Hartford tops Sharks, 3-1

Published on March 4, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, Conn. _ The Wolf Pack's newest line provided plenty of dividends in a 3-1 victory over the Worcester Sharks Wednesday night before 2,260 at the XL Center.

Newcomer Mark Bell was inserted on left wing with All-Star center Artem Anisimov and P.A. Parenteau, and the trio combined for eight of the Wolf Pack's nine points as they moved into a first-place tie in the Atlantic Division with Providence, a 6-4 loser to Toronto.

Bell made his Wolf Pack debut after the Rangers acquired him on re-entry waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 25. Bell, 28, who has played in 445 NHL games with four teams, had 12 goals and 15 assists in 56 games with the Toronto Marlies this season and was delighted to be paired with Parenteau and Anisimov, who began the night third and sixth in the AHL in scoring.

"Obviously Pierre and Artie are pretty gifted offensively at making good decisions, so I wasn't about to change my game," said Bell, who scored the Wolf Pack's first goal and assisted on Anisimov's two goals after not playing for 10 days. "I just wanted to create some room for them and go to the net hard, and what happened on the first goal is pretty much what I do.

"You always want to get your first (goal) with your new team, so it was nice to get it so quickly. It's a fresh start where I feel a weight has been lifted off me, and I'm looking forward to what I can do with the Rangers and the Wolf Pack."

Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander felt the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Bell would fit in well with Anisimov and Parenteau, much as Brodie Dupont had done the past month.

"(Bell) plays a similar game to Brodie, who I thought could play just fine with (Patrick) Rissmiller and (Greg) Moore, so you also had three big guys on that line who can all skate and play physical when need be and have good hands," Gernander said. "And I'm always confident with (Tommy) Pyatt, (Mike) Ouellette and (Jordan) Owens because they work so hard and are diligent defensively."

Meanwhile, Matt Zaba stopped 34 shots, including all 18 in the third period, as he and the Wolf Pack (34-23-2-3) won their seventh in a row for the first time since nine consecutive victories to start the 2004-05 season on Oct. 16-Nov. 4, 2004.

"Zaba is doing a whale of a job for us," Gernander said.

The first period appeared as if it would end scoreless after several missed opportunities before Bell gave the Wolf Pack a 1-0 lead with 13.2 seconds left. Parenteau, back after missing a 4-3 victory over Portland Sunday after being hit in the head when a shot ricocheted off the crossbar in warm-ups, took a pass from Anisimov, raced down right wing around Sharks defenseman Derek Joslin and passed through the slot to Bell, who easily beat Thomas Greiss.

"Toronto had put several guys on waivers, and I was thankful for the Rangers to pick me up," Bell said. "I was playing a lot in Toronto, but it's nice to play with Pierre and Artie. My role has changed a bit because I'm playing with two offensive guys, so I'm looking forward to that."

Before Bell's late goal, Anisimov fanned on an open net at 3:30 during a 4-on-3 power play and then Zaba denied Tom Cavanagh off a 2-on-1 at 6:25. Griess made good saves on Bobby Sanguinetti during a power play and Devin DiDiomete's partial breakaway off left with 5:30 left before Bell broke the tie.

The pace and scoring quickened early in the second period. Off the opening faceoff, Parenteau got the puck to the right point to Vladimir Denisov, whose rebound was converted by Anisimov at 26 seconds.

After Zaba made bang-bang stops off Jason Demers and Matt Fornataro, the Sharks (30-26-1-2) got to 2-1 on their second power play as Joslin's shot from the blueline beat Zaba through a screen and his legs at 3:12.

Greiss kept it close when stopped Owens' partial breakaway at 11:50 before Tomas Zaborsky shot wide from 20 feet out at 12:10. But the Wolf Pack regained their two-goal lead at 6:11 of the third period when Anisimov took a centering pass from Bell and flipped a backhander past Greiss for his 26th goal, tying for the team lead with Parenteau, who got his third assist of the game on the play.

Zaba stopped Ryan Vesce's shorthanded breakaway with 1:42 left and then turned aside the Sharks' two shots after pulling Greiss for a sixth attacker.

The Wolf Pack played with only five defensemen after assistant captain Corey Potter sustained an upper-body injury in warm-ups.

By Bruce Berlet

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