Wolf Pack wins over Portland Pirate
February 21, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release
HARTFORD, Conn. _ Portland Pirates goalie Jhonas Enroth made the Hartford Wolf Pack work overtime Saturday night.
Enroth had 43 saves, but defenseman Michael Sauer converted Sean Avery's rebound at 2:20 of overtime to give the Wolf Pack a 2-1 victory before 6,043 at the XL Center.
"I saw their forward was kind of in the slot, so I knew I could get the jump on him," Sauer said. "When I was going in, I saw Avery was going to the net, so I decided to go backdoor (off the right point) in case there was just such a play. It was bang-bang, and I just tapped it in. It felt good, that's for sure. Their goalie played good, and we just had to stay persistent."
Before the goal, Avery broke his stick, returned from the bench with a replacement, took a pass from Patrick Rissmiller and put a shot on Enroth that caromed to Sauer.
"I broke a couple of sticks in the third period, so it kind of worked out," said Avery, who got his first point in four games since being loaned to the Wolf Pack from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 10. "Rissmiller made a nice pass, and I just tried to get it on net quick and Mike jumped on the rebound and put it home. It definitely was a good way to get a win, especially with their goalie playing really well. He certainly kept them in it, so it was nice that we stuck with the game plan and kept working together as a team and squeezed out two points."
The Wolf Pack were 1-for-10 on the power play and failed on three 5-on-3s totaling 1:51, but they got several good scoring chances with the man advantage and outshot the Pirates during a 5-minute major to Devin DiDiomete while going 6-for-6 on the penalty kill. The victory moved the Wolf Pack (29-23-2-3) into a second-place tie with the Pirates (28-22-1-5) in the Atlantic Division.
The Wolf Pack had a 15-3 shot advantage in the first period but managed only a 1-0 lead on a power play as Bobby Sanguinetti took a pass from former Pirates wing P.A. Parenteau at the blueline and beat Enroth with a screen shot at 3:03.
After Matt Zaba (17 saves) denied Mathieu Darche breaking in off right wing, Enroth made a brilliant glove save on Mike Ouellette off a drop pass by Avery. Enroth then made a diving save on Tomas Zaborsky, playing his fifth game since being called up from Dayton of the ECHL.
The Pirates got a 5-minute power play at 11:12 when DiDiomete got a major and game misconduct for boarding on Kenny MacAulay, who didn't return. The Wolf Pack actually outshot the Pirates 2-1, with Enroth denying Artem Anisimov skating in alone out of the right corner with 5:11 left.
The Wolf Pack had a 15-8 shot advantage in a second period featuring eight power plays, including the three 5-on-3s. Enroth robbed Corey Potter with a sprawling save at 7:45 before the Pirates tied it during a 4-on-4 when Marc-Andre Gragnani's screen shot from the blueline went in off the crossbar at 10:13.
The Wolf Pack were fortunate when Mark Mancari lost the puck on a breakaway after getting around Rissmiller with 6:05 left, then Enroth kept it tied with strong saves off Zaborsky and on Brodie Dupont's rebound.
Zaba made a sliding save on Aaron Slattengren off a 3-on-2 at 4:35 of the third period, then the Wolf Pack regained the momentum as Enroth gloved a wide-open Potter's knuckball shot from the slot at 6:05 before spread-eagling to deny Ouellette's rush and Dale Weise's rebound at 8:24.
Enroth got the Pirates to overtime when he stopped Dupont breaking in off the wing with 4:02 and made a brilliant glove save off Brian Fahey 2:04 into overtime. But Sauer ended it with the Wolf Pack's 45th shot, one shy of their season high.
"You need offense from all different sources, and it's great that someone like (Sauer) had confidence to jump up into the play and got rewarded," Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. "For all the great saves that Enroth made, it came down to a simple play. And the biggest positive is we stayed with it. We didn't give them anything and continued to push. I'm sure it was a little frustrating for the guys at times, but we persevered."
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