To their credit, the Pack came out and gave fans a good show in their final game at the XL Center on Saturday, riding a franchise record seven goal second period to a scrap-filled 7-5 whitewashing of the lowly Springfield Falcons.  They wrapped up the season in Bridgeport on Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Sound Tigers, capping off a 10-5-0 end-of-season run that proved to be too little, too late.

I’ll dig deeper into the whys and wherefores behind the Wolf Pack’s first finish outside the AHL’s playoff picture — and take a closer look at some individual performances — over at Beyond the Blueshirts in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, click below for three high-level issues that helped sabotage the Wolf Pack’s unlucky thirteenth season:

The Goalie Carousel
It’s unfair to blame the Wolf Pack’s failures on good soldier Steven Valiquette, but it was his meltdown in New York which ultimately precipitated rookie Chad Johnson‘s three month long imitation of a yo-yo.  The constant back-and-forth between New York and Hartford would have been difficult for even the most experienced veteran, but it proved disastrous for the first year netminder.  Johnson had raced up the AHL leaderboard with a 1.61 goals-against average and .946 save percentage in the month of November, but by the time the organization finally acquired a full-time back-up for Henrik Lundqvist, he was coming off a January in which he’d posted a dismal 4.96 goals-against average and .827 save percentage in six AHL games.

It’s no coincidence that the team’s record improved once Johnson was allowed to settle in and get some consistent playing time in Hartford after Alex Auld was brought into New York at the NHL trading deadline.  As his comfort level increased, so did confidence, ultimately peaking with five straight wins to end the season, during which he notched an impressive 2.20 GAA and .930 save percentage.  The team in front of him fed off his confidence, picking up wins in all but four of his final 14 starts.

The Injury Bug
Injuries are an issue for every team and shouldn’t be used as an excuse, but not even the best built teams would have been able to come through the stretch the Wolf Pack suffered in late January completely unscathed (and the Pack was far from the best built team.)  While they were by no means playing well before they lost two of their top three scorers (P.A. Parenteau and Dale Weise) and five starting defensemen (Corey Potter, Michael Sauer, Bobby Sanguinetti, Mathieu Dandenault and Brent Henley) to the infirmary, the plague of injuries sent the Wolf Pack on a confidence-crushing five game losing streak from which it took them the entire month of February to recover.

The Shortage at Center
Going into the season centers Patrick Rissmiller and Tyler Arnason were expected to fill two of the four center positions on the squad.  It quickly became apparent that Rissmiller’s attitude hadn’t improved after a summer to ponder his position, and that led to his expeditious exit to Grand Rapids of the AHL.  Arnason lasted a couple weeks longer, but his play was even less impressive.  When he realized he had no hope of an NHL call-up, he beat a hasty path to Russia, where he finished the season in the KHL with Dinamo Riga.

While it can’t be said either of their contributions were missed, their absence left a gaping hole down the middle for the Wolf Pack.  With Corey Locke the lone natural center on the roster with significant AHL experience, rookie free agent signing Paul Crowder was thrust into a more prominent role and Ryan Garlock, a 24-year old pivot who’d spent four years bouncing around the AHL and ECHL, was recalled from Charlotte.  The Pack filled the final center slot by sliding left wing Brodie Dupont into a position he hadn’t played in his two years of professional hockey.

Dupont’s experience and defensive acumen landed him the checking role against opposing teams’ top lines, and while he performed that job admirably, he couldn’t provide much in the way of offense.  That left Locke’s line as the Pack’s only real offensive threat.  Shut down Locke’s line and there was a good chance the opposition would emerge victorious.  Kris Newbury’s eventual addition — almost four months later at the NHL trade deadline — finally provided balance to the line-up and gave the Wolf Pack a bona fide secondary scoring threat.  The result: The Wolf Pack went 10-6-1-1 in the 18 games after Newbury’s arrival.

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

And if this year’s edition of the Wolf Pack is to avoid becoming the first squad in the franchise’s 13-year history to fail to earn an invite to the post-season dance, they’re going to have to continue winning without some important pieces.  Last week they did it without leading scorers P.A. Parenteau and Corey Locke, who both spent the week with the Rangers.  They’ll get top point-getter Locke back following his two-game debut in a Rangers uniform, but they’ll be without the services of Dale Weise, who earned his first call-up to the NHL with a four-game goal scoring streak and a career-high seven game points streak.  The sophomore winger has picked up ten points in the span, bringing his season totals up to 28 goals (second on the team behind Locke’s 29) and 50 points, handily eclipsing his 11 goal, 23 point rookie campaign.

Four of Weise’s points came in the past week, beginning with a goal in the Wolf Pack’s 5-3 loss to visiting Worcester on Wednesday.  After Donald Brashear gave the Pack a rare early lead at 8:30 of the first period, the Sharks answered with three goals in the final 8:24 of the frame, sending the Pack to the locker room 3-1 down.  Weise gave his club hope late in the second period when his centering pass went in off a Worcester defenseman and cut the lead to 3-2.

An early man advantage in the third period should have provided the perfect opportunity for the Pack to tie things up, but instead their power play surrendered its eleventh shorthanded goal against, all but sealing the team’s fate.  Captain Dane Byers added his 22nd of the campaign on a deflection on the power play at 8:44, but Worcester shut the door 1:15 later with its fifth and final goal of the night.

Having entered the week tied with Bridgeport at 82 points and by no means assured of a playoff spot, you’d think the Devils would come out anxious to put the Wolf Pack further back in their rearview mirror on Friday night.  Instead, they started the game flat, allowing the Pack another early lead after Ilkka Heikkinen snuck in from the point on the power play to deflect Kris Newbury’s shot home at 7:02.

After holding the Devils to just five shots in the opening frame, the Pack tripled their lead in the second period on goals by Ryan Garlock — a perfectly-executed wraparound off the rush at 1:36 — and Weise, who picked up a Devils clearing attempt and scored from his office in the right faceoff circle 1:14 later.

