss in almost three weeks, falling to the Hartford Wolf Pack 3-1 in one of the Pack’s best all-around efforts this season.

Miika Wiikman turned in his best performance in at least a month, stopping 31 of 32 shots to earn first star honors.  Rookie goalie Daniel Larsson, winner of five straight for Detroit’s top farm club — including two shutouts — earned recognition as the game’s second star with 30 stops on 32 shots.

Neither team got on the board until the halfway point of the game.  The Griffins had the early edge in play, outshooting the Pack 12-9 in the first period, and both goalies made some good stops to keep the game scoreless through the first 30 minutes.

Hartford struck first, after a strong rush by Artem Anisimov lead to Brodie Dupont’s 7th goal of the season.  Anisimov carried the puck into the Griffins’ zone, through the middle and around a defender, firing a shot from the bottom of the left face off circle which just squeezed through Larsson’s pads.  Dupont was parked in the crease and able to get his stick on the loose puck first, tapping it over the goal line at 10:01 of the second period.

Grand Rapids answered back on the power play just 4:43 later.  After P.A. Parenteau and Greg Moore combined for a good shorthanded chance in the offensive zone, the Griffins countered 3-on-2.   Francis Lemeiux carried the puck down the left side boards, feeding a pass out in front from just off the left post to a wide-open Francis Pare, who put it in the open side of the net.

That’s how the second period finished, with the shots totaling 10-9 in favor of the baby Red Wings.

Hartford would take control in the third, and the hard-working line of Tommy Pyatt, Mike Ouellette and Jordan Owens — undeniably the Pack’s most consistent through the final month of 2008 — would be rewarded for their effort with the game-winner at 10:49 of the period.  Owens controlled the puck in the right corner and fed it to Pyatt, who delivered a blind backhand pass from the right post through the crease on to the tape of an unguarded Ouellette, who scored for the second consecutive game.

Pareanteau put the icing on the cake with just 29 seconds remaining when he gathered the puck in the Pack zone, poked it past the Griffin defender and dodged past him to pick it back up and fire it in the empty net from the Griffins blue line.

Wiikman came up big when he needed to throughout the game, doing a good job of controlling rebounds and looking confident in his return after two consecutive starts by backup Matt Zaba.  He was helped by the return of three of the Pack’s top defensemen.  Corey Potter played his first game back since being reassigned by the Rangers on Monday, Michael Sauer returned after missing the Pack’s last game after taking a puck to the face in the game before, and Brian Fahey returned from the concussion he suffered in a game in Hershey on December 3rd.

The Pack will look to build their first winning streak of the new year when the league-leading Hershey Bears visits the XL Center tomorrow night at 7:00pm.

Notes:

• Friday’s win was the 500th in Wolf Pack franchise history.
• Dupont looked to have been seriously injured when he crashed feet first into the boards after being nudged by a Griffin forward as the two players chased the puck in the third period. He was unable to make his way back to the bench without help and couldn’t put any weight on his right foot, but surprisingly managed to return after missing only a shift.
• Defenseman Vladimir Denisov missed his first game of the season.  No word on whether he was injured or simply a healthy scratch.
• With his empty net goal and an assist on Dupont’s goal, Parenteau overtook Anisimov for the team lead in goals with 15, and tied him for the team lead in points with 34.
• While Anisimov’s goal-scoring streak ended at 3 games, he extended his point-scoring streak to 5 games (3 goals, 5 assists).
• Bobby Sanguinetti earned an assist on Parenteau’s empty-netter, giving him points (4) in 3 straight games.
• With the return of Potter, Sauer and Fahey, Chris Murray and Ethan Graham have been assigned to Charlotte of the ECHL.
• In other ECHL news, the Rangers re-assigned forward Tomas Zaborsky from the Charlotte Checkers to the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL.

Scoring:
2. Dupont (7) (Anisimov, Parenteau) 10:01
2. Pare (10) (Lemieux, McGrath) 14:44 (PP)
3. Ouellette (4) (Pyatt, Owens) 10:49
3. Parenteau (15) (Sanguinetti) 19:31 (EN)

Lines:
Dupont - Anisimov - Parenteau
Pyatt - Ouellette - Owens
Soryal - Moore - Weise
DiDiomete - Rissmiller - Sugden

Nightengale - Potter
Fahey - Sanguinetti
Urquhart - Sauer

Wiikman / Zaba

Three Stars:
1. Miika Wiikman
2. Daniel Larsson
3. Mike Ouellette

On Saturday night the Hartford Wolf Pack rallied back from a 2-0 first period deficit to steal a victory from a division rival.  On Sunday they found themselves on the opposite side of the equation, surrendering 2-0 and 3-1 leads to fall to the Lowell Devils by a final score of 5-4.  Two power play goals by the Devils on five third period Wolf Pack penalties proved to be the difference, erasing a dominant first period effort and a strong offensive showing by the Pack penalty kill, which tied a franchise record by scoring shorthanded goals on each of the Devils’ first two man advantages.

The Wolf Pack looked to be off to a great start after scoring two unassisted goals in the first period.  The first was a late Christmas present for Tommy Pyatt, gift wrapped by Devils goalie Jeff Frazee, who left his crease to play a dump in in the right corner and fanned on the cross-ice outlet pass to his defenseman.  The puck trickled across the front of the open net, where Pyatt jumped on it for the unassisted tap-in goal at 13:01.

Artem Anisimov added the Pack’s second unassisted tally of the period and Hartford’s first shorthanded goal just over two minutes later.  The Pack’s leading scorer pressured Tyler Eckford at the right point, poked the puck past the Lowell defenseman and chased after it, skating in alone on the Lowell netminder.  With no one close behind, Anisimov had all the time in the world to fake the shot then deke to his backhand and put the puck over Frazee for his 14th of the season.

Hartford finished the period with a 2-0 lead, earning a 10-4 advantage in shots with a dominant 20-minute performance.

