CANTLON: (SUN) PACK BEAT PHANTOMS IN A SHOOTOUT GET FIRST WIN 

WOLF Pack Beat Phantoms In A Shootout FOR FIRst Win

      VERSUS      

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – It took a little extra time for the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday afternoon to earn their first win of the season as it took Adam Tambellini’s shootout attempt to win it, 2-1.

The goal came as a result of a last second decision by Tambellini.

As Tambellini came down the slot, he began to lose control of the puck, but he recovered on the backhand switched to his forehand and left goaltender Alex Lyon on his face on the ice. It was the only puck to score during the shootout.

“That was all planned, all planned,” Tambellini said with a wry smile. “I worked on the move in the off-season and wanted to give it a go and it worked out.”

Chris Nell (28 saves) sealed the deal stopping the third Phantoms attempt from Phil Varone.

“We didn’t start the season the way we wanted, but tonight, as a team, we showed what we were capable of and were able to take it to them,” Nell said.

Head coach Keith McCambridge was happy with how the team looked from the goal on out. “We played hard; generated chances off the rush, capitalizing on the five-on-three with a goal was a must to get the win and I enjoyed our work ethic.”

Nell was sharp in the third stopping Varone early. He followed with a stop on the AHL’s perennial Eddie Shore winner or finalist, defenseman TJ Brennan. Nell stopped him dead center at the blue line on a semi-screen. He then rejected  Matt Read cutting across the front of the net with a redirect attempt.

“Any time there was a breakdown in our zone, (Nell) was there to make the save,” McCambridge said. “It was a very strong game by him tonight and our defense. When there were rebounds laying around, and there weren’t many, our defense did a good job clearing them out or getting their sticks in front of shots.”

Alex Lyon, (35 saves) the former Yale star equaled Nell’s performance in net in the third keeping the game tied.

At 10:34, Joe Whitney had a strong bid via a turnover. Whitney turned and wristed one that Lyon was able to keep out of the net. Alexei Bereglazov followed off a feed from Vinni Lettieri, but his backhander was stopped. Defenseman Garrett Noonan had two shots early in the third and then again with 3:33 left.

After Noonan’s strong bid for a goal, the Pack made a strong push to get a regulation win. Winger Scott Kosmachuk (five shots) followed Noonan’s shot with an effort of his own coming down the middle of the ice, but couldn’t get it past Lyon.

Both goalies shined in the second period making several key stops.

Late in the period, Nell stopped a Varone backhanded shot at 17:32. The Pack’s Dan Catenacci came off the left wing for a bid, but Lyon held his ground kicking out his shot to the corner.

Nell faced the greater “Grade A” scoring chances. He stopped Philip Myers coming off the right point and then Greg Carey, the older brother of former Wolf Pack, Matt Carey, who saw his wrist shot denied from off a right-wing.

The Pack was able to grab a lead on a five-on-three power play in the first period. With Whitney on the left wing, he put a hard pass tape-to-tape on Tambellini’s stick. Tambellini then one-timed his second of the season past Lyon at 8:31. Lyon tried to come across the crease, but could not get there in time.

“Joe is an extremely skilled player. I didn’t know if he had seen I was open and made it easy. He put it in the right spot and all had to do was shoot,” Tambellini, who’s off to a strong start to his season, said.

Nell stopped the Phantoms Oscar Lindblom four times in the first period including a break in play off the right wing.

At 17:33, The Wolf Pack nearly got out the period with a two-goal lead, but Lyon displayed the skills that got him to the AHL from his experience at Yale two years ago.

Whitney gained the Lehigh Valley zone with great speed and shifted from right wing to center. The Pack captain then snapped an against the grain shot that caught Lyon falling backward while trying to track him. Lyon recovered enough to make a gorgeous glove save.

But then the Pack’s early season penchant for losing defensive zone draws came back to bite them again.

Mike Vecchione won the draw for the Phantoms cleanly from Cole Schneider. The loose puck was in the circle and Lehigh Valley’s red-hot scorer, Danick Martel, came off an opening night hat-trick and snapped his fourth goal of the young season perfectly to the top shelf on the stick side and over Nell’s right shoulder at 17:53.

Nell had a strong first period making 12 saves.

NOTES:

Kosmachuk and Lettieri led the team with five shots. Tambellini and Whitney had four each. Oscar Lindblom and Mikhail Vorobyev had five apiece for the Phantoms.

Wolf Pack line combinations:

Adam Tambellini-Scott Kosmachuk-Boo Nieves
Dan DeSalvo-Cole Schneider-Dan Catenacci
Joe Whitney-Vinni Lettieri-Matt Puempel
Steven Fogarty-Eric Selleck-Ryan Gropp

Ryan Graves-Neal Pionk
Garrett Noonan-John Gilmour
Brendan Crawley-Alexei Bereglazov

Chris Nell

Robin Kovacs, the ex-Pack, officially signed with Lulea HF (Sweden-SHL). Goalie Mac Carruth of Rockford signed with an Austrian Elite League team, Alba Valon (Hungary). Jordan Caron of the Chicago Wolves signed with Krefeld (Germany-DEL) making 89 AHL’ers from last season who’ve headed off to Europe.

WOLF PACK FAN JERSEY OF THE GAME: Dan Cloutier #39 and Bobby Sanguinetti #21.

Congratulations to Nathan ‘Stormy” Walker becoming not only the first Australian to play in an NHL game, but he scored a goal in it.

He joins some very elite company to score a goal in their first game.

Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh) did it on his first shift in Boston. Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary), Real “Buddy” Cloutier (Quebec) recorded a hat trick while Auston Matthews (Toronto) notched four goals last year for the Leafs.

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