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Falcons beat Wolf Pack in SO

November 13, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford Wolf Pack's last home game at the XL Center ended in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Springfield Falcons Saturday, before a season-high 7,385.

The Wolf Pack rallied from two one-goal deficits, the Falcons sent it to overtime with 4:35 left in regulation, then Dane Byers, acquired 48 hours earlier, scored the clinching shootout goal.

"I wasn't really expecting the boos, but Hartford has passionate fans," said Byers, acquired for fellow forward Chad Kolarik on Thursday. "But obviously it feels good to get the win."

As for his shootout shot that went off Cameron Talbot's catching glove, Byers said, "It's my best against his best. I'm not much of a dangler, so I was going to shoot no matter what and knew where I was going to put it."

Byers also assisted on the Falcons' tying goal when his feed from the left circle was redirected past Talbot by Mike Blunden. After a 5-minute overtime that produced no shots, Matt Calvert and Byers scored in the shootout and David LeLeveu stopped all four shots, including one by Kolarik.

"I knew (Blunden) was going back door, so that's where I threw it, and he touched it," Byers said. "It was two skilled guys I was playing with (Blunden and Maksim Mayorov).

"It was almost like a playoff game. The crowd was in it, it was back-and-forth hockey, and a couple of goals were deflected in, but that's part of hockey. Emotions were high. It was fun to be a part of."

Kolarik got the Wolf Pack even at 2 at 7:51 of the third period when he scored on a rebound from 25 feet in the slot after Kris Newbury tipped him the puck off Evgeny Grachev's shot.

"It was good to score, but I missed the shootout one that really counted," said Kolarik, who skated on a line with Newbury and Grachev. "It's disappointing that Byers goes and gets the game-winner. I thought our line played pretty well, and I think this is something to build on. We played well and have to take it into Wednesday (against Manchester)."

Many Wolf Pack fans wore jerseys of favorites such as Ken Gernander, "Mr. Wolf Pack" and the leading vote-getter for the all-time team, former captains Byers, Craig Weller and Greg Moore, P.J. Stock, Jeff Toms, Chris Wells, Rory Rawlyk and current players Dale Weise and Brodie Dupont.

They saw a 10-minute pregame ceremony that opened with highlights of the Wolf Pack's 2000 Calder Cup championship run, then members of the booster club formed a tunnel as the players skated onto the ice. Finally, Bob Crawford, the voice of the Wolf Pack, announced the all-time team of goalie Jason LaBarbera, defensemen Dale Purinton and Dan Girardi and forwards Gernander, Stock and Derek Armstrong.

But the Wolf Pack again would need some blasts from the past in their home finale before the franchise is officially re-branded the Connecticut Whale on Nov. 27 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Wolf Pack finished the home segment of their existence with a 569-344-49-29 record, before playing five road games in 10 days before returning in two weeks. They were 57-58 in 22 playoff series and won the Calder Cup in 2000.

The victory gave the Falcons (8-5-0-1) a 4-1-0-1 record in their last six games as LeNeveu (21 saves) beat the Wolf Pack (4-9-2-2) for the third time this season. Talbot had 24 saves for the Wolf Pack, who are 1-8-2-1 in their last 12 games.

"It was a high-intensity game where we played hard for the most part, but it's a 60-minute game," a somber Gernander said. "We're to the point in time where we need points and need to start to play desperate hockey. Emotion and intensity was visible, and that's what it requires. We're not afforded any luxuries."

The Falcons took a quick lead on the game's first power play as Mayorov slid the puck across the slot to the left circle to a wide-open Calvert, who one-timed a shot that beat Talbot low to the glove side at 3:38.

LeNeveu remained hot against the Wolf Pack as he flicked out his right pad to stop Ryan Garlock's redirection of Justin Soryal's pass at 6:22. Talbot then reciprocated with a right pad save of David Savard's point shot through a screen with 1:40 left in the first period.

The Wolf Pack nearly tied the game, but Matt Zuccarello's power-play shot from the left circle that beat LeNeveu high to the glove side came a second after the period ended.

Only 1:09 into the second period, LeNeveu stopped Tyler Donati's one-timer from 15 feet in the slot, but 40 seconds later, Jeremy Williams took a drop pass from Newbury and fired a 40-foot shot that went over a sliding Byers and beat LeNeveu high to the glove side three seconds after a Wolf Pack power play expired.

The Falcons then had a goal disallowed when Michael Ratchuk jammed in a centering pass a second after the net came off its moorings at 8:01. Wolf Pack defenseman Ryan McDonagh's hustle play then helped negate Mayorov's partial breakaway on a 2-and-1 off a Byers lead pass with 7:42 left in the period.

Talbot made a sprawling save on a Steven Goertzen bid off another Byers pass with 4:19 to go. But 42 seconds later, the Falcons finally regained the lead as Holden sent a lead pass to Mayorov, who used Wolf Pack defenseman Jyri Niemi as a screen and beat Talbot high to the glove side.

The Wolf Pack nearly tied it at 3:19 of the third period, but Zuccarello's shot from the right circle hit the far post. Talbot then denied a wide-open Mayorov at the right post at 6:12.

Kolarik tied it, then showed hockey really can make for strange bedfellows when he got into a scuffle with John Moore with 9:45 left and less than 48 hours after they were teammates.

The Wolf Pack then took their first lead when Redden passed to Williams, who faked a shot from the blueline, skated to the top of the right circle, used Falcons defenseman Nate Guenin as a screen and fired a shot that went in off LeNeveu with 6:24 left.

But 1:59 later, the Falcons got even as Byers took a pass from Mayorov and fired a shot from the left circle that Blunden redirected past Talbot.

"In most of our games, we've been down in the third period but have been able to get it close or tie it," Falcons first-year coach Rob Riley said. "We did a real good job coming back. Dane made a nice play on the rush (for the tying goal), and Mike did a good job of deflecting it in. Both teams deserved a point."



American Hockey League Stories from November 13, 2010


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