Wolf Pack Toppled in Shootout
November 18, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release
Hartford, CT, November 13, 2009 - The Hartford Wolf Pack fell to the Binghamton Senators at the XL Center Wednesday night, 2-1 in a shootout, losing their first shootout of the season.
Hartford goaltender Chad Johnson, in his first career shootout, allowed a pair of goals in three attempts, including the clincher from the Senators' Ryan Keller. Binghamton goaltender Andy Chiodo stopped all four Hartford attempts in the tie-breaker to seal the game for the visitors.
Trailing late, the Wolf Pack evened the score at one when Paul Crowder scored at 16:38 of the third frame, Hartford's lone goal on a power play that was stifled much of the night (one-for-nine).
After Binghamton's Cody Bass was called for a holding penalty at 16:19, Dane Byers rushed the puck up the left-side boards, cut in at the circles and passed to Crowder, who was streaking down the right wing. Crowder's one-time shot beat Chiodo to his left for the equalizer.
The Wolf Pack could not capitalize on the momentum, though, and would not solve Chiodo again.
"They were able to bottle up the middle of the ice," said Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander. "It was not by design, but it's just the way the game goes sometimes."
The third period ended all tied at one and the game headed to overtime, and an Ilkka Heikkinen holding call just 49 seconds into the extra session left the Wolf Pack killing the penalty for much of it.
The Senators had taken an early 1-0 lead at 17:26 of the first period, when Keller managed to deflect a rebound of a Martin St. Pierre shot past Johnson. The goal ended a scoreless streak of nearly seven periods for Johnson, who was coming off of consecutive shutouts against Manchester and Worcester.
"Going on to the shootout it's just too bad you can't win, battling back like we did," said Johnson. "You get a point but when you battle back, you want to get the win."
The Wolf Pack had managed just four shots on goal in the first, and came up with little more offense in the second period. Some of their best chances came from shots from the point from both Corey Potter and David Urquhart. Urquhart's shot four minutes into the period rang off of Chiodo's mask before he made the save.
Johnson made eight saves in the second period, including a stop on a shorthanded Senators effort by Bass, to keep Hartford's deficit at one.
The Wolf Pack also had an opportunity to level the game at one apiece before Crowder's goal early on in the third, when Derek Couture tried to jam in a feed from Jordan Owens, but Chiodo was able to pull the puck back as it sat on the goal line.
The loss ran the Wolf Pack's record to 10-7-0-1 for 21 points, and dropped them into fourth place in the Atlantic Division, a point back of third-place Springfield. The Wolf Pack will be back in action Thursday night at the XL Center, when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7:00).
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