Falcons defeat Wolf Pack

Published on October 11, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford Wolf Pack continued an unwanted opening-night trend Saturday night.

After taking a three-goal lead in a little more than 19 minutes, the Wolf Pack took too many penalties in the second period, helping the Springfield Falcons rally for a 4-3 American Hockey League victory before 9,530 at the XL Center.

Ryan Potulny deflected Taylor Chorney's shot from the right point past Miika Wiikman with 9:40 left for his second goal, handing the Wolf Pack their third consecutive one-goal loss on opening night. They were 7-1-1 in their first nine openers.

"We had a very good first period, and then it was mental things like unnecessary penalties and poor decisions with pucks," Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. "There are no little things, but it was a series of little things that caused us to implode.

"They're too good a team, and it's too good a league not to play 60 minutes. I don't know what we thought, that you just play 20 minutes and then wait until April. But they have good players, so if you're going to put them on the power play all night, they're going to cash in. They had only two shots in the third period, but how many does a good player need? You have to make people earn things."

Gernander said it was difficult to evaluate Wiikman, who faced 16 shots in the second period and only six in the first and third periods combined.

"For the first period he didn't get a lot of work (four shots), and then in the second, he was really left exposed," Gernander said.

The Wolf Pack had more goals than the Falcons had shots for most of the first period while taking a 3-0 lead.

New defenseman Vladimir Denisov took a drop pass from Brodie Dupont and beat Devan Dubnyk high to the stick side on the season's first shot at 1:06. The Wolf Pack allowed only one shot during a subsequent Falcons' 5-on-3 power play for 1:28 and took a 2-0 lead when Dane Byers deflected in Bobby Sanguinetti's shot on a power play at 9:58.

The third fight in a spirited opening 15:44 then gave way to the period's niftiness play, as Tommy Pyatt picked up a loose puck, raced around Springfield defenseman Bryan Young and lifted the puck past Dubnyk while falling to the ice with 45 seconds to go in the period.

But the Falcons took advantage of four power plays in the second period to amass a 16-8 shot advantage and tie the score. Cody Wild converted Tyler Spurgeon's rebound to get the Falcons on the board on their first power play at 1:28. After the Wolf Pack killed Springfield's second power play, Potulny banged a third rebound past Wiikman to make it 3-2 at 7:42.

The Wolf Pack then killed off two more Falcons power plays, but Gilbert Brule showed why he was the sixth overall pick in 2005 by the Columbus Blue Jackets when he burst down right wing, stepped around defenseman Brian Fahey and lifted a backhander over Wiikman to tie it with 1:02 left in the period.

"Obviously the first period was great with guys flying and doing all the right things," Byers said. "Then we got away from doing the little things like carrying the puck instead of chipping it deep, and that's how the penalties came. They took over, and we weren't able to keep the flow going and that really hurt us. We had some pressure at the end of the second period and in the third period, but the game is 60 minutes for a reason."

Despite a 12-2 shot advantage in the third period, Dubnyk made several key saves before Potulny scored the winner during a 4-on-4, and the Falcons survived the Wolf Pack pulling Wiikman for a sixth attacker in the final minute.

"You have to give them credit, but the only people to blame are ourselves," Wolf Pack wing P.A. Parenteau said. "We were all over them in the first period but had a terrible second period, weren't sharp at all, and let it get away from us and lost all our momentum.

"It's a bad loss, but we're a young team and have to learn quickly because we have a game at 4 o'clock (Sunday against Bridgeport). We have to put this behind us and make sure we win (Sunday)."

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American Hockey League Stories from October 11, 2008


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