Sports stats



Wolf Pack nip Monarchs, 4-3

April 8, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


Manchester, NH, April 8, 2009: Mark Bell scored a shorthanded goal with 20.2 seconds left in the third period Wednesday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena, giving the Hartford Wolf Pack a 4-3 victory over the Manchester Monarchs.

After Brock McBride was assessed a hooking penalty at 19:00 of the third, Patrick Rissmiller worked the puck free in the defensive zone and broke two-on-one with Bell. Rissmiller fed a pass to Bell at the left-wing side of the slot, and Bell one-timed the puck past the right skate of Monarch goaltender Jonathan Bernier.

Despite the win, the Wolf Pack (45-27-3-3, 96 points) remained one win short of clinching first place in the Atlantic Division, as second-place Providence also won, 5-2 in Lowell. Hartford remains two points ahead of Providence, with both teams having two games left to play.

Bell also had an assist in the game for Hartford, and Rissmiller added a goal. Matt Zaba made 28 saves in the Wolf Pack net to register his 13th win in his last 15 decisions. David Meckler had a goal and an assist for Manchester.

The Wolf Pack got the game's first goal at 7:56 of the first period, as Rissmiller took a pass from Bell and was able to fake Meckler into sliding past him. Alone in front of the net at that point, Rissmiller put a backhand shot over the catching glove of Bernier.

The Manchester power play answered that goal only 1:24 later, on a goal by Gabe Gauthier. Meckler centered the puck from below the goal line to Gauthier on the left side of the slot, and Gauthier's low shot beat Zaba.

After the Wolf Pack controlled a long stretch of play, Manchester was able to take advantage of an offensive zone draw to take a 2-1 lead. Vladimir Dravecky fed the puck to Meckler in front, for the former Yale Eli's 14th of the season.

Hartford drew back to even at 8:33 of the second period, on a perfectly executed offensive-zone draw of their own. Mike Ouellette won the faceoff from Gauthier, and then went to the front of the net and slid in the rebound of Michael Sauer's shot from the point.

Once again, Manchester came back quickly on a power play, as Thomas Hickey found Matt Moulson just below the top of the circles and Moulson snapped a shot past Zaba at 9:51, just 1:18 after Ouellette's goal.

A fluke goal evened the score at 13:11, with Monarch defenseman Joe Piskula putting the puck in his own net. Piskula tried to pass up the left-wing side, and not only fanned on the pass but slid it past a stunned Bernier and cleanly into the goal. As the last Wolf Pack player to touch the puck, Pack scoring leader Artem Anisimov was credited with his 36th goal of the season.

That sent the game into the third period tied at 3 and set the stage for Bell's late shorthanded heroics. The Wolf Pack lead the AHL in shorthanded goals with 19, and have five shorthanders in their last three games.



American Hockey League Stories from April 8, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Connecticut Whale Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central