The Devils finally found their legs in the third, and peppered goaltender Chad Johnson with 21 shots in the final period alone.  They converted on two of them in a 49 second span beginning at 2:29.  With their lead cut to one, the Pack roared back.  Paul Crowder tallied his 12th goal of the campaign by batting home Evgeny Grachev’s rebound after goaltender Jeff Frazee was unable hold on to the rookie foward’s wrist shot.  The goal was Crowder’s first in 18 games, and with the assist Grachev’s earned his first point in 11 matches. Bobby Sanguinetti capped the scoring just over five minutes later with a one-timer from the right circle, his ninth tally of the season off a perfect set-up from Brodie Dupont.  Johnson went on to finish the game with 36 saves, in one of his most convincing wins of the season’s second half.

On Saturday the Pack made the short trip up the I-91 to visit the cellar-dwelling Springfield Falcons.  Long since eliminated from the playoffs (like their parent club in Edmonton) the Falcons had little to play for and it showed.  Recent Ranger signing Lee Baldwin, inked to an NHL deal two weeks ago and currently playing for the Pack on an amateur try-out deal, earned his first professional goal with quick slapshot from the left point a mere 47 seconds into the contest.  Justin Soryal made it 2-0 with his fifth goal of the season two minutes later.  Jorden Eberle, perhaps the lone bright spot for the Falcons at the end of a dreadful season, cut the lead in half at 6:52 of the second.

That was the only goal the Falcons would get.  The Wolf Pack, meanwhile, added four more of their for a 6-1 final. Weise and Derek Couture each added tallies in the second, while Andreas Ambuhl and Dupont each scored in the third.  It was the first multi-point game for Swiss import Ambuhl, who also earned an assist on Weise’s goal.  Johnson was once again strong in his seventh consecutive start in goal, stopping 30 of 31 shots faced.

And so the Wolf Pack enter the final week of the regular season winners of five of their last seven games but still with absolutely no margin for error.  Working in their favor is the fact that the final game of the season pits the Pack against the Sound Tigers, who currently hold the Eastern Conference’s final playoff berth.  But any combination of four points won by Bridgeport or lost by the Wolf Pack between then and now would render that game meaningless.

And then there’s the matter of the Norfolk Admirals who stand between Hartford’s 77 points and Bridgeport 82 with 80 ticks of their own.  However, the Admirals have to face the league-dominating Hershey Bears twice in their final three games this week, a daunting task for any club.

What’s Next
Unlike the two teams they’re chasing, each of which have three games remaining, the Wolf Pack will play four games in five nights this week.  Unfortunately, two of those games are against Atlantic-leading Worcester, who’ve emerged victorious in each of the last two match-up between the two clubs.  The teams kick off their home-and-home series on Wednesday night in Hartford at 7:00pm before heading to Worcester for a 7:05pm start on Friday night.  The 47-23-3-3 Sharks will have plenty to play for, too, since their lead in the Atlantic Division over the second place Pirates has withered to just one point.

The Wolf Pack play their final home game of the 2009-2010 campaign on Saturday against the last place Springfield Falcons.  It’s “Fan Appreciation Night” at the XL Center, and will feature a variety of in-game giveaways and the annual post-game “jersey’s off our backs” giveaway.  Former Wolf Pack coach John Paddock will also be honored for his induction to the AHL Hall of Fame prior to the game.  Faceoff is 7:00pm.  Bring a non-winning Connecticut Lottery ticket with you to the box office on Saturday night for buy-one, get-one-free red level seats.

On Sunday the Wolf Pack travel to Bridgeport for a game that could decide who makes the playoffs.  Or, if things don’t go the Pack’s way earlier in the weak, it could mean absolutely nothing at all.  The Pack have won just once in four previous visits to Bridgeport this season..  Puck drop is 3:00pm.

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

To make matters worse, the club now finds itself moving forward without either of its top two scorers, since both P.A. Parenteau and Corey Locke were recalled by the New York Rangers.

They got a taste of what it would be like this weekend, when they were forced to play without Parenteau, who got the call from New York on Friday morning.

Facing the already-eliminated Adirondack Phantoms on Friday night, the Pack spotted their visitors a two goal lead before buckling down and playing the kind of hockey they’ve proven they’re capable only in short bursts throughout the season.  It was a pattern that would be repeated in each game this week: fall behind by a pair of goals before rallying to tie.  That they did it without their most dynamic offensive player in Parenteau makes it especially impressive.

Sophomore Dale Weise got the ball rolling on Friday, scoring his 24th goal of the season midway through the second period, just a little over two minutes after Andreas Nodl had scored to make it 2-0.  Rookie goaltender Chad Johnson, in net for all three games this weekend, came up with a pair of breakaways saves early in the third period, which in turn seemed to give his teammates the confidence boost they needed to rally and outshoot their visitors 13-4 in the third period.  One of those shots went in at 9:37, when captain Dane Byers tipped in Weise’s shot from the top of the right circle to mark his second twenty goal campaign in his three full seasons in the AHL.

The Wolf Pack, who remain tied with Bridgeport for the most overtime victories (9), continued to pour on the pressure in the extra frame, but were unable to get the winner despite a 4-2 edge in shots.  That set up Hartford’s seventh trip to the post-game skills competition, in which the Pack held the league-worst 1-5 record going in.  Thanks to goals by Kris Newbury and Ilkka Heikkinen and a strong showing by Johnson (and a little luck from a goal post), the Wolf Pack were able to improve that record to 2-5 and earn their second victory in as many games.

The win set up a critical Saturday match up with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who entered the the game holding the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and a seven point lead over their hosts in Hartford.