Lowell got one back at 4:27 of the second period.  Patrick Davis picked off a pass in the neutral zone, feeding Rod Pelley, who skated in on a 2-on-1 with Ryan Murphy.  Pelley held on to the puck till the last minute, beating Zaba on the stick side with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle.

P.A. Parenteau built the Pack’s lead back up to two with a power play goal two and a half minutes later.  Anisimov kept the puck in at the right point, feeding it down to Bobby Sanguinetti on the half boards.  Sanguinetti sent a perfect cross-ice pass to the left circle where Parenteau one-timed the puck past Frazee for his 14th of the season, tying him for the team lead in goals with Anisimov.

Another neutral zone turnover by the Wolf Pack set up another 2-on-1 five minutes later.  First star Michael Swift (1 goal, 2 assists) took a pass from second star Jon DiSalvatore (1 goal, 1 assist) and beat Zaba on the blocker side for his 3rd of the season and second in two games against the Pack at 12:18.

The Devils knotted the score at three with just 2.9 seconds remaining in the period.  Anisimov turned the puck over just inside the Devils blue line and this time Swift fed DiSalvatore, who carried the puck into the Hartford zone, cutting across the slot and beating Zaba with a backhander on the glove side.

After taking just two minor penalties through the first two periods, the Pack took their first of five in the third at 1:32 when Dale Weise was whistled for hooking.  It looked like a negative could be turned into a positive when Mike Ouellette picked up the puck in the neutral zone and slipped past a Devil defenseman inside the Lowell blue line to beat Frazee for the Pack’s second shorthander.   But the Devils struck back just 29 seconds later when defenseman Matthew Corrente found the rebound of his own blocked shot and fired his second attempt past Zaba from the top of the circles at 2:28.

With the score tied at four, the Wolf Pack went straight back to the box. This time it was David Urquhart who was whistled for hooking just 18 seconds after Lowell evened the score.  The Devils, who went 4 for 5 on the power play in their 8-1 thrashing of division-leading Providence on Saturday, added their second power play tally and the game-winner at 3:51 thanks to a strong individual effort by fourth year pro Barry Tallackson, who somehow managed to chip the puck up and over Zaba as he was being hauled down to the ice by defenseman Vladimir Denisov.

The Pack finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-6 on the penalty kill, though the two Devil power play goals were balanced out by the Pack’s two shorties.  Zaba stopped 19 of 24 shots against, while Frazee stopped 30 of 34.

The loss left the Pack in third place in the division, now three points behind Portland, who spanked Worcester 7-1.

Notes:

• Anisimov’s goal and assist put him back in th team lead for scoring with 33 points (14g, 19a) in 34 games. He has 7 points in his last four games, moving him up to 12th over all in league scoring.
• Parenteau’s 32 points (14g, 18a) ranks him 13th over all in league scoring.  He and Anisimov are tied for 17th over all in goals.
• Bobby Sanguinetti is 7th amongst defenseman, second amongst rookie defensemen, and 13th amongst all rookies in scoring with 3 goals and 17 assists.
• Like round 1, round 2 of Anisimov vs. Vasyunov went to Anisimov on the scoresheet and Vasyunov’s team on the scoreboard.  Vasyunov wasn’t a factor in the scoring, getting only one shot on goal, a point blank chance that Zaba stopped with his blocker.  Both players were -1 on the night.  Anisimov’s goal and assist earned him 3rd star honors.
• Defenseman Michael Sauer missed the game after being “dinged up” early in Saturday’s game in Springfield.  Chris Murray, who was assigned to Charlotte back on November 18th, was called up to play in his place.

Scoring:
1. Pyatt (7) 13:01
1. Anisimov (14) 15:08 (SH)
2. Pelley (5) (Davis) 4:27
2. Parenteau (14) (Sanguinetti, Anisimov) 7:05 (PP)
2. Swift (3) (DiSalvatore, Zharkov) 12:18
2. DiSalvatore (9) (Swift) 19:57
3. Ouellette (3) 1:59 (SH)
3. Corrente (3) (Mills) 2:28 (PP)
3. Tallackson (4) (Swift, Salmela) 3:51 (PP)

Lines:
Dupont - Anisimov - Parenteau
Soryal - Rissmiller - Weise
Pyatt - Ouellette - Owens
DiDiomete - Moore - Stefanishion

Denisov - Sanguinetti
Urquhart - Murray
Knightengale - Graham

Zaba / Wiikman

Three Stars:
1. Michael Swift
2. Jon DiSalvatore
3. Artem Anisimov

Bridgeport starting goaltender Nathan Lawson remained undefeated in eight AHL games, stopping 28 of 29 shots as the Sound Tigers defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 3-1 in Bridgeport on Friday night.  Artem Anisimov scored Hartford’s only goal, his twelfth of the season, while Miika Wiikman stopped just 14 of 17 Bridgeport shots.

The Wolf Pack emerged from the Christmas break looking a little too relaxed, spotting Bridgeport a 2-0 lead in the first period. Sound Tiger defenseman Jamie Fraser got on the board first with a slap shot from the left point that beat Wiikman through a crowd at 14:41.  Bridgeport winger Jesse Joensuu built the lead to two just over four minutes later when he collected a drop pass in the right circle, froze Wiikman with a fake, and fired a wrist shot over his glove.  The Sound Tigers outshot the Wolf Pack 10-8 in the period.

The momentum swung in the opposite direction in the second period after referee Jeff Smith whistled coinciding penalties on P.A. Parenteau (goaltender interference) and Andrew McDonald (roughing) at 6:03.  Brodie Dupont, returning to the lineup after missing last Sunday’s game with a likely head injury, played an aggressive, forechecking shift paired with Anisimov to start the 4-on-4, setting the tone for the remainder of the period in which the Pack outshot the Sound Tigers 13-3.

Anisimov cut Bridgeport’s lead to one midway through the period when he took a feed from Dale Weise, cut in from the left side and snapped a shot over Lawson’s glove from the hashmarks. It was the first point the line of Justin Soryal, Anisimov and Weise had scored since being put together eight games ago.

