Wolf Pack wins over Bridgeport

Published on October 16, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


BRIDGEPORT - Just call it Mats Revenge.

Moments after avoiding a hard check by a Bridgeport Sound Tigers defender, Mats Zuccarello broke in the offensive zone, took a brilliant centering pass from Evgeny Grachev and fired a 35-foot shot into the top right corner with 4:58 left to give the Hartford Wolf Pack a 2-1 victory before 6,217 at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

"Kind of nice revenge," Zuccarello said after netting his first game-winner in North America. "Grachev made an unbelievable play and pass, and I just tried to whip it to the top shelf. It was a lucky shot."

More like an NHL shot that stunned Sound Tigers goalie Mikko Koskinen (25 saves) and enabled the Wolf Pack (2-1-0-1) to end a two-game winless streak since a 4-2 victory over Charlotte in their opener.

Zuccarello, the leading scorer and MVP in the Swedish Elite League last season, rewarded an uncle and two friends from Norway who are on a golf junket to New York. They watched the Rangers lose in overtime to the Maple Leafs on Friday night, drove to Bridgeport for Saturday's game and will watch the Rangers play the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night before heading back to Norway.

"It's been nice to be able to talk some Norwegian," Zuccarello said with smile. "I feel I'm getting better and better adjusting (to the smaller ice surface in North America) playing with good players. I'm learning in every practice and feel I can contribute a little more offensively. But it's a good league. You can't go out and expect to dominate every shift. Sometimes you have to take your defensive job and sometimes you can contribute on the offensive end."

Zuccarello scored his first goal in North America in a 3-2 shootout loss in Albany on Friday night but struck at the most opportune moment after the Sound Tigers (1-3-0-0) had tied the score on Rhett Rakhshani's first professional goal at 7:17 of the third period.

"That was a very nice shot, a great release," Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said.

"Obviously he's a real sniper, and that's his job to put those kinds of shots in," Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers said. "He's a big part of this team."

Goalie Chad Johnson (21 saves) was impressed from the other end of the ice.

"He finds ways to score," Johnson said. "I could see it was a rolling puck, and he still put it where he wanted to. You can kind of see his goal-scoring ability. Most guys probably would have shot it over the net. But he put it exactly where he wanted to. It just kind of shows his awesome goal-scoring ability."

Grachev said he saw Zuccarello late as he broke into the slot after two Sound Tigers ran at him in the defensive zone.

"I didn't see him the whole time, but when I got to the half-wall I saw him," said Grachev, who took two Sound Tigers with him. "He's my buddy, so that's something I have to do more often."

Johnson made a handful of stellar stops, notably when he slid across to deny Rakhshani at the right post with 3:32 left. The Sound Tigers pulled Koskinen for a sixth attacker with 1:05 to go but couldn't get a shot on Johnson.

"I felt relaxed with two games back-to-back," Johnson said. "The biggest thing is I had a better start. I haven't had very good starts lately, and the two goals (Friday) night weren't very good goals. They way I look at it I should have had both. And the team had good start. I wanted to have a good start to set us up for a good second and third (period).

"I feel good, and I think everyone is starting to feel comfortable with each other. The defensemen were playing the puck well and communicating well. Our defensemen are almost NHL defensemen, with (Wade) Redden leading the way. He's so consistent and moves the puck with so much calm. The other defensemen are really taking notice of that and sort of playing like he does. And we're doing a good job blocking shots."

A blocked shot by Ryan McDonagh actually helped the Sound Tigers score their goal. Anton Klementyev's shot ricocheted off McDonagh's arm, and the Russian then got through Ryan Garlock and put the puck on Johnson, with Rakhshani's shot going in off the goalie's pad.

"It was a quick play and funny bounce, but plays like that happen so you just have to deal with it," Johnson said.

The Wolf Pack had to deal all night without having right wing Dale Weise, who was out with a recurring hand injury that will be examined by a specialist Monday or Tuesday. That caused Gernander to revamp three of his four lines, most notably Grachev moving from center to left wing alongside Zuccarello and Kennedy. Jeremy Williams took Weise's spot with Byers and center Kris Newbury. Former Quinnipiac standout Brandon Wong returned to the lineup and centered Brodie Dupont and Kelsey Tessier. The only line that remained intact was Justin Soryal-Ryan Garlock-Chris McKelvie.

The Wolf Pack nearly converted on their first power play, but Williams' shot hit the post at 4:28. Johnson then made the game's first big save when he denied a wide-open Robin Figren from the lower right circle at 8:34.

The Wolf Pack then killed off a Sound Tigers' 5-on-3 power play for 1:40, with Johnson making three saves, the best a right pad stop on Rob Hisey. Kennedy, Redden and Pavel Valentenko did yeoman work preventing many quality looks at Johnson.

Johnson kept it scoreless after the first period when he sprawled to stop Justin DiBenedoetto's rebound bid with 52 seconds left.

The Wolf Pack finally broke through 1:28 into the second period on a 4-on-3 power play when Redden feathered a diagonal cross-slot pass to the left circle to Williams, whose one-time shot broke off Koskinen and under his right arm. Redden has team highs in assists (four) and points (five) while scoring in every game. Kennedy got the secondary assist for his first point as a Wolf Pack.

The Wolf Pack continued to press, but Koskinen made a glove save on McDonagh at 3:02, a right pad stop on Tessier at 5:10 and denied Jyri Niemi from point blank range 20 seconds later.

With the Wolf Pack on their fifth power play, Koskinen stopped Kennedy at the doorstep at 10:17 and Johnson denied former Wolf Pack defenseman Dylan Reese from the right circle at 11:50.

The teams sparred through the first seven minutes of the third period before Rakhshani got the equalizer. But Zuccarello then found the corner for the go-ahead goal and Johnson stopped Rakhshani to preserve the win and send the Sound Tigers to their third consecutive loss.

"I thought we could have shown a little more composure at times," Gernander said of the sometimes chippy game. "But I think the guys competed very well, and I'm happy with the result."

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