The Wolf Pack actually got on the board first in this one, thanks to a diving swipe by Justin Soryal, who put his own rebound behind  Bridgeport  netminder Scott Munroe from his stomach at 6:11 of the first period.  But the Sound Tigers answered with three straight tallies, the first coming late in the opening frame on a shorthanded penalty shot after Newbury tackled Tyler Haskins on partial breakaway.  The Sound Tigers added two more goals in the second period, 1:04 apart, starting with Trevor Smith’s score on a two-on-one at 8:30.  But the Pack would answer in resounding fashion just over four minutes later.

Byers, playing every bit like the captain he, got the first of two quick Hartford goals on a rebound of Weise’s shot, grabbing the puck and sliding it around Munroe’s left pad on the backhand before nudging it over the goal line on the forehand.  A mere ten seconds later, Andres Ambuhl evened the score by threading a shot through a defender’s legs and over Munroe’s blocker for his fifth goal of the season.  It was Ambuhl’s second game back in the line-up, after after the AHL’s veteran limit had left him sidelined for six straight.

With the season seemingly on the line and a regulation victory all but required, Bobby Sanguinetti flashed some of the skill that made him the Rangers first round draft pick, scoring what just might be the biggest goal in his two-season career with the Pack.  Sneaking in from the left point, Sanguinetti picked up a pass from Locke, faked his way past a Bridgeport forward and whipped a wrist shot past Munroe from the high slot.  It was Sanguinetti’s first game-decider of the season and came with only 3:20 remaining on the clock.

Heading out on the road for the first time in seven games after such an emotionally charged victory, one would think the Wolf Pack would have been raring to go from the drop of the puck.  Instead they surrendered a goal on the first shift of the game, just 20 seconds into their meeting with the Portland Pirates.

A power play goal 11:56 into the first period put the Pack behind by two goals for the third straight game.  And for the third straight game, Hartford’s heroes bounced back.  Once again they did it quickly, scoring two goals only 38 seconds apart.

Ryan Garlock cut Portland’s lead in half at 4:01 of the second with a shot from outside the blueline that somehow got through goaltender Todd Ford.  Thirty-eight seconds later Weise scored his 25th of the season, shoveling home Newbury’s cross-slot pass to knot the score at two.

Strong penalty killing and great goaltending by Johnson got the Pack through some penalty trouble in the middle of the frame, but Portland scored the back-breaker with 24.7 seconds remaining in the period.  When Heikkinen’s point shot missed the net and ricocheted off the end boards and out of the Pirates’ zone, Kyle Wanvig was waiting to pick up the puck and skate in alone on Johnson.  The 29-year old veteran opted to shoot from the top of the circles, powering the puck past Johnson for what would hold up as the game winner.

To make matters worse, Bridgeport topped Lowell 4-2, meaning, for all their hard work, the Wolf Pack finished the weekend with the same nine point gap between them and the final playoff berth they had started with.  With only seven games remaining in the season, that sets the Pack’s tragic number at six: any combination of six points won by Bridgeport or lost by the Hartford will spell the end of Hartford’s bid to keep their league-best 12-year playoff streak alive.

What’s Next
With the season on the brink, the Wolf Pack get ready for another three game week.  The action begins with visit by the first place Worcester Sharks on Wednesday night at 7:00pm.  The Pack won the first four meetings between the two clubs, but lost the last one, 6-4 in Worcester.  The dangerous Sharks enter the game having won nine of their last 11 games.

Friday night brings the Lowell Devils to town for the final game in the teams’ eight game season series.  The fourth place Devils are currently tied with Bridgeport with 82 points, but with a game in hand on the Sound Tigers.  The Wolf Pack have earned wins in four of the two teams’ seven previous meetings.  Puck drops at 7:00pm.

On Saturday the Pack make the half hour trip up the I-91 for a 7:00pm start against the Springfield Falcons.  The Falcons remain trapped in the AHL basement with a 24-36-11-4 record, but have been buoyed by the arrival of Canadian Junior hero Jordan Eberle, who has eight points in six games since joining the team at the conclusion of his junior season two weeks ago.

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

A common theme in both losses this week — and throughout the second half of the season — was playing from behind.  In Wednesday’s game against the Providence Bruins, defensive breakdowns cost the Wolf Pack two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game, including a goal on the game’s first shot just 2:23 in.

The Pack drew within one on Corey Locke’s league-leading 17th power play goal in the second period and equalized three minutes into the final frame when P.A. Parenteau banged home a convenient carom off the end boards.  But the Bruins re-took the lead at 10:43 after Trent Whitfield slipped Locke’s coverage, stole the puck from Anders Eriksson behind the net, and wrapped it around the post for what would ultimately become the game winner.

A botched change when goaltender Chad Johnson came off the ice for the extra skater allowed Providence to add an empty net goal with a minute and a half left, and Jordan Nightingale took a high-sticking penalty 19 seconds later, ending any hopes his team may have had for a late comeback.

The team got off to a better start on Friday, putting 10 of the first 11 shots on the board against the basement dwelling Springfield Falcons.  Yet, as it has all season long, it seemed every mistake ended up in the back of their net.  Just past the ten minute mark a rusty-looking Matt Zaba bobbled a rebound, resulting in a goal for Springfield’s Liam Reddox.  Former Pack defenseman Dean Aresene made it 2-0 after two Pack forwards inexplicably covered the same man, leaving Aresene wide open to walk in and blast a slapshot past Zaba from the top of the right circle.  To make matters worse, the goal came with only 23 seconds remaining in the period.

If the Wolf Pack deserve credit for anything, it’s their refusal to give up, no matter how often or early they fall behind.  Friday was no different.  Once again it was Locke who led the charge early in the second period, scoring yet another power play goal at 4:34.

Derek Couture picked up his own rebound to knot the score less than a minute and a half later, only to have Canadian World Junior wunderkind Jorden Eberle respond just 21 seconds later to put Springfield back in the lead.  Ex-Pack Chad Wiseman made it 4-2 at 12:42.

