WOLF PACK GROUND FALCONS 

VERSUS

(We had technical issues that prevented us from seeing a better part of the contest between the Wolf Pack and the Falcons. We feel it’s unethical to write about things we mostly heard and didn’t see with our own eyes. Therefore, enjoy Bruce Berlet’s take on the contest.)

By Bruce Berlet

No one was more disappointed than Chad Kolarik after former Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers set up the tying goal late in the regulation and scored the clinching shootout goal to give the Springfield Falcons a win two days after the two were traded.

Kolarik got his revenge in spades Friday night, scoring two goals, the second worthy of a SportsCenter “Top 10 Plays of the Day” nomination, and assisted on the final goal as the Wolf Pack scored their most complete game victory of the season, 5-2 over the Falcons before 6,226 at the MassMutual Center.

“It was fun and something we needed to get off the little schneid we were on,” Kolarik said, referring to the Wolf Pack’s 1-9-2-1 slide entering the game. “Hopefully this turned things around and kind of jump-starts us a little bit. Obviously it feels pretty good to get (the win) from a team that actually traded you away.”

But Kolarik remains popular among his former teammates, many of whom stopped to say hello and offer congratulations as he waited outside his old locker room.

“I was definitely jacked for this game,” said Kolarik, who has three goals in two games against his former team. “It was exciting, and I heard some boo-birds, too.”

But after scoring the Wolf Pack’s first goal off a deflection of a Kris Newbury shot, Kolarik gave the Wolf Pack the lead for good with his SportsCenter nominee. He skated around his net, did a give-and-go with Newbury in the neutral zone, raced into the Falcons end, turned around defenseman Nick Holden and beat LeNeveu high to the far corner with 4:08 left in the period.

“It was a pretty dynamic play and a good boost for us to get the lead back in a pretty short time,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said.

“I just wheeled the net a little bit, got some speed going and Newbs was posted up at the red-line so I dished it to him and kind of cut to the middle,” Kolarik said. “He made a smart play and great pass, caught me streaking through the middle, made a little bit of toe-drag on the defenseman, got kind of lucky with it ending up on my stick and threw a chip shot over (LeNeveu’s) glove. It was good feeling to get that, that’s for sure.”

And there was finally plenty of other good news Friday night for the Wolf Pack (5-10-2-2), who allowed only nine shots for 42 1/2 minutes and 13 for the game, tying a franchise record. They ended a four-game losing streak on the road and the franchise-worst slump that dropped six games under .500 for the first time in their 14-year history and into a tie for last place in the Atlantic Division with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who had two games in hand. The intra-state rivals remained tied after Tony Romano scored at 1:54 of the overtime to give the Sound Tigers (7-10-0-0) a 4-3 victory over the Providence Bruins.

They also didn’t have to deal with the angst of another one-goal loss, which the Wolf Pack have suffered nine times, with a 10^th loss being by two goals with an empty-netter against. And they beat former Wolf Pack goalie David LeNeveu, who had won the previous three games between the teams this season.

“Everybody was going, and it was a 60-minute effort,” Kolarik said.

The Wolf Pack broke fast as Newbury stole a clearing attempt by Falcons defenseman Cody Goloubef, spun and fired a shot at 3:09 that beat LeNeveu, screened by Kolarik, acquired for Byers on Nov. 8.

“Newbs just hit my stick, and I got kind of lucky,” Kolarik said. “It was nice to get on the board early.”

But only 33 seconds later, Tomas Kubalik chipped the puck through center ice, bolted down right wing going around defenseman Lee Baldwin and beat Chad Johnson low to the stick side for his third goal in two games.

Wolf Pack defenseman Jared Nightingale then earned major points from his teammates and coaches when he stepped in to fight Byers, who had blindsided Ryan Garlock in center ice at 10:23.

Kolarik gave the Wolf Pack the lead for good with his seventh and most spectacular goal.

After Johnson (11 saves) made a good glove save on Kubalik off a 2-on-1 just 12 seconds after Kolarik’s brilliant rush, the Wolf Pack made it 3-1 on a counter-attack as Zuccarello picked up a loose puck in center ice, bolted behind defensemen John Moore and Nate Guenin and fired a shot into the low left corner with 3:49 left.

