Whale Overpower Bruins 3-1

Published on December 3, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Connecticut Whale continued their solid, two-way play Friday night against the Providence Bruins, and this time they did it shorthanded.

Veteran defenseman Wade Redden left with an injury late in the first period and feisty Devin DiDiomete was ejected late in the second period for throwing his helmet into the stands during one of the game's five fights.

But the Whale's first remaining defensemen did yeoman work, Cameron Talbot made critical saves late and newcomer Oren Eizenman and veteran Jeremy Williams scored third-period goals that produced a 3-1 victory before 7,004 at the Dunkin' Donut Center.

"Tonight was a classic example of a little bit of everything," Eizenman said. "Our defense was really strong in our own zone, we had guys step up and fight really tough, we had guys creating nice plays like the last goal by Newbury and Williams that was pretty to watch. The guys really showed up to play, and Talbot was amazing when he needed to be. There were a lot of times when the puck was at the other end and he had to be wondering when the action was going to come, and then when it did, he really showed up and played great."

Talbot had 27 saves and has now stopped 68 of 69 shots that he has faced in two visits to the Dunkin' Donuts Center. On Oct. 17, Talbot made 41 saves in a 3-0 victory over the Bruins to become the first Whale goalie to record a shutout in his pro debut.

Talbot wasn't as stressed Friday, as the Whale (9-11-2-4) extended their season-high points streak to 3-0-0-2. The team is now 5-1-0-2 since a 1-9-2-1 slide and moved into fifth place in the tightly-bunched Atlantic Division, one point ahead of Bridgeport, a 5-3 loser to Springfield, stayed within one point of the Falcons and got within two points of third-place Worcester, which visits the XL Center in Hartford on Saturday night at 7.

"The boys are playing really well, and we're starting to bury some pucks," Talbot said. "At the same time, we're playing really well in our own end and killing penalties pretty well (5-for-5 for 18-for-18 in the last five games).

"Playing with the lead is a little easier, and we've done that both times here, so I'm fortunate to be behind them. I think our improvement has been a whole team, starting with guys back-checking a little harder. We've been doing a lot of video stuff, so we saw that the goals that we were getting scored against were mostly our mistakes in our offensive zone and not back-checking hard.

"When (the coaches) point that out and the guys see that, so in the next game, maybe it's in the back of their mind, and they're going a little harder. It always helps when the guys are back-checking a little harder and helping out the defense and maybe pushing their guys wide and making it easy for the goalies to stop shots. The communication has been great and the chemistry is good."

The Bruins had been 7-3-1-0 since a 2-5-1-1 start, but coach Rob Murray's team is now 7-1-1-0 on the road but 2-8-1-1 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center thanks to a stout effort by the Whale.

"We're making better plays out of our own end to start on the offense," said Newbury, who made two deft passes to set up one-timers by Evgeny Grachev and Williams. "Except for maybe two periods against Worcester (a 2-1 shootout loss Wednesday night), we've been getting dump-ins and getting more forechecking and more speed and more contact on their defense, so we can create more offense.

"Coaches always say a good offense is a good defense, and we've been getting in the (passing) lanes pretty good in our own end and the goalies have been playing awesome, so hopefully that keeps on and we can keep on rolling into Christmas."

The Whale rolled early and nearly took the lead only 1:33 into the game, but Michael Hutchinson (31 saves) stopped a breakaway by Mats Zuccarello, who had stolen a Bruins pass in center ice.

The Whale again started strong but didn't have many quality chances the rest of the first period while allowing eight shots, six during three Bruins power plays.

But with the teams skating even at the start of the second period, the Whale took a 1-0 lead when Grachev poked the puck ahead to Newbury, who broke down left wing and then feathered a pass into the slot that Grachev one-timed past Hutchinson from 30 feet at 51 seconds for his third goal and second in as many games.

Talbot then made his first big saves of the game, sprawling to deny Wyatt Smith at 9:34 and making a glove stab of Jordan Knackstedt's 30-foot shot from the slot 29 seconds later after a bad change by the Whale. Zuccarello then had two excellent rapid-fire scoring chances off passes from Tim Kennedy, the first from 20 feet in the slot and the other a setup at the doorstep that the "Norwegian Hobbit" shot wide at 10:30.