Brodie Dupont cut the Falcon lead to one  with his fourth goal in five games three minutes later, but goaltender Bryan Pitton was sharp the rest of the way.  A late Springfield bench minor for too many men — their second such penalty of the game — provided Hartford with the perfect opportunity to pull even, but Eriksson negated the man advantage with 21 seconds left, once again sabotaging hope of a late rally.

With the teams ahead of them all having successful weeks, the Wolf Pack entered Sunday’s rematch the the Bruins ten points out of a playoff spot, with their hopes of a shot at the Calder Cup all but dashed. They responded by scoring the game’s first goal — a first in four games — midway through the opening frame.  Dale Weise, who’s second on the team in goals despite being hampered briefly by a hand injury, earned 23rd goal of the season when stuffed home Ilkka Heikkinen‘s rebound on the power play.

Unfortunately, the Bruins charged back in the second, outshooting the Pack 13-5 and picking up a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead over the Wolf Pack going into the third.

It was the third time in three games the Wolf Pack entered the final period behind on the scoreboard and, as they did on Wednesday against the same Bruins team, they responded early.  This time the tally came off the stick of captain Dane Byers, who converted Kris Newbery’s centering pass from the right corner at 1:16, two seconds after a Providence penalty expired.

There can be little doubt that the Wolf Pack would be in a better position in the standings if not for Parenteau’s 16-game absence due to injury. The face was reinforced on Sunday, when he rebounded from a rare scoreless effort on Saturday to score a pair of goals.  The first game when he batted a rebound out of mid-air at 13:05 of the third, giving the Pack a 3-2 lead.  But, as they have so many times this season, the team gave it right back, this time only 50 seconds later.  A lost defensive zone faceoff by Dupont and poor man-on-man coverage down low resulted in a quick shot on goal and an easy rebound put-home by John Lammers at 13:55.

Lammers’ goal sent the two clubs to overtime, where the Wolf Pack had earned eight victories, tying them for best in the league with Bridgeport.  Their confidence in the extra frame was obvious, as they dominated puck possession and earned all seven shots of the shots taken. Their persistence paid off with 50 seconds to go.  Locke batted a Providence pass out of midair at the Pack blueline and led a 3-on-1 rush which concluded with Parenteau scoring his 20th of the season to give the Pack their third win in five games.

Unfotunately, with only ten games remaining in the season, its likely to be too little too late.

What’s Next
After a quiet midweek the Wolf Pack face a hectic three-in-three schedule that begins with a visit by the Adirondack Phantoms on Friday night at 7:00pm.  The game is the Pack’s final non-Atlantic Division game of the season, and will complete the two game season series between the two clubs. The Phantoms won the first meeting 3-2 back in October.

The Wolf Pack wrap up their season-high six game homestand on Saturday when they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  The Sound Tigers enter the week in possession of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and in the midst of an eight game span in which they haven’t suffered a regulation loss.  The Pack have lost three straight meetings with their in-state rivals, after going 3-0-0-2 in the first five games of the season series.  Gametime is 7:00pm.

Hartford head back on the road for the first time in over two weeks on Sunday afternoon when they make the bus ride up to Portland to face the Pirates, owners of the fifth best record in the league.  The Pack are winless in two previous visits to Portland this season, and have earned just one regulation win six games this season.  The puck drops at 4:00pm.

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

Sometimes the addition of one player can change the entire dynamic of a team.  That’s what’s happened when Kris Newbury joined the Wolf Pack at the NHL trade deadline two weeks ago.  Newbury’s arrival allowed third-year pro Brodie Dupont to slide back to his natural position on the wing, and with the return of P.A. Parenteau from injury, reunited two-third of last season’s dynamic top line, with Newbury slotting into Artem Anisimov‘s place at pivot.  That allowed the team’s leading scorer, Corey Locke, to center his own line with Dane Byers and Dale Weise, giving the Pack a pair lines that pose an equal and serious threat .  And, in turn, take some of the pressure off rookies like Evgeny Grachev and Paul Crowder and ECHL call-up Ryan Garlock, who have all been asked to do a little more than they’re currently capable of throughout much of the season.

It wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops this week, however.  The week started off with a trip to the DCU Center in Worcester, where the Wolf Pack faced the division-leading Sharks on Wednesday night.  Despite their troubles this season, the Pack had somehow managed to come away with victories in each of the first four meetings between the two clubs.  As they took a 3-2 lead into the final period — after having the better of the play through two periods — it looked like they’d keep that streak alive.

Corey Potter, who’s playing as well as he has all season, scored a pair of goals in the first period to bookend Worcester’s only score of the frame, and Dupont added another midway through the second to give Hartford a 3-1 lead.  But Sharks responded with three goals — one in the second and two more in the first half of the third period — to go up 4-3.  Weise scored two and a half minutes later knot the score at four, but Worcester added another goal at 18:15 to take back the lead.  A Too Many Men penalty with a minute remaining in regulation set up Worcester its fourth goal of the period with only a second remaining on the clock, cementing the Sharks’ first victory of the season over the Pack.

Losing a game where they’d clearly been the better of the teams through two periods, and even had outshot their hosts 18-8 in the second period, could have dealt a death blow to the Wolf Pack’s already fragile psyche, not to mention its fading playoff aspirations.  Instead, the team went into Springfield on Friday night, took an early lead on a soft goal scored by Parenteau, and never looked back.  Dupont added a power play goal later in the first, and Weise made it 3-0 in another strong second period in which the Pack outshot their hosts 15-8.  But the Falcons got on the board with only 1:03  on the clock, cutting the lead to 3-1.

The late goal could have given the Falcons a momentum boost to start the third period — especially after what had happened on Wednesday — but Hartford came through with a solid team defensive effort, holding Springfield to just seven shots in the frame.  While one did manage to get  past goaltender Chad Johnson, it came at with only 1:22 remaining in the game, and after Locke had already given the Pack back the three goal lead three minutes earlier.