Off the ensuing faceoff, right wing Dale Weise, back after missing 15 games since Oct. 15 with a wrist injury that required surgery, pulled a Nightingale as he stepped in and fought Blunden, who had tried to decapitate Zuccarello along the boards with 3:04 left.

The offensively challenged Wolf Pack finished the period shooting 3-for-7 and soon was batting .500 when Zuccarello stole the puck from Byers, patiently skated into the Falcons zone and found a breaking Wade Redden, who skated into the left circle and beat LeNeveu high to the stick side exactly 2:00 into the third period.

Johnson made strong saves on veteran Nick Tarnasky off a 3-on-2 after a Baldwin turnover at 3:05 and Holden’s shot from the wing 20 seconds later.

Johnson denied Michael Ratchuk’s goal bid from the right circle with 4:08 left in the period, and on an ensuing rush and after tenacious forechecking, Kolarik made a brilliant pass from the goal line out to the right point to Jyri Niemi. The Pack defenseman then fired the puck on goal. The shot was redirected by Justin Soryal and lifted over LeNeveu with 3:38 to go. Garlock was also instrumental in hemming in the Falcons, and Niemi’s assist was his first pro point in North America.

“That was a good, heavy shot by Niemi,” Gernander said. “I thought he had a good game.”

The Wolf Pack nearly made it 6-1, but LeNeveu (22 saves) denied a wide-open Devin DiDiomete with 24 seconds left. And the Wolf Pack came even closer to the extra marker early in the third period, but LeNeveu denied Evgeny Grachev’s shot from in front of the net off a a 2-on-1. The second year forward then scooped up the puck and tried a wraparound that the Springfield netminder also denied. Grachev’s wraparound attempt rebounded out to Newbury who’s shot was also turned away by LeNeveu at 2:55.

Given those reprieves, the Falcons (9-7-0-1) got to 5-2 when Byers kept the puck in the Wolf Pack zone and fed Guenin, whose shot from the right point was deflected in by Maksim Mayorov at 8:14.

But that couldn’t detract from the Wolf Pack’s effort this night.

“It was a solid game in which we did a lot of things well,” Gernander said. “When goals start going in and the team gets the two points, it seems to accentuate a lot of the positives. But if you get beat in the last couple of minutes in a one-goal game, you seem to dwell on the mistakes and don’t always see some of the good things that were done.”

Jason Remillard takes you inside the Falcons locker room at Masslive.com

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* Soryal returned to the lineup after missing his first game of the season Wednesday when he was hit in the face with a deflected puck in practice two days earlier. Soryal wore a face cage, as he did last season after sustaining a broken orbital bone in a fight with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Jesse Boulerice.

* The Wolf Pack continues a season-high, five-game road trip Saturday night at 7 in Binghamton, N.Y. Former Wolf Pack center Corey Locke has an 11-game scoring streak (six goals, 14 assists) and leads the AHL in assists (19) and points (26) in 17 games but did not play in the Senators’ 4-2 victory over the Hershey Bears. Locke had been involved in 26 of the Senators’ 55 goals. Goalie Barry Brust, who improved to 7-6-1 Friday night, has allowed only 10 goals in his wins and 27 in his losses. He has two shutouts but also has allowed seven and eight goals in a game. Bobby Butler had his league-high 14^th goal and leads all rookie scorers with 20 points.

* One of the players in the upcoming “Whaler Hockey Winter Fest” will be Sacred Heart sophomore wing Kyle Verbeek, son of former Whalers and New York Rangers Pat Verbeek. The one-time wing is in his first year as a scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning and saw the Wolf Pack play for the first time Friday night. Sacred Heart plays UConn on Feb. 13 at 1 p.m.

* The Falcons scratched two-time Stanley Cup winner Jay Pandolfo, injured Tom Sestito (hip), Grant Clitsome, Kyle Neuber, Theo Ruth and Tomas Kana, who will be out 6-to-8 week after having surgery on his left thumb that was dislocated thumb in a fight with fellow Czech Tomas Kundratek of the Wolf Pack in the Falcons’ 4-3 shootout victory last Saturday night. The Falcons also were without left wing Michael Ryan, who was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.

Pandolfo, 35, was working in his home area of Burlington, Mass., where he grew up and attended high school, when he was signed to a professional try-out (PTO) contract Thursday. The defensive specialist is scheduled to participate in a few practices with his new team and then might play Sunday when the Falcons visit Worcester to take on the Sharks.

