Keeping Up With The Pack: Hartford Draws Even on the Season
The Hartford Wolf Pack’s 13th season in franchise history got off to a rocky start with a pair of 5-3 road losses to the Binghamton Senators and Providence Bruins, but the veteran-laden team bounced back in convincing fashion this weekend to even its record on the season at 2-2.
After a lackluster performance in Friday’s loss to Providence, the Wolf Pack returned to the Connecticut capital on Saturday for their home opener against the Springfield Falcons. The Falcons have been the Wolf Pack’s whipping boys in recent years and Saturday’s game proved no different as the Pack cruised to a decisive 7-3 win over the Oilers’ AHL affiliate. P.A. Parenteau scored his first hat trick in a Wolf Pack jersey and free agent signing Corey Locke added two goals and an assist to pace the Pack in a typical, scrum-filled rivalry game.
The win came at a cost, however, as the team lost starting goaltender Matt Zaba to a concussion after he was tagged with an elbow to the head during a race for a lose puck with Springfield’s Liam Reddux in the closing seconds of the first period.
Zaba’s injury opened the door for rookie Chad Johnson, who had been pulled after forty minutes in his professional debut in Providence on Friday night after giving up four goals on 21 shots. Johnson looked more comfortable playing in relief for Zaba on Saturday, stopping 27 of 28 shots he faced. He carried that momentum into the rematch with Providence on Sunday, turning away 22 of 24 shots as he and the Pack avenged Friday night’s loss to the baby Bruins with a 3-2 victory.
Zaba’s concussion also made room for goaltender Miika Wiikman’s return from Charlotte of the ECHL, where he’d been assigned to rehab from a groin he injury suffered midway through Rangers training camp.
More on Hartford’s early leaders after the jump.
Up front, the early offensive leaders are not surprisingly Parenteau (4 goals, 3 assists) and Locke (5 goals, 1 assist), who finished ninth and eighth in AHL scoring last season, respectively. Dale Weise (2 goals, 2 assists) and Paul Crowder (1 goal, 3 assists) have also made solid contributions offensively. Crowder, a rookie who signed with the Rangers out of the University of Alaska-Anchorage last spring and got a cup of coffee with the Pack at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs, has earned significant ice time from head coach Ken Gernander despite the team’s veteran depth at center, which includes Locke, Patrick Rissmiller, and Tyler Arnason.
Fellow rookie Evgeny Grachev scored his first professional goal on Friday and added an assist in each of the next two games, giving him three points in his first four games. The 19-year old is still about a quarter of a second behind in his decision making as he adjusts to the pace of the professional game, but has been extremely strong along the boards and has already shown some good chemistry with Parenteau.
On paper, the Wolf Pack’s experienced defense corps should be among the league’s best. But the group is still learning to play the aggressive system mandated by the parent club in New York, and the results haven’t been pretty. Bobby Sanguinetti and Illka Heikkinen, the two players best suited for John Tortorella’s style of play, have adapted best, and each has four points over the first four games. Sanguinetti, however, got burned to the outside a couple times this weekend, with one of those times ending with a puck in the Hartford net. The pairing of Corey Potter and Nigel Williams, which spent most of the weekend together, has been especially bad, finishing a combined -5.
Who’s Hot
P.A. Parenteau has points in each of the Wolf Pack’s first four games. His seven points lead the team and earned him runner-up consideration for AHL Player of the Week honors.
Corey Locke absolutely thrives on the extra space afforded by the man advantage. Four of the forward’s five goals have been scored on the power play, and he’s a major reason why the Pack’s power play unit is currently firing at 30.8%.
Ilkka Heikkinen has settled in nicely after an underwhelming training camp in New York. The 24-year old Finn has played well at both ends of the ice and was rewarded with his first North American pro goal on Sunday afternoon in Providence, where he also added an assist.
Who’s Not
Dane Byers looks nothing like the player who was expected to challenge for a spot with the Rangers during training camp this fall. The fourth year pro has a single assist on the season and took three minor penalties in Sunday’s game against Providence, including two in the final five minutes of the game, the first of which allowed the Bruins to cut the Pack’s lead to 3-2.
Corey Potter has struggled as he tries to adapt to head coach John Tortorella’s system. The 25-year old defenseman looks completely out of sync and and his -3 is tied for the team-worse with center Tyler Arnason.
Tyler Arnason’s signing this summer was a head-scratcher, and it’s become no less so after the first four games of the season. Pointless and a -3, Arnason was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s home opener before returning to the line-up for Sunday’s game.
What’s Next
The Wolf Pack play a pair of road games this week. On Friday they travel to Portland to face the 1-3-0-0 Pirates, farm team of the Buffalo Sabres, at 7pm. On Saturday they’ll look to continue their domination of the Falcons at 7pm when they make the short drive up I-91 to Springfield, where the baby Oilers have lost three straight after opening their season with a win. Listen for free at www.wtic.com or watch for $6.99 via AHL Live.
Laurie covers the Wolf Pack and the Rangers’ Russian players and prospects for her blog, Beyond the Blueshirts. She’ll be bringing us weekly updates on the Rangers’ top farm club throughout the 2009-2010 season.
