Scoring Woes Continue in Loss

Published on October 27, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, Conn. - All one needs to know about how offensively challenged the Wolf Pack are these days is what transpired midway through the second period Wednesday night.

After falling behind by two goals, the Wolf Pack had four point-blank chances in 31/2 minutes, but a wide-open Chris McKelvie and Ryan Garlock missed the net, Mats Zuccarello was stopped by a sprawling Jeff Frazee and Evgeny Grachev missed the target for the second time from 15 feet in front off a pass from Zuccarello.

Garlock was so disgusted that he put his stick behind his head as he skated away after his misfire.

All that frustration came after the Albany Devils had 13 of the first 14 shots in the period and got goals from Patrick Davis and Adam Henrique that propelled them to a 3-1 victory over the Wolf Pack before 2,251 at the XL Center.

"I think we're squeezing the stick a little bit too tight," said Garlock, who finally ended the Wolf Pack's frustration 4:49 into the third period. "But we're working hard, and as long as we keep doing that, we're going to eventually bear down on some of our chances. It's just kind of a funk that we've got to get through early in the year.

"On that one shift, (McKelvie) and I missed the point-blank chances, but that's the way this game goes sometimes. It's an 80-game season, and if you keep plugging away, they're eventually going to start going in for us. The plus side is we're not giving up a lot and (goalie Chad Johnson) is always rock solid back there. We're going to keep trying to limit the chances against and start capitalizing on some of ours and eventually with the work ethic we have, it's going to start turning around."

But not in the last 81/2 periods. The Wolf Pack has scored twice in the last 229 minutes, 55 seconds while going 0-3-1 on a season-high, five-game homestand. They would have lost a third consecutive one-goal game if former Wolf Pack defenseman Chris Murray hadn't scored a power-play goal into an empty net with 37.7 seconds left after Jeremy Williams took a slashing penalty with 1:13 to go.

Despite coach Ken Gernander changing his four lines for the fourth consecutive game, the Wolf Pack (3-4-1-1) lost their fifth in a row at home (0-4-1-0) since a season-opening, 4-2 victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Oct. 9.

"As has been the case the last few games, if you take the bulk of the game, we're pretty good," Gernander said. "But it's 60 minutes, and whether it be the last 35 seconds or a span of two minutes here in the second period, we can't afford those lapses."

As for the impotent offense, Gernander said it sometimes takes scoring by committee.

"We've got some offensive players, but we really haven't generated much, especially five-on-five, in the last little while," he said. "I don't know if constantly changing the lines is an ideal situation, but when we're struggling to find offense, you try some different combinations. You'd like to see one line be able to take the ball and run with it, catch fire, and then everyone can fall in line afterward. But as of right now, we're struggling to find that line to get us some offense five-on-five."

Gernander had Kris Newbury start between Grachev and Zuccarello, while Brodie Dupont stayed at center with Williams and captain Dane Byers. After being a healthy scratch for two games, Brandon Wong returned to the lineup in place of Tim Kennedy (undisclosed injury) and centered a line with Devin DiDiomete and Kelsey Tessier. Garlock centered the other line between McKelvie and Justin Soryal.

Despite the latest line changes, the Wolf Pack failed to score until early in the third period, though they came close early as Frazee (24 saves) had to make strong stops on Williams' backhander on a partial break-in at 9:26, Garlock's one-timer from the slot off Wong's pass at 11:27 and a sprawling save on Grachev's deflection of Newbury's centering pass 65 seconds later during the Wolf Pack's only power play.

Johnson (26 saves) made his best stop of the first period during the Devils' only power play, getting his left pad on Mattias Tedenby's rebound before Nathan Perkovich hit the post eight seconds later.

The Devils (4-2-0-0) stormed the Wolf Pack in the opening 8:53 of the second period, getting all but one of the first 14 shots while taking a 2-0 lead on the goals by Davis and Henrique. After Johnson stopped Matt Anderson's bid from the left circle at 3:02 and Tedenby's deflection of Tyler Eckford's shot hit the post 12 seconds later, the Devils took advantage of an unfortunate Wolf Pack break to take the lead for good. Eckford found Davis cruising through the neutral zone, and the right wing burst past defenseman Wade Redden, who had fallen down, and beat Johnson high to the glove side at 4:30.

The Devils then converted on a third power play as Mark Fayne's pass from the right boards found Henrique, whose backhander beat Johnson to the glove side at 8:53.

The Wolf Pack then had the series of excellent scoring chances but couldn't find the net three times and had Zuccarello denied. They finally broke through when Garlock drew a penalty call on Alexander Urbom, got to his skates and scored his first goal off Williams' centering pass at 4:49, after good work along the right boards by Soryal.

"It was a textbook 3-on-2 play," Garlock said. "Soryal made a good chip, and Williams put it right on my stick and I didn't really have to do too much, just be in the right place."

The Wolf Pack pulled Johnson with 1:30 left for a brief 6-on-4 power play, but they lost their advantage when Williams took the slashing penalty. Murray then iced it, picking up a loose puck and scoring his first goal of the season from his own zone.

"With the frustration comes some penalties I don't think we need to take," Gernander said. "That never helps to create offense when you're playing shorthanded. We're not doing anything that's way outside the box. We're stressing execution and had some opportunities where we missed the net, but how do you create offense when you miss the net?