And so the Wolf Pack returned to the cozy confines of the XL Center in Hartford on Saturday night, looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since picking up victories in games against Bridgeport and Syracuse on January 2nd and 3rd.  The Pack got off to a rough start, falling behind 7:54 into the game after a turnover by Garlock just inside the blue line allowed Ben Walter to skate in alone on Johnson.  A pair of early second period tallies, the first by Byers on the power play at 1:37 and the second from Locke at 4:18, put the Wolf Pack ahead, but the Devils responded with a power play goal of their own just under three and a half minutes later to tie the game at two.

Locke got his second of the game and team leading 27th of the season with only 54 seconds remaining in the period, giving the Wolf Pack a 3-2 lead.  And while Hartford had managed to prevent a late period Springfield goal from swinging the momentum a night before, the Devils had no such luck.  Dupont scored his third goal in three games off a beautiful tick-tack-toe passing play between Parenteau and Locke at 3:31 of the third period, and Newbury expanded the lead to three goals when his centering pass from the left corner went off Devils goaltender Mike McKenna and in the net 1:19 later.  Sophomore Bobby Sanguinetti capped off the scoring on a similar play midway through the period, breaking a personal 33 game goalless drought dating all the way back to November 14th in the process.

Who’s Hot
If it seems like the same people were doing all the scoring this week, they were.  The only forward not on the top two lines to pick up a point was Donald Brashear, who earned an assist when Locke batted the puck in out of mid air after Brashear’s slapshot missed the mark and took a crazy bounce off the glass behind the net and back out in front of the goal.  In three games the line of Dupont, Newbury and Parenteau combined for five goals and nine assists, with Dupont picking up three goals and two assists and Parenteau adding a goal and four assists to go with Newbury’s goal and three assists.  And Locke’s line with Byers and Weise put up a total of six goals and a seven assists, with Locke putting up a team best three goals and four assists, Byers adding a goal and three helpers, and Weise tallying twice.

Who’s Not
With Newbury and Anders Erikkson joining the club at the NHL trade deadline and Parenteau returning to the line-up following a concussion, the Wolf Pack are over the AHL’s veteran limit.  That has forced 25-year old Swiss import Andres Ambuhl out of the line-up and into the press box.

What’s Next
Still six points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff berth, with only 13 games remaining, Hartford will look to build on this week’s momentum during three straight home games this week — part of a season-high seven game homestand that started on Saturday.

The week kicks off on Wednesday night with the first of two match-ups against the Providence Bruins.  The Bruins enter the week just one point behind the Pack in the Atlantic Division standings, but winless in their last six.  Wednesday’s game gets under way at 7:00pm.  The Bruins return to Hartford four days later for a Sunday matinée that kicks off at 3:00pm.

In between, the Pack will welcome the Springfield Falcons to the XL Center at 7:00pm on Saturday in a rematch of Friday’s 4-2 Wolf Pack win.  The Falcons remain mired in the AHL basement, but scored a pair of surprising shootout wins last weekend, including a shocker over the league-leading Hershey Bears on Saturday.

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

Both Saturday’s match-up with the Hamilton Bulldogs and Sunday’s tilt against the Toronto Marlies required extra time to decide a winner, and despite being tied for tops in the league in overtime victories, the Wolf Pack came away the loser in both: Saturday in a shootout, and Sunday with just 1.1 seconds remaining in overtime.

A pair of new faces were on hand for the latest round of losses, while some old friends moved on to greener pastures, victims of the NHL Trade Deadline. New York Rangers General Manager Glen Sather made two moves at Wednesday’s deadline, both with the goal of shoring up weak spots in the Wolf Pack line-up.

The first deal brought 27-year old center Kris Newbury to Connecticut’s capital. A veteran of 48 NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, Newbury was brought in to fill a gap down the middle that’s been an issue for the Pack since Tyler Arneson left for the KHL and Patrick Rissmiller was dispatched to Grand Rapids of the AHL in October. Newbury paid immediate dividends, potting a goal and an assist in his first weekend with the Pack.

Newbury didn’t come cheap, however, and in exchange for the hard-nosed center, the Wolf Pack sent 23-year old heart-and-soul winger Jordan Owens — recipient of last season’s Fan Favorite Award — to the Motor City.

The second addition was Anders Eriksson, a 34-year old veteran defenseman with almost 600 NHL games under his belt. Eriksson helps shore up a defense corps that’s been depleted by injuries all season, and suffered its latest when Michael Sauer went down with season-ending shoulder injury last month. And while the front office didn’t know it when they acquired him in exchange for goaltender Miika Wiikman and a sixth round draft pick, Eriksson’s arrival would prove fortuitous. On Thursday Matheiu Dandenault, who returned to the Pack line-up only a week ago after spending the majority of the season nursing a groin injury, opted to call it quits after learning he would not receive an NHL contract from the Rangers.

Both of the new additions stepped into important roles with the Wolf Pack: Newbury centering the top line with Dane Byers and Dale Weise and Erikkson joining Bobby Sanguinetti on the Wolf Pack’s top defense pairing.

Newbury’s arrival too was fortuitous, as the Wolf Pack once again found itself without the services of top forward P.A. Parenteau, who was forced to miss the road trip after his post-concussion symptoms returned after his brief three game return to the line-up last week.

And so it was that the Wolf Pack arrived in Hamilton on Saturday for the first of its two weekend games. Although the team bus arrived in plenty of time for the 7:00pm puck drop, the team itself failed to show up until late in the second period. Before the game was even five minutes old the Wolf Pack had spotted their hosts a two goal lead, with the first goal coming just 36 seconds in.  The second followed 4:07 later.

