Wolf Pack Downed by Bears 4-3

Published on November 21, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


Hershey, PA - A bad second period, in which they were outscored 4-1 and outshot 16-6, cost the Hartford Wolf Pack Sunday at the Giant Center, in a 4-3 loss to the Hershey Bears that snapped a two-game Wolf Pack winning streak.

Mathieu Perreault, who registered a six-assist game the previous Sunday for Hershey in an 8-3 home win over Binghamton, led the Bear attack with two goals, and former Wolf Pack defenseman Brian Fahey had a goal and an assist. Thirteenth-year veteran Brian Willsie scored the game-winning goal, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 19 shots to get the win, in his third AHL appearance of the year.

Jared Nightingale scored his first goal of the season for the Wolf Pack, who also got goals from Mats Zuccarello and Dale Weise. Pack leading scorer Jeremy Williams had a pair of assists, and Cameron Talbot stopped 30 shots in the Hartford net.

The loss dropped the Wolf Pack (6-11-2-2, 16 pts.) back into a sixth-place tie in the Atlantic Division with Bridgeport, which shut out first-place Portland, 3-0, in Bridgeport.

The home side outshot the Wolf Pack 12-8 in a tightly-played first period, that saw the Pack penalty kill face a tough situation late against the AHL's leading power play.

After the Bears' Zach Miskovic nearly put the puck in his own net coming out of the penalty box at 4:49, the Wolf Pack's Devin DiDiomete was hit with a slashing penalty at 15:35, and Chad Kolarik, following up on a shorthanded rush by Ryan Garlock, made contact with Varlamov and was called for goaltender interference.

That gave Hershey a 42-second five-on-three power play, but the Wolf Pack were able to kill it off, even getting a good shorthanded chance on a Weise break-in that Fahey denied for the Bears.

Hershey stepped on the gas in the second period, though, starting at the 17-second mark, when Perreault broke up a Wolf Pack pass just outside the Hartford blue line and rushed down right wing, put a clever deke on Talbot and slipped the puck through his legs.

Just 1:13 later, Fahey, who spent the 2008-09 season on the Wolf Pack blue line, scored in a delayed penalty situation. Ashton Rome dropped the puck to Fahey at the right point and his long shot went through a crowd and eluded Talbot.

The Wolf Pack got on the scoreboard at 5:12 on a five-on-three power play, with Zuccarello notching his seventh of the year and fifth in his last seven games. Williams fed Wade Redden at the left point, and Zuccarello, screening Varlamov, deflected the puck in.

Perreault restored the two-goal lead 3:26 later at 8:38, with his second of the period. As he moved down right wing, Perrault's attempted centering pass hit Wolf Pack defenseman Jyri Niemi's stick and deflected past Talbot. Then, on a four-on-three power play at 19:05, Lawrence Nycholat, another ex-Wolf Pack defenseman, sent a pass to Willsie in the left-wing circle, and Willsie fired a one-timer that went just under the crossbar behind Talbot.

The Wolf Pack recovered from that poor second period and got back into the game in the third, with a pair of goals in a span of 1:19.

Nightingale scored his first of the year off of a three-on-two at 8:29. Williams, just out of the penalty box, started the play and set up Chad Kolarik at the left-wing side of the slot. Kolarik drew a defender to him and slid the puck in front to Nightingale, trailing the play, and he had an open net to put the puck into.

Weise then made it a one-goal game at 9:48, outbattling Nycholat for position in front of the net and deflecting in a try from the point by Pavel Valentenko. It was the third goal of the season for Weise, and his second in three games since returning from a 15-game injury absence.

The Wolf Pack finish off a stretch of five straight road games this Friday night, November 26 in Bridgeport against the Sound Tigers (7:00), before the team is officially re-branded the Connecticut Whale for a home game at the XL Center against Bridgeport this Saturday night, November 27. Faceoff for that game is 7:00, the night is presented by Xfinity, and the first 3,000 fans receive a green Whale t-shirt.

Connecticut Whale "Radio Roadblock" Monday

Radio listeners throughout the state of Connecticut will be treated to a Connecticut Whale "Radio Roadblock", featuring the Whale's iconic "Brass Bonanza", at 8:25 AM this Monday, November 22. This media "greenout" is in celebration of the return of The Whale to Connecticut Saturday, November 27, when the newly-rebranded team takes on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the XL Center at 7:00 PM, and Sunday, November 28, when the Adirondack Phantoms and former Wolf Pack head coach, and AHL Hall of Famer, John Paddock visit the XL Center for a 5:00 game. The voiceover talent for the Radio Roadblock is also memorable-legendary Whalers radio play-by-play man Chuck Kaiton. Connecticut hockey fans are encouraged to set their watches to 8:25 AM on Monday, and tune into one of the following participating radio stations: WDRC-FM, WHCN-FM, WKSS-FM, WMRQ-FM, ESPN Radio 1410 WPOP-AM, ESPN Radio 1300 WAVZ-AM, WWYZ-FM, WELI-AM, WKCI-FM, WPLR-FM, WCCC-FM, WTIC NewsTalk 1080, 96.5 TIC FM and LITE 100.5 FM.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2010


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