Falcons win over Wolf Pack

Published on March 20, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


Hartford, CT - The Springfield Falcons got a goal and two assists from rookie Jordan Eberle in a 4-3 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday night before 4,694 at the XL Center.

Former Wolf Pack players Dean Arsene and Chad Wiseman scored key goals in the win for the Falcons. The Wolf Pack's penalty killing, which entered the game last in the AHL at 79.1%, was 5-for-5, but they were 1-for-7 on the power play, including 0-for-4 in a third period they entered trailing by two goals.

"You hit the nail right on the head," Wolf Pack right wing Dale Weise, who had three excellent scoring bids stopped by Falcons goalie Bryan Pitton, said when asked if the latest 60 minutes were a microcosm of the season. "We tied it up 2-2 in the second period and then they score on the next shift. That's one of the biggest times in the game where we have to bear down: the last minute of a period and shifts after goals. We didn't do that, and that's exactly the way it's been all year."

The loss dropped the Wolf Pack (28-30-6-5) 10 points behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

"I thought we had enough chances to win," Weise said, "but I thought their goalie played great. Just on me alone, I thought he made three saves on which I should have scored."

Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander pulled starting goaltender Matt Zaba at the start of the second period, after Arsene's shot from just outside the left circle found the back of the net with 22.4 seconds left in the first period to give the Falcons (24-34-10-3) a 2-0 lead. Wiseman got the winner at 12:42 of the second period when he took a pass from Eberle and fired a shot from the top of the left circle that beat relief man Chad Johnson high to the glove (short) side. The Wolf Pack had a 25-14 shot advantage at the point but trailed 4-2.

Eberle, who was instrumental in Canada finishing second in the World Junior Championships in January, had broken a 2-2 tie when he converted Charles Linglet's rebound 21 seconds after Derek Couture's rebound goal at 5:51 of the second period. Eberle was the Edmonton Oilers' first-round pick in 2008 and was playing his second game with the Falcons since returning from Regina of the Western Hockey League last week.

After the Falcons blew a 4-1, third-period lead and lost 5-4 in overtime in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Friday night, the Wolf Pack wanted to try to jump on the visitors and they did, outshooting Springfield 10-1 in the opening 7:35, with Pitton having to be especially alert to deny P.A. Parenteau's quick shot in the slot at 4:35 and to flick out his right pad to stop a deflection of Anders Eriksson's shot at 5:25.

But the Falcons took the lead on just their third shot at 10:02 when Liam Reddox beat Ryan Garlock to the rebound of Colton Fretter's shot from the left circle and tried a back pass to Rob Hisey that deflected in off the skate of Wolf Pack defenseman Jared Nightingale.

Pitton kept it a one-goal game when he denied Dane Byers in close off a pass from Nightingale with 2:47 left in the period, then Zaba made a good stop on Rob Hisey in front with 2:22 to go.

But the Falcons made it 2-0 on Arsene's second goal of the season, though the Wolf Pack had a 17-7 shot advantage in the first period.

"Shots were pretty good in our favor (36-19), and we controlled play for large portions of the game," Gernander said. "I don't know what portion of the game we were clearly outplayed, but we were down 2-0 after the first period, so I thought we needed to make a change (in goal)."

The Wolf Pack had an excellent chance to get back in the game early in the second period when Wethersfield native Colin McDonald bloodied Eriksson with a high stick and got a double minor. But the Falcons got the only shot until 14 seconds remained on the four-minute power play, before Cory Locke took a pass from Julien Brouillette, skated into the slot and beat Pitton high to the stick side for his team-leading 29th goal and AHL-high 18th on the power play at 4:34.

The Wolf Pack got even two shifts later as Derek Couture took a pass from Garlock, beat Jordan Bendfeld to his rebound and flipped a backhander past Pitton at 5:51. But the tie lasted only 21 seconds as Johnson gave up a rebound on Linglet's shot that was converted by a wide-open Eberle.

The Wolf Pack nearly tied it again at 9:25, but Weise, who shares the AHL lead for shorthanded goals, was stopped by Pitton on a rush down left wing. Pitton also made a stellar stop off Weise with 7:36 left in the period, and on the ensuing rush, Wiseman took a pass from Eberle and put the Falcons ahead to stay.

Though the Falcons blew the three-goal advantage in Wilkes-Barre on Friday night that cost them their first three-game winning streak of the season, they didn't allow a two-goal lead to evaporate 24 hours later.

The Wolf Pack failed to convert on two power plays before Pitton made a nifty blocker save on a 25-foot shot in the slot by a wide-open Couture with 8:33 left. The Wolf Pack had only one shot on a third power play but got to 4-3 when Garlock skated down left wing, beat Tony DeHart wide and passed through the crease to a wide-open Brodie Dupont for an easy finish with 4:07 left.

The Wolf Pack then got their fourth power play of the period, but a wide-open Locke half-fanned on Parenteau's cross-crease pass with 55 seconds left. The Wolf Pack pulled Johnson for a sixth attacker with 25 seconds left but couldn't get a shot on Pitton, enabling the Falcons to extend their points streak to 3-0-1-0.

"We had some good chances on the power play, some good deflections that just missed, but maybe we could have used a little more screening than tipping," Gernander said.

The Wolf Pack's season-high, six-game homestand continues today at 3 p.m. against the Providence Bruins, another team they're battling for a playoff spot. Fans are encouraged to bring skates to the game as there will be a free post-game skate on the XL Center ice.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from March 20, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central