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Wolf Pack Comes Up Short To Admirals 7-3

February 17, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


Hartford, CT, February 17, 2010 - The Hartford Wolf Pack continued to have problems on defense and in goal Wednesday at the XL Center, in a 7-3 loss to the Norfolk Admirals, their fourth regulation defeat in a row.

The Wolf Pack (25-24-3-4) allowed a season-high 45 shots and have yielded 27 goals in their losing skid, which left them 2-8-2-0 in their last 12 games and dropped them two points behind Bridgeport for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Admirals (28-25-3-1) have won three of four starts and are 13-2-1-1 since the All-Star break when Jim Johnson replaced Darren Rumble as head coach.

"This is the worst I've ever felt in decades," said Ken Gernander, who has been captain and coach of the Wolf Pack throughout their 13-year history. "They outshot us (45-24), our goaltending wasn't good, we lost the one-on-one battles and we talked about the importance of a good start, given that we had given up a goal on our first shift in the last two games, and it was (11-2) shots when they scored their first goal.

Missing five regulars, including four on defense, hasn't helped the Wolf Pack's cause, but Gernander, who prided himself in his professionalism, commitment and defensive prowess as a player, has refused to cite that as an excuse.

Goalie Chad Johnson also took the latest loss hard, as he sat alone in the locker room in his uniform a half-hour after the game and 90 minutes after he was pulled for the second consecutive game. After allowing three goals on four shots in 5:32 in a 7-4 loss at Portland on Monday, he allowed four goals on 21 shots in 32:07 Wednesday night and then spent 30 minutes working off his frustrations by skating alone and firing pucks at the sideboards in an empty XL Center.

"The last three games have been my worst games of the season by far," said Johnson, who has allowed 14 goals on 60 shots in 97:39 since his latest reassignment to the Wolf Pack from the Rangers. "No one is playing the way we know we can play, starting with me. I'm not where I need to be. When other guys make mistakes, other guys need to step up and play strong, and that's not happening right now.

"It's really frustrating and disappointing the way we are playing," added Johnson, who led NCAA Division I goaltenders in goals-against average (1.66) and save percentage (.940) last season while at Alaska-Fairbanks. "It's kind of hard to explain, and I wish I knew (what was wrong) because then it wouldn't be going the way it's going. I'm fighting the puck, and pucks are hitting me and taking bad bounces. It's just not going the right way right now, and all you can do is focus on tomorrow and get better.

"Things happen where you go in stretches like this, but everybody has them, even the best goalies in the world. Even they struggle sometimes, but it's just matter of getting out of it by going back to doing the little things in practice and having good habits. Hopefully it will carry over in games, and we'll start getting the results that we need to get. We just have to stick together and go back to basics."

The Wolf Pack were outshot 9-1 in the opening 7:33, but Johnson kept the Admirals off the board with several good saves, notably a dive to his left to deny Ryan Craig's wraparound at 3:45. Admirals goalie Jaroslav Janus (21 saves) then kept it scoreless with bang-bang stops on Derek Couture and Dane Byers' rebound at 8:40 and Corey Locke's short-handed bid off a 2-on-1 at 11:18.

Given those reprieves, the Admirals took alead they would never relinquish at 11:57, when Juraj Simek took a pass from Dana Tyrell and beat Johnson high to the glove side. The Admirals then doubled their lead on their second power play as Brandon Bochenski picked up a loose puck in center ice, burst into the Wolf Pack zone around defenseman Corey Potter and beat Johnson to the glove side at 14:49.

But the Wolf Pack got to 2-1 with 3:41 left in the first period when defenseman Jared Nightingale had a shot from the blueline blocked before gathering in the carom and firing another shot that Brodie Dupont deflected past Janus, who won his fourth in a row.

But the Admirals regained their two-goal lead only 53 seconds into the second period when Tyrell's shot from the left point ricocheted off the end boards to Craig, who centered in front to a wide-open Adam Hall for a quick finish past Johnson.

