Devils Beat Wolf Pack 4-2 in Shootout

Published on November 21, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, Conn. _ The Hartford Wolf Pack showed plenty of late urgency Friday night, but the Lowell Devils survived a last-second goal to score on five of six shots in a shootout for a 4-3 victory before 4,271 at the XL Center.

The Wolf Pack tied the score with 6.1 seconds left in regulation when Artem Anisimov scored his second goal of the game, deflecting in Corey Potter's shot from the right boards on a 6-on-4 power play.

But Tyler Eckford (twice), South Windsor native Jon DiSalvatore, Ryan Murphy and former Wolf Pack wing Pascal Rheaume scored against Miika Wiikman in the shootout to enable the Devils to end a 0-5-1-1 slide after a 4-2-0-1 start.

"It was gutsy to tie it at the end, but we're still striving for some consistency," Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. "Desperation is one emotion, but we've got to find a different emotion that works for you to play the first two periods. You can't wait until your backs are against the wall and use that as a tool because teams are too good."

The Wolf Pack (7-7-0-2) overcame two two-goal deficits in the third period on goals by Greg Moore at 1:36 and Anisimov with 6:22 and 6.1 seconds left. They outshot the Devils 13-4 in the final 20 minutes, and Patrick Rissmiller, Tommy Pyatt, Moore and Anisimov scored in the shootout. But Jeff Frazee (30 saves) stopped Anisimov's second shootout attempt to earn his first AHL victory.

"Every game is going to have ebb and flow, but it's a tough road to hoe when you're always trying to come from behind and give a last-ditch effort," Gernander said. "We're pleased with a lot of the stuff we saw in the third period, but we've got to have that for closer to 60 minutes."

The Wolf Pack controlled much of a scoreless first period but were fortunate Ryan Murphy and Eric Castonguay missed the net on breakaways off turnovers. Frazee made successive bang-bang saves on Pyatt at 8:20, then got lucky when Anisimov hit the post with 4:50 left in the period.

Wiikman (19 saves) stopped Alexander Vasyunov's breakaway off another Wolf Pack turnover 3:20 into the second period, then Frazee stopped Moore's shorthanded bid off a 2-on-1 with P.A. Parenteau, whose seven-game points streak came to an end.

The Devils finally broke through at 11:09 as Michael Swift got away from Anisimov in front and deflected in a shot by former Wolf Pack wing Chad Wiseman.

Wiikman kept it a one-goal game when he stopped Rheaume on a 2-on-1 with 51.9 seconds left, but the Devils took a 2-0 lead at 58 seconds of the third period as Vasyunov nudged the puck behind the net to DiSalvatore, who circled in front and converted his own rebound.

Just 38 seconds later, Moore fired in a backhander from the left circle that got the Wolf Pack to 2-1. But Lowell regained a two-goal lead at 5:09 when DiSalvatore found Vasyunov alone in front for an easy finish.

Frazee kept it 3-1 with a strong stop on Bobby Sanguinetti with 8:07 left, but 1:45 later, Dale Weise broke down the left wing and centered a pass that was jammed in by Anisimov. Anisimov then got the dramatic tying goal, but the Devils survived to win their second shootout in four tries.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2008


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