Penguins Outscore Wolf Pack 4-1
Published on December 5, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release
Wilkes-Barre, PA, December 5, 2009 - Konstantin Pushkarev and Tim Wallace had a goal and an assist each, and Joe Vitale had three assists, Saturday night at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza, leading the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The defeat extended a Wolf Pack winless streak to a season-high four games (0-2-1-1) and dropped them into a fifth-place tie with Providence in the Atlantic Division. Hartford is now 13-10-1-2 for 29 points.
The Wolf Pack got the game's first goal, after weathering a storm in which they were pinned in their own end for much of the first 3:00, and gave up the first five shots of the game.
At 9:27 of the opening period. Jared Nightingale, playing his third game with the Wolf Pack since coming up from Charlotte of the ECHL, beat Penguin goaltender John Curry with a shot from the middle of the blue line, after Evgeny Grachev worked the puck off the right-wing boards. Derek Couture also assisted.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton came out strong again, though, in the second, and this time Hartford was not able to withstand the pressure.
The Penguins started a run of three goals in 3:24 at the 7:48 mark, as Ben Lovejoy snapped a shot through from the right-wing point past Wolf Pack goaltender Matt Zaba, who was screened by Eric Tangradi. Then at 10:08, with one second left on a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton power-play, Pushkarev capitalized on a couple of failed Wolf Pack attempts to clear the zone and buried a high shot in behind Zaba for a 2-1 Penguin lead. Just 1:04 after that, at 11:12, Wade Brookbank got a couple of whacks at the puck during a goalmouth scramble and on his second try, jammed the puck off of Zaba and into the net.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton then clinched the win with the only goal of the third period, a deflection by Wallace at 13:02. After the Wolf Pack's Dale Weise spilled Pushkarev, Vitale heaved the puck at the net from the blue line and Wallace tipped it off of Zaba and in.
Curry made 20 saves in the Penguin net to get the win, as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton outshot the Wolf Pack, 33-21. The Pack finish a three-game road weekend Sunday at Hershey (5:00 PM faceoff).
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