The Wolf Pack appeared as if they would close to 3-2 on their second power play, but Evgeny Grachev missed an open net after making a deft move to get open in the left circle at 6:20. The Wolf Pack then caught a break when Simek hit the crossbar and Ryan McGinnis fired high at an open net while breaking in off the left point at 10:40.

But the Admirals made it 4-1 as Matt Lashoff took a pass from Paul Szczechura, skated around defensemen Ilkka Heikkinen and Kevin Schaeffer and fired a shot that trickled through the legs of Johnson at 12:07. Johnson was then again replaced by Miika Wiikman (21 saves).

A sprawling Wiikman denied Mitch Fadden's rebound bid from in close with 5:15 left in the period, but the Admirals made it 5-1 during a 4-on-4 as Scott Jackson's shot from the left circle deflected off defenseman Nigel Williams' stick and between Wiikman's legs with 2:08 to go.

And the Admirals nearly made it 6-1 during a 4-on-3 power play with 23 seconds left, but Craig hit the post and Wiikman made a diving glove save to stop Fadden's rebound.

But Wiikman had no chance at 1:18 of the third period when Craig walked in alone after Tyrell chipped the puck over Williams' stick and into the slot.

Wiikman then made stellar stops on Fadden and Simek before Janus was alert to deny Williams and Schaeffer.

The Wolf Pack finally solved Janus again with help from McGinnis, who lost the puck to Paul Crowder, who skated in front and scored into an open net at 12:45.

The Admirals had an excellent chance to regain their five-goal lead, but Bochenski missed the net on a breakaway with 6:10 left. But they did open the lead back to five with their third power-play goal in five tries, when Ty Wishart scored with 2:23 left.

Nightingale scored off assists from Jordan Owens and Donald Brashear with 14.7 seconds left. It was Brashear's first point in three games since being loaned to the Wolf Pack from the Rangers after clearing waivers.

SUMMARY

Norfolk 2 3 2 -- 7 Hartford 1 0 2 -- 3 First period: 1. Norfolk, Simek 16 (Jones, Tyrell), 11:57. 2. Norfolk, Bochenski 17, 14:49 (pp). 3. Hartford, Dupont 11 (Nightingale, Roche), 16:19. Penalties--Crowder Hfd (holding), 9:36; Locke, Hfd (slashing), 14:12. Second period: 4. Norfolk, Hall 10 (Craig, McGinnis), :53. 5. Norfolk, Lashoff 6 (Szczechura, Bochenski), 12:07 (pp). 6. Norfolk, Jackson 1 (Bochenski, Parrish), 17:52. Penalties-Fritz, Nor (tripping), 2:52; served by Fadden, Nor (bench minor - too many men), 4:53; Craig, Nor (fighting), 9:01; Couture, Hfd (fighting), 9:01; Nightingale, Hfd (high-sticking), 11:09; Simek, Nor (roughing), 17:39; Couture, Hfd (roughing), 17:39; Weise, Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:00. Third period: 7. Norfolk, Craig 17 (Tyrell, Lashoff), 1:18. 8. Hartford, Crowder 11, 12:45. 9. Norfolk, Wishart 8 (Szczechura, Lashoff), 17:37 (pp). 10. Hartford, Nightingale 2 (Owens, Brashear), 19:45. Penalties-McGinnis, Nor (hooking), 4:09; Craig, Nor (fighting), 14:49; DiDiomete, Hfd (fighting), 14:49; Soryal, Hfd (high-sticking), 16:30. Shots on goal: Norfolk 17-13-15-45. Hartford 9-6-9-24; Power-play opportunities: Norfolk 3 of 5, Hartford 0 of 3; Goalies: Norfolk, Janus 6-6-0 (24 shots-21 saves). Hartford, Johnson 14-10-2 (21-17); Wiikman (24-21); A: 2,938; Referee: Mark Lemelin; Linesmen: Glen Cooke, Paul Simeon.



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