Wolf Pack Back on Track with 5-2 Win

Published on October 24, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, Conn. _ The Wolf Pack had lost three in a row and were off to the second-worst start in their 13 seasons entering Saturday night's game against the Lowell Devils.

About the only good news is the Wolf Pack had played six of their first seven games on the road, winning their only previous start at the XL Center two weeks earlier.

And the Wolf Pack stayed perfect at home in the early going as the AHL's third-ranked power play went 3-for-3 in a 5-2 victory before 3,583.

"The power play has been very good, and it has been almost critical because we've labored to score 5-on-5," said Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander, whose team ended a three-game losing streak. "The power play and (good) goaltending are great assets and are going to be the difference in a lot of games, but you don't want to rely on it."

Corey Locke, P.A. Parenteau and Michael Sauer scored power-play goals in the second period, giving the Wolf Pack a 3-2 lead that they increased in the third on tallies by Dane Byers and Corey Potter, a shorthanded, 150-foot shot into an empty net with 60 seconds to go.

"We've got some good players for the power play, so the power play is going to be our strength," said Parenteau, who had the goal and two assists to take the Wolf Pack scoring lead with 11 points, including six in their only two home games. "It's not easy starting the season with so many games on the road, and they came out swinging (Saturday night), but we kind of weathered the storm.

"The first five or 10 minutes was all about them, but we kind of took over after that. They took some penalties, and it kind of worked out for us. We made some good plays, got pucks deep and finished our checks more."

The Devils (4-3-1-0), who had won three in a row, dominated early while amassing a 12-4 shot advantage. But Miika Wiikman (34 saves) denied a wide-open Brad Snetsinger in front at 3:42 and stopped Olivier Magnan at 7:28 after he had burst around Potter.

The Wolf Pack (3-5-0-0) finally got their first quality chance at 10:16, but Jeff Frazee (22 saves) made a glove stop on Justin Soryal from 25 feet. Then with 4:35 left in the first period, Evgeny Grachev's deflection of Dale Weise's pass went just wide of the net.

The Wolf Pack then took advantage of their first power play as Parenteau made a cross-slot pass to the right circle to Locke, whose one-timer beat Frazee at 32 seconds of the second period.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Wiikman kept the Wolf Pack ahead when he stopped Snetsinger alone in the slot at 59 seconds. But the Devils got even on their second power play when Vladimir Zharkov took a pass from Cory Murphy in the right circle and fired a shot that went in off Wiikman's glove at 3:01.

The Wolf Pack's power play connected again at 9:52, as Parenteau tapped in Bobby Sanguinetti's shot from the left circle.

But only 1:29 later, the Devils tied it again when Zharkov's turnaround shot from the right circle deflected off the stick of Wolf Pack defenseman Brent Henley and past Wiikman.

The power play gave the Wolf Pack a third lead as Sauer took a pass from Grachev at the top of the left circle and fired a shot that went in off Frazee's glove with 3:33 left in the period.

The Wolf Pack finally didn't need a power play to score early in the third period, as Locke's blind behind-the-back pass found Byers in front, and the left wing's jam attempt trickled in off Frazee at 1:53.

The Wolf Pack got fortunate at 6:27 when Eric Castonguay's shot hit the crossbar, then Wiikman kept it a two-goal game, flicking out his left pad to deny Nick Palmieri at 9:50 and stopping Murphy's close-in bid with 5:35 left.

Two minutes later, the Wolf Pack nearly made it 5-2, but Soryal's deflection of Jordan Owens' pass off a 3-on-1 hit the post. The Devils pulled Frazee with 1:11 to go to create a 6-on-4 power play, but Potter's shot from inside his own blueline found the empty net with one minute left.

"We hadn't been doing the little things such as second effort, not quite bearing down on a clearing attempt or getting the big save," said Gernander.

"We're sticking together and sticking to our guns, so I'm sure we'll be fine with the team we have," Parenteau said.

The Wolf Pack play their second of five consecutive home games today at 3 p.m. against the Worcester Sharks.

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