That was as close as the Pack would get.  The second intermission, followed by a lengthy delay just 3:33 into the third period while arena staff replaced a pane of glass that was shattered when Jordan Owens missed a check and slammed into the boards, took any remaining wind out of the Wolf Pack’s sails.  Despite being outshot 8-4, Bridgeport scored the only goal of the frame when Jason Pitton won a 1-on-1 battle with Vladimir Denisov behind the net and fed the puck out in front, where Michael Haley was waiting to backhand it past Wiikman for his first goal of the season at 15:33.  Any hopes for a last-minute comeback were further dashed when Parenteau took an offensive zone cross-checking penalty with 1:16 remaining in the game, preventing the Pack from getting the man-advantage when Wiikman was pulled for the extra skater.

Highlights are available from AHL Live.

Notes:

• With his goal, Anisimov tied Parenteau for the team lead in goals with 12, while taking taking sole possession of the top spot in points with 29 in 32 games.
• Parenteau has just 2 points in his last 6 games.  He’s been a -7 in those 6 games and is a -8 on the season.
• Haley challenged Denisov to a fight at 16:26 of the second period, earning the victory when he connected with a left, knocking Denisov off balance.
• With the win, the Sound Tiger moved into a tie for first overall in the AHL with the Hershey Bears with 45 points.
• Following the game defenseman Corey Potter was recalled by the Rangers to fill in for Michael Rozsival, who will miss Saturday’s Ranger game for family reasons.
• Potter’s recall will open the door for David Urquhart, who was a healthy scratch on Friday, to return to the line up.

Scoring:
1. Fraser (3) (Walter, Colliton) 14:41
1. Joensuu (11) (Walter, Colliton) 18:53
2. Anisimov (12) (Weise, Soryal) 9:51
3. Haley (1) (Pitton, Haskins) 15:33

Lines:
DiDiomete - Rissmiller - Parenteau
Dupont - Moore - Stefanishion
Soryal - Anisimov - Weise
Pyatt - Ouellette - Owens

Graham - Potter
Denisov - Sauer
Nightingale - Sanguinetti

Wiikman / Zaba

Three Stars:
1. Micheal Haley
2. Ben Walter
3. Nathan Lawson

The Hartford Wolf Pack got their Christmas break off to a good start, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Toronto Marlies 4-3 in Hartford on Sunday.  Goaltender Miika Wiikman bounced back after being pulled in Saturday’s 6-2 loss to Hamilton, earning the win in relief for Matt Zaba, who started the game but was yanked himself after giving up 3 goals on 11 shots through the first 22:04 of play.

Zaba’s afternoon got off to a rough start just 1:46 in when Richard Petiot lofted a long shot on goal from the neutral zone.  The puck took a funny bounce just as defenseman David Urquhart skated in front of the Hartford netminder, preventing him from seeing the carom, which bounced by him and into the net to give the Marlies the 1-0 lead.

After killing off two Toronto power plays, the Wolf Pack knotted the score on their first man advantage at 7:09 of the period.  Artem Anisimov stole the puck in the neutral zone and with a surprising burst of speed split two Toronto defensemen to go in on goaltender Adam Munro alone.  Anisimov was unable to squeeze the puck through Munro’s five-hole as he was being hooked from behind, but Tommy Pyatt was right behind him to flick the rebound past Munro for his sixth goal of the season.

As seems to happen often, Hartford followed up a great offensive chance by immediately giving up a goal against late in the period. Just past the 19-minute mark of the first period, P.A. Parenteau beat Munro to a dump-in, controlling the puck and skating out from the right corner towards the empty net.  His shorthanded shot was stopped by defenseman Anton Stralman.  The Marlies immediately countered, and NHL veteran Bates Battaglia was able to retrieve a dump-in in the right corner, skate out and beat Zaba with just 41 seconds remaining in the period.

Toronto extended the lead to two early in the second.  Defenseman Andy Schneider fired a slapshot from the right point which Zaba stopped, but the rebound went directly to Alex Foster, who lifted the puck past Zaba for his sixth of the season.  It was the eleventh (and final) shot Zaba would face in the game.

If Wolf Pack head coach Ken Gernander hoped the goaltending change would help wake up his troops, he was right.  Less than two minutes later Jordan Owens scored his sixth of the season and fourth in the last five games when he batted home an elevated puck off a pass from the left half boards by defenseman Vladimir Denisov.

Matt Stefanishion scored his first AHL goal, and earned his first point in six games with the Wolf Pack, at 11:01 of the second when he unleashed a blistering slapshot from the top of the face off circles, beating Munro cleanly. Denisov earned the primary assist, giving him his first multi-point game for the Pack.  The goal came just 1:02 after Hartford killed off a full four minutes of penalty time to Brandon Sugden.

The game-winner came just five minutes later, on the power play.  Parenteau picked up the dump-in in the right corner, and fed it to a breaking Anisimov, who was stoned by Munro.  The rebound found its way on to the stick of Greg Moore, who put it over the sprawled goalie for his tenth of the season.

Wiikman stopped all 16 shots he faced to earn the win, improving his personal win-loss record to 11-10-0-3.  The shots on goal for the game were even at 27 apiece.

With the win the Pack reclaimed sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division.  The team now gets to enjoy the week off before they set off on a three game weekend with games in Bridgeport, Springfield and Lowell.

Notes:

• Brodie Dupont missed the game with an undisclosed injury after being leveled by a shoulder to the head in Saturday’s game against Hamilton.
• The game featured three fights.  Justin Soryal (nicknamed “Scaryal” by his teammates on account of his fighting prowess) faced Schneider at 14:13 of the second, but Schneider lost his balance and went down before things really got started.  Dale Weise faced Todd Perry 31 seconds later in a close and somewhat sloppy bout which Weise probably won on the strength of a few quality blows.  And Jordan Nightengale took on Kyle Rogers at 5:01 of the third.  Nightengale had the early advantage, knocking Rogers off balance while connecting with a number of punches, but got tagged pretty good with an uppercut towards the end.
• With his two assists, Anisimov moved back into a tie for first in scoring on the team with Parenteau, with 28 points in 31 games.  However, the young Russian hasn’t scored a point at even strength since being put on a line with Soryal and Weise seven games ago (he has 5 power play points in that time).
• Gernander iced three lines for the most part, with the bottom three forwards getting occasional time with one of the top three centers.