The Bruins tied it with 2:26 left in the period as Smith poke-checked the puck from Grachev to David Ling, who got inside Pavel Valentenko and scored on a turnaround shot from 25 feet in the slot that ended Talbot's shutout streak against the Bruins on their 58th shot against him.

Talbot made a strong right-pad save on Jeff LoVecchio 27 seconds into the third period, then the Whale regained the lead when Chad Kolarik dug the puck out from behind the net and passed in front to a wide-open Eizenman for a quick high finish at 6:23 for his second goal in four games since being acquired from the Syracuse Crunch for future considerations on Nov. 24.

"It was just one of those plays that happened so fast," Eizenman said. "Chad and (Kelsey) Tessier were battling for the puck, and I knew if they came out with it that I would be open in front for a pass. Quick as anyone, (Kolarik) just swung around and found me, and the goalie didn't have time to come out. So the rest was just getting the puck on net. Chad has great vision and made a great play. He passed the puck right into my wheelhouse."

Said Kolarik: "Oren called for the puck, and I looked up and he was wide open. It was a good play by him to get open. And it was good that guys likeustin) Soryal, DiDiomete and (Stu) Bickel were sticking up for guys. The team is coming together, and that's what it takes. We're playing better team hockey, playing better within the system, cycling the defense low trying to wear them out and toward the end of the game we're getting very good chances. And Cam is playing awesome and finally got a win without having to get a shutout. He and Chadohnson) playing well is a huge help for us."

After Eizenman's eventual winner, the goalies took turns starring, as Hutchinson made a sprawling save on Newbury off a 2-on-1 with Grachev and Talbot snared Ling's backhander while he was alone in front at 9:53.

After Talbot was alert to stop Smith's turnaround shot with 9:42 left, the Whale took a 3-1 lead when Valentenko pushed the puck ahead to Newbury, who skated down right wing and feathered a pass across into the left circle where Williams' one-timer beat Hutchinson high for his team-leading 13th goal and 22nd point with 8:52 to go.

"I was smiling when I saw Newbs with the puck," Williams said, smiling again.

The Bruins nearly cut their deficit to 3-2, but Matt Bartkowski's shot hit the post with 5:22 left, and Talbot denied Zach Hamill from in close during a late Bruins power play.

"It's going to take a lot of good play to make up some of the ground that we lost at the start of the season, but it's obviously moving in the right direction," Whale coach Ken Gernander said. "Now we have to maintain and get sharper because as the season wears on, everybody is going to improve. It's all a matter of doing simple things like finishing hits and going wide. Plus, we've got some personnel back from injury like Kennedy and Dupont, and Kolarik has been good since the trade.

"We talked earlier about how many one-goal games that we've lost (11), and now things are coming together a little bit. Little things here and there, likeared) Nightingale and Valentenko blocking shots on the penalty kill, and (the Bruins) hitting a few posts so some things are starting to swing in our favor. But a lot of times you make your own luck, too, and Talbot played really well with a little help from the iron."

WEISE MISSES ANOTHER GAME

Whale right wing Dale Weise missed his second straight game with an injury sustained in a 3-0 victory over Adirondack on Sunday. Weise had two goals and two assists in six games after missing 15 games because of a different injury that required surgery. He had one goal and one assist while playing hurt in the first three games before surgery.

"It's just too sore," said Weise, who returned to doing commentary with radio play-by-play man Bob Crawford. "I'd rather be back in the lineup 100 percent than just play a few shifts."

The Wolf Pack also scratched Lee Baldwin, Jyri Niemi and Chris McKelvie. The Bruins scratched Maxime Sauve, Colby Cohen, Cody Wild and injured captain Jeremy Reich. ... The Whale has a rematch with the Worcester Sharks on Saturday night at 7 at the XL Center in Hartford. The Sharks are 5-3-0-2 on the road and 6-4-1-1 at home, where they beat the Whale 2-1 in a shootout Wednesday night. They are 2-0-0-1 in their last three road games and have won each of their last three visits to the XL Center. ... Former Whale players Brandon Wong and Julien Brouillette each scored a goal and Dov Grumet-Morris made 21 saves as the Greenville Road Warriors routed the Gwinnett Gladiators 7-1 Thursday night for their fifth consecutive victory, improving their record to 14-5-1 and moving them into first place in the ECHL's South Division. Wong, a rookie pro after a stellar career at Quinnipiac University, also had two assists and was one of seven players with a multiple-point game for the Road Warriors, who are the ECHL affiliate of the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. ... Greenville center Brendan Connolly is the ECHL Player of the Month for November after getting nine goals and nine assists and being plus-12 as the Road Warriors went 10-4-0. Connolly ended the month on an 11-game point streak (eight goals, nine assists) and now leads the Road Warriors in goals (11) and points (23) and is second in the league in plus-minus (plus-13).