The Bulldogs had come into Saturday’s contest with a convincing 16 point lead in the Western Conference’s North Division, having won seven straight games by a combined score of 30-13. Yet it was the Wolf Pack that was the dominant team in the second period, doubling up Hamilton’s 9 shots with 18 of their own. The pressure paid off in the closing minutes of the period when defenseman Jared Nightingale cut the Pack’s deficit to one with 1:19 on the clock.  Weise would tie the score at two just 19 seconds later, and it would stay that way through an evenly played third period.

In overtime it was the Bulldogs that had the better of the chances, but Hartford goaltender Matt Zaba held off the charge to push the game in the shootout. Unfortunately, Hartford’s shootout woes continued, with Locke, Weise, Newbury and Evgeny Grachev all coming up empty, while a pair of Hamilton shots got past Zaba.

Given the Bulldogs’ record — only the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears are better — the point the Pack left Hamilton with can be seen as nothing but a positive. But for as much as leaving Hamilton with a point was a positive, the point gained in Toronto can only be considered a disappointment.

The Marlies entered the match extremely shorthanded, icing just 15 skaters thanks to a combinations of injuries and call-ups. Plus, they were coming in as losers of four straight and had been shut out in consecutive games prior to Sunday’s tilt.

But yet another slow start by the Wolf Pack allowed the Maple Leafs’ top farm club to put up a 10-3 shot advantage in the opening period. The hosts cashed in on the scoreboard with 44 seconds remaining in the frame, and then double their lead on the power play at 4:39 of the second.

As is becoming a habit, when faced with a multi-goal deficit, the Pack buckled down, limiting the Marlies to six shots in the middle period. While they only put up five of their own, one of them went in, on the power play, off the stick of newcomer Newbury, late in the frame. In the third period, the visitors poured on the pressure, outshooting the Marlies by a 15-9 margin. The tying goal at 7:38 came from an unlikely source: Rangers castaway Donald Brashear, who earned his first tally for the Pack with a slapshot from the top of the left circle.

Brashear’s goal set up Hartford’s fourth visit to overtime in five games, where a defensive breakdown allowed Brendan Mikkelson to skate in to the right circle unencumbered and blast the demoralizing game-winner over netminder Chad Johnson‘s glove with 1.1 seconds remaining.

What’s Next
The Wolf Pack wraps up its five game road trip with two visits to Atlantic Division foes before hosting the baby Devils at the XL Center to finish the week.

On Wednesday, Hartford’s heroes travel to Worcester to meet the division-leading Sharks. The Sharks currently own an 18-point lead on the Wolf Pack, but the Pack have won each of the four prior meetings between the two clubs this season — all in regulation. Game time is 7:00pm.

Moving from first to worst, the Wolf Pack travels to Springfield on Friday night for a 7:00pm face off with the last place Falcons. The eighth place Falcons remain holders of the AHL’s worst record, but — in case you doubted how bad the Pack’s season has been — are only nine points behind the seventh place Wolf Pack in the Atlantic Division standings.

Saturday’s 7:00pm match-up with the Lowell Devils kicks off a season-high six game homestand which could make or break the Wolf Pack’s playoff hopes. Lowell currently sits in fourth place in the Atlantic, nine points north of the Pack. The two clubs have split the season series so far, 3-3.

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

The Pack lost all three of the games it played, each by single goal, to fall below the .500 mark to 26-27-4, but two of the losses came in overtime, earning the Pack two extremely valuable points.  And so as the AHL enters its final full week before Clear Day rosters must be submitted, the Wolf Pack finds itself in the seventh spot in the eight team Atlantic Division, 11 points behind the fourth place Lowell Devils.  Yet thanks to the lopsided division alignment in the AHL’s Eastern Conference this season, and the poor play of the bottom half teams in the East Division, the club remains only two points out of the final cross-over playoff position.

The week started on a high note, with the Wolf Pack welcoming veterans P.A. Parenteau and Mathieu Dandenault back from extended absences.  Parenteau returned from a concussion — his second in less than a year — that had kept him out of the lineup for 16 games over a five week span.  Without its top offensive producer, Hartford’s record was a dismal 4-10-2-0.  Dandenault, meanwhile, had been missing since Thanksgiving weekend with a groin injury, an absence of 36 games.

With Parenteau and Dandenault back in the fold, the Wolf Pack started the week the closest they’ll be to full health for the remainder of the campaign.  Only Michael Sauer (shoulder), Brent Henley (knee) and Mike Hoffman (shoulder) remain sidelined, but all three have undergone surgeries that have brought a premature end to their season.

Despite having their top offensive player and most experienced blueliner back on the ice, goals were still hard to come by when the Wolf Pack hosted the Springfield Falcons on Friday night.  Springfield entered the contest at the bottom of the league standings with an 18-31-9-3 record, having lost its eight prior games.  Ryan Garlock got the Pack on the board first, scoring midway through the second period, but the Falcons were able to tie things up with 8:30 remaining in the third to force overtime.  Once in extra time, the Oilers’ AHL affiliate needed only 12 seconds to decide the game, scoring the game winner with a a wrist shot from the right side boards that tipped off of Hartford starter Matt Zaba’s glove and into the net.

Saturday brought a carbon copy of Friday’s game — another 2-1 overtime loss — this time to the Portland Pirates. After a scoreless first period, the Pirates got on the board first, at 11:39 of the second.  Dale Weise responded 1:04 later to knot the score at one, where it would stay through the remainder of regulation.

When you’ve got the second to last ranked penalty kill in the league, staying out of the penalty box is key.  Failing to do so proved the Pack’s undoing on Saturday.  Portland’s first goal had been scored with Jared Nightingale serving a two minute instigating penalty after he overreacted to a hit on Garlock along the boards.  In overtime, a well-earned roughing penalty called on Dandenault — a guy who’s meant to provide a calming, veteran presence on defense — set up a four-on-three advantage.  The power play, Portland’s sixth, led to Tyler Ennis’ seventh goal in five games against Hartford this season.

