Wolf Pack beats Providence Bruins in SO

March 28, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, CT -- Artem Anisimov scored a goal and notched the shootout game-winner to lead the Hartford Wolf Pack over the Providence Bruins, 3-2, Saturday night in front of a crowd of 7,591 at the XL Center.

The win allowed Hartford to maintain the top spot in the AHL's Atlantic Division, two points ahead of second place Providence, and officially clinched a 2009 playoff berth for the Wolf Pack.

The Bruins came out with a quick lead, as Vladimir Sobotka came down the right wing and rifled Providence's first shot of the game past Wolf Pack goaltender Matt Zaba at the 22-second mark of the first period.

Providence struck again at 9:30 of the frame, when Matt Marquardt accepted a feed from Zach Hamill in the slot, and beat Zaba with a backhand bid to extend the Bruins' lead to 2-0.

The Wolf Pack cut the Providence advantage to 2-1 at 5:38 of the second period, as Patrick Rissmiller scored his 11th goal off the rebound of a Bobby Sanguinetti slapshot denied by Bruins' netminder Tuukka Rask.

The period saw Hartford outshoot the Bruins 16-7, however the Wolf Pack could not mount any more offense against Rask.

The game was knotted at twoapiece at the 11:31 mark of the third period, when Paul Crowder made a great move around the Providence defense and dished a pass to the wide-open Anisimov for a one-timer and his team-leading 33rd goal.

Crowder's assist was his first professional point after spending the past three seasons with the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

The rest of regulation remained scoreless as the teams headed into overtime, with both Rask and Zaba making three saves in the extra session. Zaba helped Hartford force a shootout, making several key saves during a Providence power-play after a Corey Potter slashing call, including an up-close stop on a Jeff Penner wrist shot.

The Wolf Pack took an immediate lead in the shootout after Anisimov tucked Hartford's first attempt between Rask's legs, and P.A. Parenteau also scored to give Hartford a 2-0 shootout lead. Zaba turned away all four Providence attempts, after making 23 stops in regulation and overtime.

Rask recorded a 40-save performance in goal for the Bruins.

The Wolf Pack (42-26-3-3, 90 points) will play their next home game Wednesday evening versus the Portland Pirates (7:00).



American Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2009


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