Pandolfo’s signing comes a week after Springfield president and general manager Bruce Landon signed another NHL veteran, Nick Tarnasky, who played two seasons with the Falcons when they were affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“You want to stay competitive despite what might happen – like injuries or call-ups – so we’re always on the lookout,” Landon told the Springfield Union-News. “Columbus (the Falcons’ new parent club) has been fantastic to work with. It’s their money, and they, like us, keep on top of daily transactions and in touch with agents.”

An unusual number of veteran NHL players and solid AHL players weren’t signed this year because of salary cap issues for NHL teams. The Falcons/Blue Jackets also were looking for size in signing Tarnasky and trading for former Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers, acquired from the Rangers for Chad Kolarik on Nov. 8.

Pandolfo is a 14-year pro who has 99 goals and 124 assists in 819 NHL games with the New Jersey Devils and 24 goals and 28 assists in 68 AHL games with the former Albany River Rats. The former Boston University standout, an All-American and the Hockey East Player of the Year in 1996, was the Devils’ second-round pick in 1993 and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2000 and 2003. The day before the free-agent signing period opened July 1, the Devils placed Pandolfo on waivers and then bought out his contract.

“Jay has had a successful career,” Falcons coach Rob Riley told the Union-News. “He’s experienced, and he gives us another player with leadership.”

LINES:

 Grachev – Newbury – J. Williams

Zuccarello – Kennedy – Weise
DiDiomete – Kolarik – Tessier
Soryal – Garlock

Redden –  Nightingale
Valentenko – Niemi
McDonagh – Kundratek
Baldwin

Johnson
Talbot

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Brodie Dupont – Leg Laceration – Day-to-Day
Tyler Donati – Healthy Scratch
Nigel Williams – Healthy Scratch
Chris McKelvie – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. HFD – C. Kolarik
2. HFD – K. Newbury
3. HFD – M. Zuccarello

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Chris Brown (86)

Linesmen:
Robert St. Lawrence (10)
Frank Murphy (29)

NEXT GAME:

The Wolf Pack travel to Binghamton (7:05pm) on Saturday and Sunday its off to Hershey (5:00pm). They follow that one with their last game as the Hartford Wolf Pack next Friday in Bridgeport (7:00) versus the Sound Tigers.  Bob Crawford will have the pregame at 6pm.

To watch the game live, you can purchased it for $6.99 at AHL-live.

For Ticket information call (860) 548-2000.

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com or from your cell phone or computer visit www.twitter.com/howlingstoday for complete live in-game coverage.

SCORE-SHEET:

Hartford Wolf Pack 5 at Springfield Falcons 2 – Status: Final
Friday, November 19, 2010 – MassMutual Center

Hartford 3 2 0 – 5
Springfield 1 0 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Hartford, Kolarik 6 (Newbury), 3:09. 2, Springfield, Kubalik 5 (Calvert, Guite), 3:42. 3, Hartford, Kolarik 7 (Newbury), 15:42 (PP). 4, Hartford, Zuccarello 7   16:11. Penalties-Nightingale Hfd (slashing), 5:15; Nightingale Hfd (roughing, fighting), 10:23; Byers Spr (fighting), 10:23; Ratchuk Spr (tripping), 13:48; Weise Hfd (fighting), 16:56; Blunden Spr (fighting), 16:56.

2nd Period-5, Hartford, Redden 2 (Zuccarello, Nightingale), 2:00. 6, Hartford, Soryal 2 (Niemi, Kolarik), 16:22. Penalties-Kolarik Hfd (tripping), 9:08; Weise Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct), 20:00; Sigalet Spr (cross-checking, roughing), 20:00.

3rd Period-7, Springfield, Mayorov 5 (Guenin, Byers), 8:14. Penalties-Holden Spr (cross-checking), 19:22.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 7-13-7-27. Springfield 5-4-4-13.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 1 / 3; Springfield 0 / 3.
Goalies-Hartford, Johnson 4-10-1 (13 shots-11 saves). Springfield, LeNeveu 6-4-1 (27 shots-22 saves).
A-6,226
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Robert St. Lawrence (10), Frank Murphy (29).

(Photos courtesy of MassLive.com)