Lines:
Moore - Rissmiller - Parenteau
Soryal - Anisimov - Weise
Pyatt - Ouellette - Owens
DiDiomete - Steffanision - Sugden

Nightengale - Graham
Sauer - Urquhart
Denisov - Sanguinetti

Zaba / Wiikman

Three Stars:
1. Tommy Pyatt
2. Jordan Owens
3. Artem Anisimov

The Hamilton Bulldogs made the most of lax defensive play and mental errors on the part of the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday, improving their league-best road record to 11-3-1-0 by defeating the Pack, 6-2 in Hartford. The regulation loss brought an end to the Pack’s season-high streak of five games in which they’d earned at least one standings point.

The Wolf Pack fell behind early, spotting the Bulldogs a 3-1 first period lead. A wide-open Chad Anderson gave the visitors their first goal at 9:12 of the period when he took a feed from former Ranger prospect Ryan Russell in the right circle and beat Wolf Pack netminder Miika Wiikman on the glove side. The goal came with the Pack scrambling in their own zone, having failed to recover when Hamilton turned a good scoring chance by P.A. Parenteau into a transition rush.

The Pack’s fourth line of Tommy Pyatt, Mike Ouellette, and Jordan Owens — easily their best threesome over the recent 5-game points streak — tied the game four minutes later. Pyatt controlled the puck in the left corner and fed Owens at the hashmarks, where the Toronto native fired blistering wrist shot past Hamilton starter Cedrick Desjardins for his fifth goal of the season and third in the past four games.

Hamilton re-took the lead less than a minute and a half later when Yanick Lehoux won an offensive zone draw back to defenseman Alex Henry at the left point. Henry snapped a floating shot towards the goal through a tangle of bodies for his first goal of the season.

The Bulldogs got their third goal of the period at 15:38. Yannick Weber fired a slapshot from the right point which Wiikman stopped, directing the rebound to the left corner. Brock Trotter was waiting for it at the side of the net, uncovered. The 21-year old showed patience, holding on to the puck to put it under Wiikman when he dove across to try to make a save.

The prettiest goal of the night came at 4:51 of the second period when Connecticut native Max Pacioretty faked Pack defenseman Vladimir Denisov out of his skates at the Hartford blueline. Denisov stepped up as Pacioretty crossed the line, but the Canadiens’ 2007 1st round pick put the puck through the Belorussian’s skates and picked it up on the other side, feeding it across to David Desharnais in the right circle for the easy put-home.

Hamilton only managed to put four shots on goal in the second period, but two of them ended up in the net. The second came on a 4-on-3 power play with just 36 seconds remaining in the period. Off another offensive zone faceoff win, defenseman Mathieu Carle fed the puck across to Desharnais at the right point. Desharnais had plenty of room to skate in to the top of the circle and fire a shot past Wiikman through a screen.

Matt Zaba replaced Wiikman in goal to start the third period, and coach Ken Gernander shook up his lines in an effort to generate more offense. The changes immediately paid dividends as Parenteau scored his 12th of the season and first in eight games by stealing the puck behind the Hamilton net and wrapping it around the left post.

That was as close as the Pack would get.  At 17:33 a turnover at the Hartford blueline by David Urquhart allowed Lehoux to skate in alone and beat Zaba, who, like Wiikman in the second period, faced only four shots in the third. At the other end of the ice, Desjardin was spectacular, turning away 26 of 28 Hartford shots.

Highlights from the game are available from AHL Live.

Notes:

• Pack left wing Brodie Dupont was caught with his head down in the offensive zone midway through the second period and got rocked by a shoulder to the jaw. He struggled to get to his feet and make it back to the bench and did not return. Dupont missed 15 games with a concussion last season.
• Heavyweights Brandon Sugden (6-4, 233) and Ryan Flinn (6-5, 230) faced off at 15:13 of the first period. After a tentative start as the two felt each other out, both players started firing away with right-hand bombs. Sugden landed a number of his, forcing Flinn to his knees and winning a clear decision.
• Hamilton was missing three of its top four scorers to injury or call-ups.
• After getting outshot 20-18 in the first, the Wolf Pack outshot Hamilton 11-4 and 12-4 in the second and third periods, respectively. Desjardins was extremely strong in goal for the Bulldogs, particularly in the third when the Pack generated a number of quality scoring chances.
• Bobby Sanguinetti’s 17 points rank him 8th in the league in scoring by defensemen, and second amongst rookie defensemen.  However, he was a minus-2 in the game, pushing his team worst plus/minus rating to -10.

Scoring:
1. Anderson (3) (Russell, Glumac) 9:12
1. Owens (5) (Ouellette, Pyatt) 13:18
1. Henry, (1) (Lehoux) 14:30
1. Trotter (6) (Weber, Latendresse) 15:38
2. Desharnais (7) (Pacioretty) 4:51
2. Desharnais (8) (Carle, Pacioretty) 19:24 (PP)
3. Parenteau (12) 1:13
3. Lehoux (8) 17:33

Lines:
Dupont - Rissmiller - Parenteau
DiDiomete - Moore - Sugden
Soryal - Anisimov - Weise
Pyatt - Ouellette - Owens

Denisov - Nightengale
Graham - Sanguinetti
Urquhart - Sauer

Wiikman / Zaba

Three Stars:
1. David Desharnais
2. Max Pacioretty
3. Cedrick Desjardins

A week ago the Hartford Wolf Pack shut out the Atlantic Division-leading Providence Bruins to start a string of four games in five nights from which they took seven of a possible eight points. Tonight they hosted the Bruins again, anxious to prove their best week of the season wasn’t a fluke. Thanks to their specialty teams, they did just that, defeating Providence 3-2 on the strength of two shorthanded goals and a power play tally. The win gave Hartford sole possession of third place in the division, just one point behind second place Portland and two points behind Providence.

