Goal with 5.2 seconds left clinches win for Wolf Pack

February 22, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


Manchester, NH, February 22, 2009: Brodie Dupont's goal with 5.2 seconds left in the third period gave the Hartford Wolf Pack a 3-2 Atlantic-Division victory over the Manchester Monarchs Sunday at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Matt Zaba, playing his fourth game in five days, stopped 35 shots to backstop the win. P.A. Parenteau and Mike Ouellette also scored for the Wolf Pack, and Artem Anisimov had two assists. Brian Boyle and Oskar Moller had the Manchester goals, with Gabe Gauthier assisting on both tallies.

The Monarchs dominated the third period, outshooting the Wolf Pack 21-10, but Zaba held strong, and Hartford's top line converted with the game appearing headed for overtime.

The winning play started with Bobby Sanguinetti partially fanning on a one-timer from the left-wing point. The puck slid right to Anisimov in the corner, and he deflected it perfectly to a wide-open Dupont in the slot. Dupont's shot beat Manchester goaltender Jonathan Bernier to the glove side.

The win was the Wolf Pack's third in a row, equaling the team's longest winning streak of the season, and moved the Pack (30-23-2-3, 65 points) into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division, two points ahead of Portland.

The Wolf Pack scored the first period's only two goals in a span of 1:25 starting at the 5:58 mark. Parenteau, Hartford's leading scorer, got the Wolf Pack on top with his 26th of the year on a power play, converting Anisimov's centering pass. Parenteau used a Manchester defender as a screen and slid a low shot past Bernier. Then, at 7:23, Ouellette scored off a rush to make it 2-0. Defenseman Dave Urquhart's shot from the left-wing side was stopped by Bernier, but Ouellette backhanded in the rebound from the right side of the goalmouth.

The Monarchs then got the only two goals of the second period, starting with a power-play tally by Boyle at 4:03. Teddy Purcell passed the puck across the slot from left to right, and Boyle was able to snap it past Zaba, who was scheduled to get the day off, but was pressed into service when Miika Wiikman was felled by the flu.

Manchester tied the game with only 6.5 seconds left in the period, on the first AHL goal of the season by Moller, who has spent much of the year in the NHL with the Monarchs' parent club, the Los Angeles Kings. Moller took the puck out of a scrum behind the net, stepped in front and put a shot high into the net off of Zaba's right shoulder.



American Hockey League Stories from February 22, 2009


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