A GOOD TRADE FOR BOTH TEAMS, ESPECIALLY THE WHALE

The Kolarik-for-Dane Byers trade on Nov. 11 has worked out well for the Whale and Springfield Falcons so far.

Kolarik's assist on Eizenman's goal gave him five goals and four assists in 10 games with the Whale, who are 5-2-0-3 since the deal. Byers, the Whale captain when his request for a trade was granted, had an assist in a 5-3 victory over Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He has two goals and six assists in 11 games in which the Falcons are 5-6-0-0.

The loss ended the Sound Tigers' season-high, five-game point streak (3-0-1-1). They're 8-3-1-0 at home but 2-9-0-1 away from the Arena at Harbor Yard. ... The hat trick that former New Canaan High and Taft School-Watertown standout Max Pacioretty scored on his 22nd birthday Nov. 20 started a stretch in which he had nine goals in six games for the Hamilton Bulldogs. Pacioretty had never scored more than nine goals in a season before this year. The surge has moved Pacioretty into a tie for second in league scoring (13 goals, 14 assists), but he was held scoreless in a 2-1 loss to the Peoria Rivermen on Friday night. ... The Rivermen have earned a point in seven consecutive games (6-0-1-0), tying the team's season high of seven straight, which were all victories from Oct. 10-23. In this latest streak, they have killed off 41 of 42 short-handed situations, including 35 in a row, rising from 12th in the league (84.9 percent) to No. 1 (89.1 percent). ... Former Whale wing Alexandre Giroux, who had 110 goals in the last two seasons with the Hershey Bears and was named AHL MVP in 2008-09, has gone 14 games without scoring for Oklahoma City after a 3-2 shootout loss to Manitoba. Meanwhile, Wethersfield native Colin McDonald, son of former Whalers defenseman Gerry McDonald, is on a five-game point streak (six goals, no assists). ... South Windsor native Jon DiSalvatore scored his fifth goal of the season in regulation and then got the winning shootout goal as the Houston Aeros rallied for a 4-3 victory over Rockford on Thursday night. Former Whale defenseman Bryce Lampman played his second game with the Aeros after signing on Nov. 16. He tied his career high last season with seven goals in 54 AHL games for the Rivermen.

ALL-STAR VOTING BEGINS TUESDAY

On-line fan voting for the AHL All-Star Classic Jan. 30-31 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa., begins Tuesday at noon (EST) and runs through midnight Jan. 9 at theahl.com and facebook.com/theahl.

Players receiving the most votes by position will earn berths in the starting lineups of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Star teams. A committee of AHL coaches will select the remaining All-Stars, and all 30 clubs must be represented.

By completing the official ballot, fans will be entered to win a grand prize of a team-signed All-Star jersey. Ten more winners will each receive an official All-Star Classic T-shirt.

Tickets for the AHL Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony and post skills party during the All-Star Classic go on sale Saturday after the Hershey Bears' home game against Binghamton.

The induction and awards ceremony will take place at the Hershey Theater on Jan. 31 at 11 a.m. when the Hall of Fame Class of 2011 - the late Maurice Podoloff, who grew up in New Haven and graduated from Yale, Mitch Lamoureux, Harry Pidhirny and Larry Wilson - will be enshrined. AHL Hall of Famer Bruce Boudreau, former coach of the Bears and now coach of the Washington Capitals, will be the keynote speaker, and AHL graduate and 2008 Foster Hewitt Award winner Mike Emrick will be master of ceremonies.

The post-skills party will be at the Hershey Lodge on Jan. 30 from 6 to 10 p.m. It will feature a tailgate theme while watching the NHL All-Star Game with a buffet-style menu of food and drinks.

Ticket packages for the two events are $75 and can be purchased after the Bears' game Saturday at the Giant Center box office or by calling 717-534-3911. Availability is limited, and there is a six-ticket limit per person.

Also, an exclusive All-Star Classic VIP package for $199 includes Club Section tickets, parking vouchers for the skills competition and All-Star Game, a meal voucher for the All-Star Game, tickets for the post-skills party and Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony and a gift bag.