It took the Wolf Pack almost seven minutes to get their first shot on goal in a scoreless first period in which neither team generated many quality scoring chances. But action heated up early in the second period. Providence pressured early, drawing two consecutive penalties in the first 2:34 of play. Just 13 seconds into the second penalty Patrick Rissmiller scored the Pack’s first shorthanded goal after Brodie Dupont forced a turnover that trickled in on Bruin goaltender Tuukka Rask. The Finnish netminder misplayed the puck, allowing Rissmiller to steal it, skate behind the net and wrap it around the far post before the Rask could recover. It was the Pack’s second shorthanded goal of the season and Rissmiller’s second goal in as many games.

Hartford took the 2-0 lead on the power play at 7:19 of the period. Artem Anisimov won the puck in the left corner and threaded a pass out to Rissmiller in the left circle. Rissmiller fed the puck across the slot to a pinching David Urquhart, who beat Rask on the glove side for his second goal of the season.

Providence would pick up a power play goal of their own 6:22 later after Devin DiDiomete put his team down two men with an ill-advised penalty. With Matt Stefanishion already headed to the box, DiDiomete picked his second fight of the night, earning an additional two minutes for roughing with his efforts. Patient puck movement on Providence’s part ultimately lead to Martin St. Pierre feeding the puck from the right corner to a wide-open Jeff Penner at the top of the circles. The Providence defenseman wristed a shot over Pack goaltender Miika Wiikman’s shoulder to cut the Pack’s lead back to one.

Midway through the third the Bruins tied the game up with their second power play goal of the night. Providence defenseman Johnny Boychuk fired a booming slapshot from the right point which Wiikman stopped, but couldn’t control. In the battle that ensued in front of the net Peter Shaefer was able to find the puck and bang it past the Pack starter for his third goal of the season.

The Bruins went back on the power play a short time later when Vladimir Denisov took his second minor of the game. This time, as Boychuk attempted another slap shot from the point, his stick snapped, allowing Dupont to steal the puck and break out on a 2-on-1 with Greg Moore. Dupont fed Moore on the right wing and the third-year pro carried the puck into the Providence zone, where fired a snap shot from the right circle for his ninth of the season and the eventual game-winner with just 4:58 remaining.

Notes:

• None of the five goals in the game were scored at even strength. Both Providence goals came on the power play, while Hartford picked up a power play goal and two shorthaded tallies.
• Anisimov was injured early in the third period when he fell awkwardly after taking a hit in the offensive zone. He left the ice cradling his arm, and after stopping briefly at the bench, went to the locker room with trainer Damian Hess. He returned about 10 minutes later and finished the game, but lined up on left wing rather than his usual center position on at least one of his remaining shifts.
• Rissmiller’s goal and assist give him 16 points in his 14 games in Hartford.
• Anisimov’s assist ties him with P.A. Parenteau for the team lead with 26 points in 29 games. The two are tied for 22nd in league scoring.
• DiDiomete’s two fights were uneventful affairs with no real winner or loser. Justin Soryal, on the other hand, won a clear decision over Ryan Stokes, bloodying the Providence defenseman in the process
• The Pack have earned points in a season-high five straight games.
• Toronto General Manager Brian Burke attended the game and was a guest with Pack play-by-play man Bob Crawford between periods.

Scoring:
2. Rissmiller (3) (Dupont) 2:47 (SH)
2. Urquhart (3) (Rissmiller, Anisimov) 7:19 (PP)
2. Penner (4) (St. Pierre, Karsums) 13:51 (PP)
3. Schaefer (3) (Boychuk, St. Pierre) 10:14 (PP)
3. Moore (9) (Dupont) 15:02 (SH)

Lines:
DiDiomete - Moore - Steffanision
Dupont - Rissmiller - Parenteau
Soryal - Anisimov - Weise
Pyatt - Ouellette - Owens

Nightengale - Denisov
Urquhart - Sauer
Graham - Sanguinetti

Wiikman / Zaba

The Hartford Wolf Pack put forth a valiant effort against the AHL’s top team, but came up short, falling 4-2 to the Hershey Bears, who won their franchise record-tying 10th straight.  Hartford’s power play, so good over the past two games, not only went scoreless and failed to convert on a 5-minute major penalty — including 1:35 of 5-on-3 play — but also gave up the eventual game winner early in the third period.

Already missing a top defenseman in Corey Potter, who was called up by the Rangers earlier in the day, the Pack also lost Brian Fahey in the first period, when he was wiped out by Greg Amadio’s elbow to the head at 13:25.  Amadio earned a major penalty on the play.  That gave Hartford, which was already on a power play, 1:35 of 5-on-3 time.  The Pack moved the puck well with the 2-man advantage, but failed to get many quality shots on goal.  The final 1:48 of Amadio’s major was wiped out when Hartford was penalized for having too many men on the ice.

The Bears, who’s 111 goals for are 21 more than the next highest scoring team in the league, had already gotten on the board eight minutes earlier when Maxime Lacroix took the puck off Vladimir Denisov in the right corner, accepted the return feed from Andrew Gordon and beat starting goaltender Matt Zaba for his first of the season with a shot along the goal line from the right corner.  It was only Hershey’s second shot on goal, and a tough break for the Pack, who’d had the only five shots of the game through the first five minutes of play.  They would get only four more the rest of the period, while Hershey finished the frame with 15.

The Bears made it 2-0 at 5:16 of the second when Mathieu Perreault poked the puck past a pinching Bobby Sanguinetti and skated in with fellow rookie Francis Bouchard on a 2-on-1.  Perreault threaded a pass through Hartford defender David Urquhart to Bouchard who put the puck in the open side of the net.