After picking up an assist on Friday’s lone Wolf Pack goal, Parenteau was completely neutralized against his former team on Saturday, and made his frustration apparent with three separate minor penalties.  The soon-to-be 26-year old rebounded on Sunday, falling just short of equaling the entire Devils squad in a 4-3 Lowell victory. The hat trick was Parenteau’s second of the season and second in his Wolf Pack career.  Linemate Corey Locke and defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti each picked up a pair of assists in the loss.

Chad Johnson got the call for the second straight game on Sunday, but after a fairly solid, 23-save performance on Saturday, the rookie once again struggled against Lowell.  Johnson surrendered three goals on the first seven shots he faced, including goals on the first two shots of the second period.  Hopefully the addition of veteran backup Alex Auld in New York will spell the end of the yo-yo ride the 23-year old rookie has been on since early December, and allow him time in Hartford to rediscover the impressive form he displayed earlier this season.

Who’s Hot
With his hat trick on Sunday and an assist on the Wolf Pack’s lone goal on Friday, P.A. Parenteau has four points in his first three games back from injury. The fifth-year pro has picked up 36 points in his abbreviated 29 game season, and will be a crucial piece of the puzzle if the Pack are to make the playoffs for the thirteenth straight season.

Who’s Not
Jordan Owens earned himself an NHL contract with the Rangers last summer after two strong seasons of improvement in Hartford on a minor league deal. But the heart-and-soul winger has just a single assist in his last 11 games, and his 19 points put him well off last season’s 37-point pace.  His lack of production earned him a seat in the press box as a healthy scratch on Saturday.

What’s Next
Wolf Pack General Manager Jim Shoenfeld and his coaching staff get just two opportunities to see their club in action before the AHL’s version of the trade deadline — Clear Day — hits next Wednesday.

The Pack make a rare road trip north of the board to face the North Division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday at 7:00pm before continuing a short was up the Lake Ontario coast to Toronto, where they’ll face the Marlies at 4:00pm Sunday.  The Bulldogs currently own the second best record in the AHL, at 39-14-3-5 and were the winners in the two teams’ only previous meeting this season, 4-1.  The Wolf Pack emerged victorious from its only previous encounter with the 24-28-5-5 Marlies, 6-1, back in December.

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

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

The week began at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence on Friday, where the seventh place Bruins entered the week having won four of their last five games to move withing four points of the fifth place Wolf Pack.  By the time the smoke had cleared, the Baby Bs had scored a 7-1 decision, handing the Wolf Pack one of their worst defeats of the season.

Most worryingly, Chad Johnson, back in the AHL for his first start since January 23, showed signs that the yo-yo treatment he’s been given by the Rangers organization may be hurting his development.  The rookie pro stopped just 28 of the 35 shots he faced and looked nothing like the calm, confident netminder who took over the backup job in New York in early December.

Not that the drubbing the Wolf Pack took was all Johnson’s fault, of course.  Quite the contrary: The skaters in front of him failed to show up in the first period, allowing their hosts 16-5 shot advantage while they fell behind by the score of 2-0.  Rookie Evgeny Grachev ended an eight game scoreless streak early in the second to make it 2-1, but the home side answered just over a minute later and never looked back.  Providence added another goal in the second, and three unanswered in the third period en route to the lopsided victory.

Miika Wiikman took over in goal the next night, when the Wolf Pack played host to their in-state rivals, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  While the final score wasn’t as lopsided as the night before, neither the start nor the ultimate the result was any different. Wiikman, making his first AHL start since October 30th, wasn’t even given the benefit of twenty seconds to get his skates under him by his teammates.  Just 19 seconds in, Jordan Nightingale delivered a perfect centering pass to the stick of ex-Pack member Greg Moore, who beat his former teammate point blank from the hash marks.

The Pack defense corps, still limping along without the injured Bobby Sanguinetti, Michael Sauer and Mathieu Dandenault, was dealt another blow on Saturday when veteran defenseman Corey Potter was recalled to New York.  With a blueline comprised of just five defenseman, most of whom are better suited for playing in the ECHL than AHL, its hard to condemn the effort in this one.  Hartford’s heroes continued to battle back till the end.  Dane Byers got his first of two in the game in the first period, but Bridgeport still finished the period with a 2-1 lead while earning a 15-5 shot advantage.  Byers’ fellow first liners Corey Locke and Dale Weise gave the Wolf Pack the only lead they’d hold all weekend early in the second, but Bridgeport answered back, finishing the middle frame with a 4-3 lead.  Byers got his second early in the third to tie things up, but that’s as close as the Pack got.  A pair of Bridgeport goals midway through the third period  proved to be back breakers, resulting in the 6-4 final.

Donald Brashear, who was assigned to Hartford after clearing waivers on Friday, saw his first AHL action since 1994-1995 against the Sound Tigers on Saturday.  The 38-year old enforcer took a boarding penalty in his debut, but failed to find a dance partner despite looking for one all game.  He finished his first weekend in Hartford with no points, two penalty minutes, a single shot on goal, and a minus-3 rating.

The Wolf Pack wrapped up their weekend schedule with a Monday afternoon matinee against the Pirates in Portland.  Johnson was given the opportunity to redeem himself for Friday’s performance, but failed utterly, giving up three goals on the first four shots he faced.  The first, a deflection, might be forgivable, but the next two came as a result of the goalkeepers own misplays handling the puck away from the net.

With Matt Zaba having to wait for Steve Valiquette to clear re-entry waivers before he could officially be reassigned to the Wolf Pack, it was Wiikman who was back in goal after only 5:32 had ticked off the clock.  While the Swedish-born Finn fared better, stopping 24 of the 28 shots he faced, he wasn’t able to make the really big saves the crippled defense corps required and could have kept the Pack in the game.