"We're stressing paying the price along the wall, driving wide, putting pucks to the net, a lot of different things. And we're asking guys not to be too fine, to put pucks on the net. A scorer has got to hit his spots, but we can't afford you miss the net when we're struggling to find chances and that obviously negates a second chance on a rebound. Often times it ends up being a breakout for the other team.

"Certainly we need a win. We're a game below .500, and while that's not an admirable position, it's livable for the time being. But now we're really going to have to pull out bootstraps up and get to work because .500 is OK for stretches of the season, but it's not good enough to make the playoffs, so we've got to be better."

Newly signed forward Tyler Donati practiced with the Wolf Pack for the fourth time Wednesday but needs a few more days to get in game shape. Donati signed an American Hockey League-East Coast Hockey League contract Friday after leading the ECHL in scoring (114 points) and being named league MVP last season with the Elmira Jackals. Donati was hoping for a contract earlier and had been only working out in a gym for the month before signing with the Wolf Pack. "He's been off the ice for quite some time," Gernander said, "so after four days of skating, I don't think he was quite ready to go since he didn't have a training camp. But he's going to get an opportunity because he's put up good numbers." Other scratches were injured right wing Dale Weise and defensemen Lee Baldwin and Nigel Williams. The Devils' scratches included former Wolf Pack left wing Chad Wiseman, who hasn't played since sustaining an undisclosed injury after scoring a goal in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Wolf Pack on Oct. 15 in Albany. ... For the first time at the XL Center this season, the game had two referees, Mark Lemelin and Jean Hebert, which is what the NHL has. Two refs will be used in 300 regular-season AHL games and all games in the playoffs.

Home-and-Home Series With Falcons Starts Friday Night

The Wolf Pack concludes the homestand with the first of 10 meetings with the Springfield Falcons (4-4-0-0, 3-1-0-0 on the road). The Falcons have a new coach, former longtime Army coach Rob Riley, and new affiliation, the Columbus Blue Jackets, after three seasons as the top affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers. Veteran Tom Sestito is the Falcons' leading scorer (four goals, five assists), and Michael Blunden leads the team in goals (five).

Former Wolf Pack goalie David LeNeveu is 2-2-0 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .918 save percentage. The Blue Jackets assigned defenseman Nate Guenin, the Rangers' third-round pick in 2002 who never played for the organization, to the Falcons on Tuesday. He has played 17 NHL games with the Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Friday night is a Guida's Family Value Night, with packages that start as low as $48 and include three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and Wolf Pack souvenir. Guida's Family Value Night packs are available at the XL Center box office or on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com . The teams have a rematch Saturday night at 7 in Springfield.

Still More on Former Wolf Pack Standouts

Monday it was former Wolf Pack All-Star right wing Ryan Callahan being the central figure of a New York Daily News story on the Rangers' 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Tuesday it was former Wolf Pack All-Star center Artem Anisimov being the subject of a feature story in the New York Post. Wednesday it was former Wolf Pack center Brandon Dubinsky, now playing left wing on Broadway, being the subject of a Daily News story.

Entering Wednesday night's game against the Atlanta Thrashers, Dubinsky was the Rangers' leading scorer (four goals, seven points) and among the team leaders with Callahan, the de facto captain in Drury's absence.

"Especially with our top guys out of the lineup, it's important that we have everybody stepping up and everybody contributing," Dubinsky told the Daily News. "Right through the lineup, every guy that dresses. Right now, we've got that, and that's the reason we've had success lately. In order for that success to continue, we've just got to continue sticking together and playing well as a team and have everyone contributing every night."

Voting Continues for All-Wolf Pack Team

Voting for the All-Time Wolf Pack Team, to be announced Nov. 13 before a game against the Falcons, runs through Nov. 7. Former players are being invited back for the finale, and there will be several special events commemorating the 13-plus years of the Wolf Pack, who will be re-branded as the Connecticut Whale on Nov. 27 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Fans can vote for one goalie, two defensemen and three forwards at CTWhale.com and various retailers, courtesy of Hartford Distributors and Bud Light. The candidates for the team are goaltenders Jason LaBarbera, J.F. Labbe and Steve Valiquette, defensemen Dan Girardi, Mike Mottau, Thomas Pock, Corey Potter, Dale Purinton and Terry Virtue and forwards Gernander, Byers, Derek Armstrong, Nigel Dawes, Alex Giroux, Todd Hall, Greg Moore, P.A. Parenteau, Richard Scott, Brad Smyth, P.J. Stock and Craig Weller.

Hall of Fame Announcement Thursday

The AHL will announce the 2011 inductees into the AHL Hall of Fame Thursday at 3 p.m. The Class of 2011 will be honored as part of the All-Star Classic festivities in Hershey, PA. The Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony is Jan. 31. John Paddock, who led the Wolf Pack to their only Calder Cup title in 2000, was among the inductees last year.

The AHL Hall of Fame, formed in 2006 to recognize, honor and celebrate individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions in the AHL, is housed on-line at www.ahlhalloffame.com . The AHL Internet Network also includes www.theahl.com and all 30 official team sites and hosts more than 200 million page views each year.

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American Hockey League Stories from October 27, 2010


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