Artem Anisimov scored his 11th of the season at 11:19, giving him goals (5) in each of his last four games, and nine goals in his last nine games.  The second-year pro started the play in the neutral zone, stealing the puck from left wing Chris Bourque and carrying it into the Bears zone for a shot that was stopped by Bears goaltender and fellow Russian Semen Varlamov.  The rebound went to the corner where Brodie Dupont retrieved it and fed P.A. Parenteau in the left circle. Parenteau made a nice move to get around a defender and fired a shot on the rookie netminder.  Varlamov made the stop, but Anisimov was able to pull the rebound out of the tangle in front and tuck it behind his former Yaroslavl Lokomotiv and Russian junior team teammate and friend to draw the Pack to within one.

The Bears would get the eventual game winner just 3:55 into the third. With the Pack on a power play, Denisov pinched along the far boards and lost the puck, allowing Patrick McNeill and Kyle Wilson to skate in on another 2-on-1, this time with only Sanguinetti back.  Sanguinetti challenged the puck carrier Wilson, who fed the puck across to McNeill for the easy goal.

The Wolf Pack cut the lead back to one just over a minute and a half later when Jordan Owens, who played yet another strong game for the Pack, particularly in the third period, fed Tommy Pyatt with a beautiful behind-the-back pass from behind the net.  Pyatt roofed his 3rd of the season from just off the left post to make it 3-2 at 5:37.

Wolf Pack alumni and former Ranger property Alexandre Giroux put the game away at 16:48 when he picked off Ethan Graham’s telegraphed pass at the Hershey blue line, skated in on a breakaway and beat Zaba with a wrist shot to the stick side for his league-leading 18th goal of the season.

Highlights from the game are available from AHL Live.

Notes:

• Matt Stefanishion was signed to a professional try-out contract earlier in the day and made his Wolf Pack debut wearing number 37 and playing on a line with Greg Moore and Patrick Rissmiller.  He had two shots, and threw a big hit in the third, but otherwise wasn’t particularly noticeable.
• Parenteau was a combined -6 on the weekend.  Anisimov -5. Rissmiller -4. Sanguinetti -3.
• With back-to-back losses, the Pack fell back under the .500 mark at 10-11-1-2. They remain last in the Atlantic Division.
• Saturday was Teddy Bear Toss night, resulting in a lengthy delay following Hershey’s first goal as almost 4,000 stuffed animals were cleared from the ice surface.
• Hershey ended up outshooting Hartford 34-28.  Zaba was strong in goal, despite allowing four goals against.
• Uncomfortable seats aside, the Giant Center is a great place to see a hockey game.  The arena’s great sitelines, wide concourse, ample concession selection and abundant bathrooms make it my favorite of an ever-growing list of AHL barns.  (No lines in the ladies room between periods?  Are you kidding me?!)

Scoring:
1. Lacroix (1) (Gordon, Joudrey) 5:41
2. Bouchard (8) (Perreault, Osala) 5:16
2. Anisimov (11) (Parenteau, Dupont) 11:19
3. McNeill (1) (Wilson, Gordon) 3:55 (SH)
3. Pyatt (3) (Owens) 5:37
3. Giroux (18) 16:48

Lines:
Rissmiller - Moore - Stefanishion
Dupont - Anisimov - Parenteau
Owens - Pyatt - Soryal
DiDiomete - Ouellette - Weise

Denisov - Fahey
Sauer - Urquhart
Graham - Sanguinetti

Zaba / Wiikman

Three Stars:
1. Andrew Gordon
2. Patrick McNeill
3. Sasha Pokulok

The Hartford Wolf Pack’s power play exploded for 3 goals in 4 tries on Friday night, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phantoms in Philly.  Hartford outshot the home team 41-25, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game in the third period, but a series of defensive breakdowns ultimately cost them the game and knocked them back into last place in the Atlantic Division after both Springfield and Manchester won their Friday night games.

Artem Anisimov scored two of the Pack’s three goals, giving him four goals in his last three games and eight in his last eight matches.  He’s picked up points in all but two of his last fourteen games, putting up nine goals and seven assists for 16 points in the span.

The two teams played a scoreless first period, punctuated by two fights.  In the first, a match-up between Devin DiDiomete and Josh Beaulieu, both participants landed a number of haymakers in an evenly-contested bout before Beaulieu was able to knock DiDiomete off balance.  The second, a seeming mis-match, ended with 6-foot, 190-pound rookie Matt Clackson pulling 6-4, 233-pound Brandon Sugden’s jersey over his head after a brief wrestling match in which neither player landed any significant blows.

The Phantoms opened the scoring at 1:19 of the second period when Flyer’s first round pick Claude Giroux got behind Hartford defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti and skated in on a partial breakaway.  Wolf Pack goaltender Miika Wiikman made the initial save on Giroux, but center Jared Ross followed up the play and put the rebound in the open side of the net.

Anisimov got the Pack’s first power play goal just under nine minutes into the period when he took a feed from P.A. Parenteau from behind the goal line for a point blank shot from the crease. Philadelphia goalie Scott Munroe made the initial stop, but Anisimov found his own rebound in the ensuing scrum and put it behind the 26-year old netminder.

The Phantom’s re-took the lead two minutes later when Vladimir Denisov lost the puck to Ross just inside the Pack blue line.  The night’s eventual first star scored his second of the game with a wrist shot from the right face off circle.  Boyd Kane gave the Phantoms the 2-goal lead a minute later when he was left uncovered down low and took Giroux’s feed to beat Wiikman from just off the right post.

The Pack have shown some impressive resilience in recent games, and tonight was no different.  With 1:40 remaining in the second period, Brodie Dupont scored his second goal in as many games to cut the lead back down to one.  The goal came with just three seconds remaining on a Wolf Pack power play when Dupont was able to tuck the rebound of a Michael Sauer point shot behind Munroe.

The comeback continued in the third, when Anisimov knotted the score at three with a deflection on Patrick Rissmiller’s one-timer from the point at 6:43.

That’s as far as the Pack’s comeback would go, however, as they gave up three goals over a 4:38 span, starting at 9:18 of the final frame.  The first came off a goalmouth scramble in which all five Wolf Pack players collapsed on the net, leaving Giroux all alone at the hashmarks when the puck popped loose.  The game’s second star had all the time in the world to pick his spot through the tangle of bodies.

