It was another win-one, lose-one weekend for the Hartford Wolf Pack, though the club managed to come away with three of four standings points thanks to a shootout loss on Saturday in Bridgeport.

The Wolf Pack returned from the Christmas break Saturday night with a short trip south to battle the second place Bridgeport Sound Tigers, which started the weekend five points north of the Wolf Pack in the Atlantic Division standings. In a tightly contested match, the Pack entered the third period trailing 1-0. Rookie Paul Crowder’s seventh of the season tied things up at 7:19, but Matt Martin gave the home team back the lead three minutes later when he beat goaltender Steve Valiquette on a penalty shot that was awarded after David Urquhart hooked the rookie as he skated in on a partial breakaway moments earlier.

Like their big brothers in New York did the same night, Hartford knotted the score in dramatic fashion, on a Corey Locke power play tally with only 1:14 remaining in regulation. Unlike the big club, the Wolf Pack survived five minutes of four-on-four  to send the game to a shootout, where — as they have each time they’ve gone to a shootout this season — they lost, dropping their record in the skills competition to 0-4. P.A. Parenteau scored the lone Wolf Pack goal, while Locke, Crowder, Dane Byers, Dale Weise and Brodie Dupont were all thwarted on their attempts. Bridgeport’s Trevor Smith and Justin DiBenedetto were able to put the puck past Valiquette, giving the baby Islanders the extra point and their second shootout win over their rivals this season.

One night later the Wolf Pack was back on the road, making the short journey north to visit the bottom-dwelling Springfield Falcons. In a game that was much closer than it should have been, the two teams battled to a 2-2 tie after twenty minutes, thanks to Wolf Pack goals by Andres Ambuhl and Dupont.

The good guys took the lead midway through the second on Parenteau’s eleventh of the season, which he scored into an empty net after goaltender J.P. Levasseur misplayed the puck behind the net, turning it over to Locke, who fed Parenteau in front.

Springfield equalized on an eerily similar play at 13:58 of the third. Valiquette, making his fourth straight start, lost the puck to Falcon forward Bill Thomas behind the net and Thomas fed Colton Fretter in front of the empty cage for the easy put-home on the power play.

A late penalty to Dupont forced the Pack to play the final 1:46 of regulation and first 14 seconds of extra time shorthanded, but the PK came up big, setting Locke up for a second night of heroics.  The league’s leading scorer took a feed from Parenteau in the right circle and snapped a perfect shot over Levasseur’s glove for the win at 1:09 of the extra frame.  It was Locke’s fourth game-winner of the season, tops on the team and good for a tie for second in the league.

The win improved the Wolf Pack’s record to 16-13-1-4 for 37 points and sole possession of sixth place in the division, while Springfield sunk to 10-17-6-2 for 28 points and the second worst record in the league.  Despite their recent up-and-down record, the Pack remain just a point out of a tie for fourth place and just four points short of second place.

Who’s Hot

P.A. Parenteau has five points in four games since returning from his most recent stint in New York and is a plus-4 in that span.  Linemate Corey Locke continues to lead the team and league in scoring with 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points in 34 games. Locke has six points in the four games since Parenteau’s return, after going three games without a point just prior to the winger’s reassignment.

Who’s Not
Evgeny Grachev is scoreless in his last five games, has just two points in his last 13 games and only four points in his last 19, making the organization’s decision not to allow him to participate in the current World Junior Championship both puzzling and frustrating. The struggling rookie, who’s a team worst minus-8, could have benefited from the dose of confidence playing against kids his own age would have provided.

What’s Next
Springfield and Hartford face off again in Hartford at 7:00pm on Wednesday in the back half of their home-and-home series. The Pack then play host for a rematch with Bridgeport on Saturday at 7:00pm and welcome the Syracuse Crunch, owners of the AHL’s worst record, on Sunday at 3pm.

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.