Despite showing signs of improvement, the Hartford Wolf Pack continued to struggle this week, winning just once in four tries and finishing the weekend in seventh place in the AHL’s eight team Atlantic Division, with a 26-26-3-4 record.

The week started off the same way last week ended, with another blowout loss, this time to the Norfolk Admirals, 7-3.  Another slow start put the Pack behind the eight ball early, but despite being outshot 17-9, the Pack escaped to the locker room at the end of twenty minutes down by a single goal, thanks to a Brodie Dupont tally late in the period that made it 2-1.  Norfolk blew the game open in the second with three unanswered goals, however, the second of which sent rookie puck-stopper Chad Johnson to the bench for the second time in as many starts, after giving up four goals on 21 shots.  Paul Crowder and Jared Nightingale each added goals in the third period, after the game was already well out of hand.

Nightingale’s tally, with only 15 seconds remaining, is noteworthy only because it earned Donald Brashear his first point in the AHL since his demotion, a secondary assist.  It was a weekend of firsts for the exiled enforcer, who also fought his first AHL bout this weekend, against Bridgeport’s Joel Rechlicz.

While Johnson wasn’t good in net by any stretch of the imagination, the defense has continued to be the real issue.  The injury-battered blueline surrendered a season-high 45 shots in Wednesday’s match-up, but received a lift on Friday, when Bobby Sanguinetti returned to the line-up after an eleven game absence due to a high ankle sprain.  The improvement was immediately palpable.  Though the result, a 4-2 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, was no different, Sanguinetti’s presence proved a settling force.  The Pack kept their opponent under 32 shots for the first time since January 27th, allowing only 22 attempts on Johnson’s goal.  The Calgary native stopped 18 of them, but an empty net goal at 19:45 of the third sealed the Sound Tigers’ victory.

Leading scorer Corey Locke had opened the scoring against Bridgeport on the power play at 4:02 of the middle period, marking the first time in six tries that Hartford scored the first goal in a game.  Bridgeport answered with a pair of their own before the period ended.  Brodie Dupont tied the score at two 22 seconds into the final frame, but the Sound Tigers took the lead for good 41 seconds later.

Saturday saw the Wolf Pack’s five game losing streak come to an end against a surprising opponent: the Atlantic Division-leading Worcester Sharks, who entered the contest winners of four straight.  The Pack put three first period goals on the board, starting with Derek Couture’s marker at 5:41.  Sophomore Dale Weise then added a pair of goals at 6:22 and 9:13, the second of which came with Worcester on the power play, giving Weise a league-leading five shorthanded tallies on the season.

The Pack held the Sharks off the board through the second, and Locke extended the lead to four with only 7:32 remaining in the third period. The only question that remained was whether goaltender Matt Zaba would be able to hold the visitors off the scoreboard and earn his first shutout of the campaign.  Ex-Wolf Pack forward Dwight Helminen denied Zaba’s bid with 2:28 remaining, and Corey Quirk added another  with 37 seconds to cap the score at 4-2.

On Sunday the Wolf Pack traveled to Bridgeport for their fourth game in five days and seventh in ten.  They left with their 11th loss in their last 14 games.  Saturday’s 31-save victory had earned Zaba his second consecutive start and the sophomore netminder picked up where he left off the night before, keeping the Sound Tigers off the board in the first period when they outshot the Pack 9-3.  The two teams traded power play goals in the second, with Locke providing the Pack’s tally with 1:41 remaining in a more evenly played period.

Exiled Islander defenseman Brendan Witt played the villain in the third, however, scoring a rare goal — his first in the AHL since being demoted nine games earlier — at 11:53.  The Pack were unable to respond, resulting in the 2-1 Bridgeport victory.

The pair of losses to the Sound Tigers could prove especially damaging to the Wolf Pack’s playoff hopes.  The Pack had entered the week tied with both the Sound Tigers and Providence Bruins at 57 points, with Providence in the Atlantic Divisions final playoff berth on the basis of total wins and the Wolf pack in sixth as a result of having a game in hand over Bridgeport.  They finished the week in seventh place in the eight team division, four points behind Bridgeport for the final playoff position, with Providence tied in points but ahead of them by virtue of two extra wins.

Who’s Hot
Dale Weise, who initially struggled to put points on the board after rejoining the line-up following a wrist injury, has six points (3+3) in his last six games.  His linemate, Brodie Dupont, has six points (2+4) in his last seven games, and saw a six game scoring streak brought to an end on Sunday in Bridgeport.

Since breaking out of a four game scoreless streak on January 22nd, Corey Locke hasn’t gone more than a game without picking up a point. The All-Star center has 19 points in 19 games in that span.

Who’s Not
Heart-and-soul winger Jordan Owens has just a single assist in his last nine games, and has been a very uncharacteristic minus-5 in that stretch.

What’s Next
The Pack get the week to catch their breath before kicking off a three-in-three set over the Friday when they welcome the Springfield Falcons to the XL Center in Hartford at 7:00pm.  The Falcons currently hold the league’s worst record at 18-31-9-3, but two of their 18 wins have come against their nearest geographic rivals, the Wolf Pack.

Saturday brings a visit from the red hot Portland Pirates, who saw a franchise-best winning streak halted at 11 games this past Sunday. The Pirates are currently locked in a tie for first place with the Sharks in the Atlantic Division, and have won three of their four meetings with the Pack this season.  Puck drops at 7:00pm, and there will be an auction of game-worn jerseys during the game, to benefit the March of Dimes.

Hartford wraps up the week with a trip to Lowell to face the Devils on Sunday evening at 5:00pm.  The Devils are currently eight points ahead of the Wolf Pack in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, but have won just once in nine games since losing to the Wolf Pack in overtime in Newark on February 3rd.

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. For updates as they happen, follow her on Twitter @byndblueshirts