A minute and a half later Philly cashed in on a fortuitous bounce when a dump-in deflected off the side boards out in front of the net, where Patrick Maroon was able to backhand it on Wiikman.  Wiikman kicked out a juicy rebound that David Laliberte wristed high on the Swedish-born netminder for the 5-3 lead.

The final goal of the game came on a penalty shot after Sanguinetti hauled down Jonathan Matsumoto on a partial breakway.  On the ensuing penalty shot, Matsumoto deked to his backhand before shifting to his forehand and roofing a shot over a sprawling Wiikman, who stopped just 19 of 25 shots in the game.

Notes:

• I missed Wednesday night’s come-from-behind overtime win in Bridgeport in favor of the Rangers game, but you can read more about it here and here.
• The Pack’s power play is 5 for 9 over the last two games. While it’s still converting at less than 18%, its improved to 13th place in the AHL, after being as low as 24th.
• Defenseman Sauer has 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) in 11 games since returning from ACL surgery. He scored just 11 points in 71 games last season.
• Defenseman Brian Fahey has 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) over his last 4 games.
• Sugden returned to the line-up after a game as a healthy scratch.  Matthew Ford sat in his place.
• The line of Rissmiller - Anisimov - Parenteau and defense pairing of Sauer and Denisov were -3 on the night

Scoring:
2. Ross (7) (Giroux, Syvret) 1:19
2. Anisimov (9) (Parenteau, Sauer) 8:51 (PP)
2. Ross (8) (Clackson) 10:49
2. Kane (7) (Giroux, Syvret) 11:53
2. Dupont (5) (Sauer, Fahey) 18:20 (PP)
3. Anisimov (10) (Rissmiller, Sanguinetti) 6:43 (PP)
3. Giroux (10) (Kane, Ross) 9:18
3. Laliberte (6) (Maroon) 11:51
3. Matsumoto (10) 13:56 (PEN/SH)

Lines:
Dupont - Moore - Weise
Rissmiller - Anisimov - Parenteau
DiDimoete - Pyatt - Sugden
Owens - Oullette - Soryal

Potter - Sanguinetti
Denisov - Sauer
Graham - Fahey

Wiikman / Zaba

Three Stars:
1. Jared Ross
2. Claude Giroux
3. Artem Anisimov

The Hartford Wolf Pack mounted an impressive comeback against the Eastern Division-leading Providence Bruins on Sunday, fighting back from 3-1 down to tie the game on an Artem Anisimov marker at 6:54 of the third period.  But they suffered their first overtime loss of the season when, at 3:33 of the extra frame, Brad Marchand found the puck during a goal-mouth scramble and put it past goaltender Miika Wiikman, who’d come on in relief of starter Matt Zaba at the start of the second period.

The Pack took the early lead at 5:57 of the first period when Brian Fahey blocked a Providence clearing attempt and fired the puck past Providence netminder Tuukka Rask from the top of the right face off circle. It was Fahey’s first goal as a member of the Wolf Pack.  He also picked up an assist in the game to earn second star honors in what was probably his most effective game of the season.

Providence tied the game at 14:20 of the first when Martin St. Pierre scored his seventh of the season with a quick snap shot from the slot that beat Zaba, who had earned his second consecutive start with a strong performance Satuday night against Manchester.

With just 20 seconds remaining in an evenly-contested period Bruin winger Byron Bitz, who’d also set up St. Pierre’s goal, stripped Pack defenseman David Urquhart of the puck along the right side boards and fed it to rookie Andrew Bodnarchuk on the left side.  Bodnarchuk beat Zaba through the five-hole with a weak wrister from the boards for his first of the season.  Zaba, who gave up 2 goals on 12 shots, finished the period but was replaced by Wiikman to start the second.

There were only two minor penalties called in the game, and both came in the second period.  The first went to Corey Potter, who was whistled for interference at 5:56.  It was the third consecutive game in which Potter found himself in the penalty box when the opposition scored.  On Sunday it was Martins Karsums who did the damage, nudging the puck over the goal line at 6:17 after a shot by defenseman Matt Lashoff squeezed through Wiikman’s pads and stopped just short of the line.

Hartford got their only power play opportunity of the game two and a half minutes later. They were unable to convert, but managed to gather some momentum as penalty time ran out.  A line of Mike Ouellette, Jordan Owens and Devin DiDiomete followed, keeping the Bruins hemmed in their own zone.  Ouellette cut the Providence lead to one at 11:25 when he deflected Vladimir Denisov’s slap shot from the right point past Rask.  Providence finished the period with a 13-7 shot advantage, giving them a 25-20 edge in the game.

Anisimov knotted the score early in the third period when he found the rebound of Fahey’s shot from the left point and roofed a backhander under the crossbar for his seventh of the season.  The Pack carried the momentum through the third frame, outshooting Providence 12-8.  That momentum stayed with them in the overtime period, where they held a territorial edge through the first three and a half minutes, until Marchand’s goal brought the game to an abrupt end, sending the Pack home with a hard-earned, but unsatisfying standings point.  The point, and some fortuitous results in other division games, moved the Pack into a four-way tie for forth place in the division.

Scoring:
1. Fahey (1) 5:57
1. St. Pierre (7) (Bitz, Marquardt) 14:20
1. Bodnarchuk (1) (Bitz) 19:39
2. Karsums (10) (Lashoff, Sobotka) 6:17 (PP)
2. Ouellette (2) (Denisov, Owens) 11:26
3. Anisimov (7) (Fahey, Sanguinetti) 6:54
OT. Marchand (5) (Hamill, Boychuk) 3:33

Lines:
Dupont - Anisimov - Parenteau
Owens - Moore - Weise
Soryal - Pyatt - Ford
DiDiomete - Ouellette - Sugden

Potter - Sanguinetti
Denisov - Fahey
Urquhart - Sauer

Zaba / Wiikman

Three Stars:
1. Brad Marchand
2. Brian Fahey
3. Byron Bitz

Three days ago the Portland Pirates rode their power play to a 4-2 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center in Hartford.  On Saturday it was the Wolf Pack that won the special teams battle, topping the Atlantic Division-leading Pirates 6-2 in Portland on the strength of two power play goals, a shorthanded marker, and a second straight game of flawless penalty killing.