Nigel Williams cut the lead to 3-1 early in the second period, but the Pirates answered with three more goals in a 5:25 span in the middle of the period.  Kenny Roche answered 21 seconds later, but Portland scored again as the final minute was ticking off the clock in the second, making it 7-2.  Byers and Justin Soryal added goals 15 seconds apart starting at 4:45 of the third period, making things somewhat interesting, but that 7-4 score was as close as the Wolf Pack was able to get.

The losses to Providence and Bridgeport couldn’t have come to two worse teams, as both clubs started the weekend trailing the Wolf Pack in the Atlantic Division standings.  After successful weeks for both, the three teams find themselves in a tie for what will likely be the final playoff berth, each with 57 points.  With only 25 games remaining in the season and just two wins in their past eleven games, time is getting short for the Pack if they intend to keep their league best 12 season playoff appearance streak alive.

Who’s Hot
Dane Byers is one of the few bright spots in the Wolf Pack line-up right now.  The Wolf Pack captain has eight goals in his last twelve games, and has moved into second place in Pack scoring with 17 goals and 17 assists in 49 games.

What’s Next
The Pack have three home games and a short jaunt to Bridgeport this week in which to try to get back on track.  The home cooking starts on Wednesday when they host the Norfolk Admirals in the fourth and final game of the clubs’ season series.  Both sides have a single regulation win, but the Admirals picked up an extra point with an overtime two weeks ago in Norfolk.  Puck drops at 7:00pm.

On Friday night The Wolf Pack get the opportunity to regain some ground on Bridgeport as they host the Sound Tigers in the first of two games between the clubs at 7:00pm.

Saturday brings the Atlantic-leading Worcester Sharks to the XL Center in Hartford for a 7:00pm puck drop.

On Sunday the Wolf Pack make the short trip down I-91 for a rematch with Bridgeport in a game that starts at 3:00pm.

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

Nope, not bad at all for a team that was missing nine players, including five defensemen, to injury.  There was some good news, but also some more bad news on that front this week, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

The week got underway at the Prudential Center in Newark, where the Wolf Pack faced the Lowell Devils on Wednesday.  It was the second of two games played between the two clubs in Newark this season, with the first one going the Devils way by the score of 3-2 on January 6th.

Wednesday’s game brought the same score, but with the Wolf Pack on the winning side.  And it would take some overtime dramatics to achieve.

Since moving out of his natural position at left wing to fill a gap at center earlier in the season, Brodie Dupont hasn’t had the chance to play hero very often.  He seized the opportunity on Wednesday, scoring first in the third period to give the Pack a 2-1 lead and then again with only 19.9 seconds remaining in the extra frame.  The overtime winner — the first in Dupont’s career — gave the Pack their league-leading eigth overtime victory on the season.  Derek Couture had the other Wolf Pack goal early in the second period — the first of three goals he’d score over the week.

Dupont’s overtime dramatics became necessary after Hartford’s battered and bruised defense corps surrendered the tying tally to the Devils with only 1:07 remaining in regulation time.  This week started the same way last week ended: with the Pack short five defensemen, as Corey Potter, Bobby Sanguinetti, Michael Sauer, Matheiu Dandenault and Brent Henley were each sidelined.  Good news came on Friday, however, as Potter returned to the lineup after missing nine games with a concussion.

Potter’s return wasn’t enough to prevent a repeat of Wednesday’s late third period collapse, this time in the first of two back-to-back games against the Norfolk Admirals.  Goals by Corey Locke and Kenney Roche gave the Wolf Pack a 2-1 lead heading into the final minutes of regulation, but a goal with only 3:05 remaining meant a second consecutive trip to overtime.  This time it was the home team that emerged victorious, thanks to Paul Szczechura’s goal at 3:50 of OT.  It was only the third time in 11 trips to overtime that the Wolf Pack failed to come away victorious.

The same two teams faced off a night later, once again at The Scope in Norfolk.  The Admirals took an early lead at 3:17 of the opening period, but Couture answered 37 seconds later and the Wolf Pack never looked back.  Justin Soryal scored his second of the season — and second in four games — late in the period, and then Couture added his second of the contest early in the second.  Dane Byers continued to have the hot stick, picking up his fifth goal in nine games midway through the frame.  And Roche capped off the scoring on the power play early in the third, giving him seven points in ten games since being called up from Charlotte.  Potter celebrated his return to the line-up, contributing three assists, a feat that was matched by the Wolf Pack’s leading scorer, Locke.  Final score: Hartford 5, Norfolk 1.

It wasn’t all good news, however, as the Pack lost Dale Weise to injury in the first period after he was hit up high along the boards.  His status for this week’s games is unclear.  Hartford will also be without the services of forward Andres Ambul for the next three weeks, as the 26-year old Swiss native was released by the team to join Team Switzerland at the Olympics on Monday.

Who’s Hot
Dane Byers has done exactly what you’d hope a captain would do since his team has been decimated with injuries.  The 23-year old forward has seven points in his last nine games, including five goals, and has moved into a tie with Weise for third in team scoring with 30 points in 46 games.

What’s Next
The Pack play a pair of weekend games this week before heading to Portland for a President’s Day matinée.  On Friday they travel to the Dunkin Donuts center in Providence to face the seventh place Providence Bruins at 7:05pm.  The Baby B’s enter the match having won four of their last five games and always provide stiff competition for the Pack.

Saturday brings a return to home cooking, as the Wolf Pack hosts the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who start the week just two points behind Hartford in sixth place in the Atlantic Division standings.  The Wolf Pack will be looking to remain undefeated in regulation against their in-state rivals when the puck drops at 7:00pm.

On Monday the Pack travel to Portland for a President’s Day matinée.  Portland is four points ahead of the Wolf Pack in the Atlantic, and enters the week on a six game winning streak.  Game time is 1:00pm.

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