There are only 50 packages available, and they also go on sale after Saturday night's game.

Tickets for the skills competition Jan. 30 at 3 p.m. and the All-Star Game on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. are nearly sold out. Contact the Giant Center box office for information. ... The Sound Tigers' annual holiday toy drive starts Saturday night and runs through Dec. 19. The Sound Tigers will work with the Bridgeport Fire Department to gather toys and teddy bears to be distributed to local children and families. Fans are encouraged to donate during games Saturday night, Wednesday night and Dec. 17-19. Fans can also donate throughout the week by bringing toys to the Sound Tigers front office at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The toys and teddy bears will be distributed by Sound Tigers players and front office staff members. Before the Sound Tigers' game against Worcester on Dec. 18, the Bridgeport Fire Department will play a charity hockey game against the Worcester Fire Department to assist families of Bridgeport firefighter Michel Baik and Lt. Steven Velasquez, who were killed in the line of duty on July 24 in Bridgeport.

EMOTIONAL RETURN FOR FORMER WHALE CENTER SAVARD

Former Whale center Marc Savard had an emotional return to the Boston Bruins Thursday night in his first appearance since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers because of prolonged post-concussion syndrome. Savard's problems began March 7 when he was knocked out by a blindside elbow to the head by the Pittsburgh Penguins' Matt Cooke. Cooke was not suspended, though NHL general managers immediately announced any further blindside hits like Cooke's would be illegal and suspension-worthy, starting this season.

Savard missed the rest of the regular season and a six-game, first-round playoff series victory over the Buffalo Sabres before his unexpected return against the Flyers in the semifinals, where he had a goal and two assists in seven games. But post-concussion symptoms returned during the summer, forcing Savard to remain on the sidelines until Thursday night. He didn't figure in the scoring, but it seemed more than just coincidental the Bruins had their biggest offensive output of the season in an 8-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning after Savard received a standing ovation 2:28 into the game when he skated onto the TD Garden ice with Michael Ryder and Tyler Seguin, the second overall pick in the June draft. Tim Thomas made 37 saves and former P-Bruins center David Krejci had two goals, his first since Oct. 30, and an assist.

Savard was tossed out of the faceoff circle on his first shift but won three of four in the first period and finished 5-for-10. He played 15 minutes, 45 seconds and took one shot in 21 shifts. He led the Bruins in scoring three of the last four seasons, but injuries limited him to 41 games last season.

"It's been six months so it's been a long time," Savard told reporters after the game. "I was shaking off a bit of rust, but I felt like I made some good plays. I felt like there was stuff I could build off of and work on still. I had a little trouble as the shift wore on, but it was only a couple of times. I felt good, I felt strong, and I got in there a couple of times. I tried to bang around, I didn't really move anybody, but it was a lot of fun. It's been a long road, that's for sure."

Savard had been practicing since Nov. 24 but missed the first 23 games before being taken off the long-term injured list and getting clearance to play after meeting with general manager Peter Chiarelli and coach Claude Julien on Thursday afternoon. The Bruins traded Matt Hunwick to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Colby Cohen on Monday to create salary cap space to activate Savard.

"He didn't look like he missed a beat," Julien told reporters. "I liked his game from start to finish, and his stamina was great."

Savard was the second player in two days to return from a major concussion. The Minnesota Wild's Pierre-Marc Bouchard had played one game since March 2009 before returning Wednesday night in a 4-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, ending a 104-game absence. But his return wasn't as inspiring as Savard's, though former Whale goalie Jason LaBarbera had to make 33 saves in his first start in three weeks and helped the Coyotes get their legs after a rough start.

"I was like, 'What are we doing?' " LaBarbera said. "We talked before the game about not taking penalties, and then we're down with four penalties right away."

The Wild spent six of the first seven minutes on the power play but couldn't put together any kind of a threat. Former Whale forward Lauri Korpikoski scored an empty-net goal to ice it. ... Former Whale forward Tommy Pyatt scored his first goal of the season Thursday night in the Montreal Canadiens' 5-1 rout of the New Jersey Devils. Pyatt had to delay his celebration with the play under review, but replays clearly showed his shot from the slot found the net inside the right post. Then former Rangers center Scott Gomez converted a rebound on a power play. It was Gomez's second goal in as many nights after he scored only two goals in the first 24 games.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 3, 2010


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