It was only the second regulation loss Portland has surrendered in sixteen games this season.  Even more impressive is that it was done with backup goaltender Matt Zaba — who hadn’t played since earning a win over the Albany River Rats on November 1st — in goal because of an undisclosed injury to starting netminder Miika Wiikman.

The Pirates put the Pack on their heels early, firing off 6 of the first 7 shots on goal in the game.  They took an early lead at 3:32 of the first period when Portland left wing Jimmy Bonneau carried the puck down the right wing boards and threw a backhander towards the front of the net, where Felix Schutz was waiting to deflect it past Zaba on the stick side.

But Hartford roared back with five unanswered goals, starting at 13:18 of the period.  The Pack were given just one of the four power plays awarded in the first frame, and they capitalized on their lone opportunity when Michael Sauer scored his first goal of the season with a low, hard shot from the blue line that deflected off a Pirate defenseman to beat Portland netminder Adam Dennis and tie the score at one.

Devin DiDiomete, who returned to the line up after watching Friday’s game from the press box as a healthy scratch, scored his first professional goal and point just over three minutes later when he deflected a Brian Fahey point shot past Dennis.  The Wolf Pack took the 2-1 lead to the locker room at the end of the period, having outshot Portland by a 12-9 advantage.

With the Pack’s penalty kill languishing at 26th in the league after Wednesday’s loss to the Pirates, Wolf Pack head coach Ken Gernander re-vamped his PK units for Friday’s game against Lowell.  The most noticeable changes were the additions of P.A. Parenteau, who’d seen occasional duty on the PK during his time in Hartford, and Artem Anisimov, who’d taken only a handful of shifts on the penalty kill prior to Friday night’s game.  On Saturday, the re-vamped PK not only thwarted all six Portland power play attempts, remaining perfect over twelve attempts in the last two games, but it earned the team the eventual game winning goal.  Anisimov broke the puck out of the Pack zone, passed it off to defenseman Vladimir Denisov as the two crossed the Portland blue line, and crashed the net, arriving just in time to deflect Denisov’s shot from the right circle past Dennis on the stick side at 7:30 of the second period.

Justin Soryal added his third goal of the season with under three minutes to go in the period when Patrick Rissmiller picked a Pirate pocket as the Portland side was attempting to break out of their own zone.  Rissmiller fed Soryal, who found himself in on a 3-on-1 down low and beat Dennis cleanly with a wrist shot from the right circle.  The period ended with the score 4-1 in favor of the Pack, despite the Pirates’ 11-8 shot advantage.

At 9:03 of the third the Wolf Pack added their second power play goal.  After receiving a perfect cross-ice pass from Parenteau, defenseman Corey Potter faked a shot, skated around the Portland penalty killer who’d dropped to block it, and unloaded a hard snap shot to beat Dennis through a screen.

After falling down by four goals, the Pirates began to apply more pressure, and built some momentum with a power play whn Anisimov went off for holding at 9:26.  The Pack penalty kill held them off, but in the twelfth minute of the period the Pirates managed to pin the Pack in their own zone.  At 12:39, with the Pack scrambling, Portland defenseman Michael Funk was able to stuff in the rebound of left wing Colin Murphy’s shot, cutting the Pack’s lead to three.

Portland center Colton Fretter killed his team’s momentum two minutes later when he was whistled for high sticking Pack defenseman David Urquhart, who was shaky in his return after sitting for the past four games as a healthy scratch.  Pack forward Matthew Ford finished the scoring by notching his first AHL goal and point just 39 seconds after the penalty expired when he wristed in the rebound of a shot by Jordan Owens.

Portland finished the period with a 9-8 lead in shots on goal, for a 29-28 advantage in the game.  Zaba earned his second win of the season and improved his AHL record to 2-1-0-0.  His 27-save performance earned him first star of the game honors.

Notes:

• Brandon Sugden and Bonneau dropped the gloves in the final seconds of the second period. Bonneau held on to Sugden for dear life, threw a few quick rabbit punches and then wrestled the Pack forward to the ice.
• Maxime Daigneault (no relation to Pack assistant coach J.J.) was recalled from Charolotte of the ECHL to back up Zaba in Wiikman’s absence.
• Center Mike Ouellette and defenseman Ethan Graham took seats in the press box as healthy scratches.
• The Wolf  Pack’s 6 goals marked their highest single-game scoring output this season.
• The Pack received only 3 power play opportunities to Portland’s 6, but they scored on 2 of them.
• Tonight marked Fahey’s second 2-assist game in his last three games.
• Rissmiller, who played center on Friday for the first time since being assigned to Hartford, has 6 points in his 5 games in Hartford.
• Anisimov’s shorthanded goal was the Pack’s first of the season. He has points (3g, 4a) in 5 straight games.
• Greg Moore currently holds the Pack’s longest point scoring streak, with points (4g, 3a) in 6 straight games.

Scoring:
1. Schutz (5) (Bonneau, Gragnani) 3:36
1. Sauer (1) (Potter, Parenteau) 13:18 (PP)
1. DiDiomete (1) (Fahey, Rissmiller) 15:32
2. Anisimov (5) (Denisov, Fahey) 7:30 (SH)
2. Soryal (3) (Rissmiller) 17:09
3. Potter (2) (Moore, Parenteau) 9:03 (PP)
3. Funk (1) (Murphy, Gerbe) 12:29
3. Ford (1) (Owens, Pyatt) 17:32

Lines:
Owens - Rissmiller - Parenteau
Ford - Moore - Soryal
Dupont - Anisimov - Weise
DiDiomete - Pyatt - Sugden

Potter - Sanguinetti
Fahey - Denisov
Urquhart - Sauer

Zaba / Daigneault

Three Stars:
1. Matt Zaba
2. Brian Fahey
3. Patrick Rissmiller