Howlings

BOURETT PLAYS SHERIFF BRODIE AND SINKS SHARKS

Alex Bourret made an impact from his first shift in his first game back from hand, groin and concussion injuries scoring 2 goals and assisting on another and registering a First Star performance leading the Wolf Pack (14-7-0-1) to a 4-2 victory over the Worcester Sharks (8-8-1-1) on the road in front of a generously announced crowd of 3,598 at the DCU Center Friday night.

The Wolf Pack came out motivated with purpose and direction right from the start. The opening line as predicted by Bruce Berlet here in Howlings was Nigel Dawes, Greg Moore & Alex Bourret and before the game even started Bourret was mixing it up with Dennis Packard. The Pack went on the attack as just :34 seconds into the contest Dawes ripped one off the right post. After the Pack killed a minor hooking penalty to Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau the game settled into a game of positioning with the Pack dictating play. At 9:56 Worcester defenseman Dan Sprang took a hooking penalty and :26 seconds later Coey Potter hit the post. Just before the power play ended, the Pack demonstrated why their power play has been steadily improving to the 12th out of 30 ranking it now holds when Potter moved the puck from the right point over to Dawes on the left point. Dawes made a cross ice diagonal pass to a wide open Bourret who buried his 3rd of the year past Worcester Goalie Thomas Greiss (6-5-0 3.13 GAA .904%), who had no chance on the play.

The period ended with Worcester picking up their intensity, but being outshot 13-5 for the period.

The second started saw the Pack maintaining their aggressive approach and sense of urgency as less than 2 minutes into the period, Artem Anisimov made a nice steal that set up a 3 on 1 in the offensive zone but a Parenteau shot landed right in Greiss' glove.

Andrew Hutchinson took a cross check penalty that sent the Sharks and their 6th ranked Power Play unit out to face the Pack's 24th rated penalty kill. Nate Raduns found Ashton Rome who waited patiently for Lukas Kasper to make his cut across the slot. Dane Byers was late getting back and Rome looked more like ROMO when he hit Kasper right on the tape and Kasper redirected it past a helpless Miika Wiikman (4-0-0 2.78 GAA .897%) tying the score.

The Wolf Pack conitnued to put pressure on the Shark defense and kept them pinned in their own end for minutes at a time however they were unable to convert on a couple of great opportunities by Dawes and Moore.

A few penalties and succesful kills by both squads including a brief :22 second Wolf Pack 5 on 3 that they were able to fire a couple of shots on goal but not able finish. However two shots clearly looked like they went in the net and bounced out. The first by Moore from just inside the right circle and the other on the rebound by Parenteau however neither went into the books as both were waved off and play continued.

The Pack pressure produced a lot of turnovers and at 13:25 one found the stick of Thomas Pock alone in the high slot. Pock reacted quickly and fired a shot low into a traffic filled crease and it found twine off the stick side giving the Pack a 2-1 lead and a 22-16 lead in shots heading into the third period.

Worcester head coach must have had a few pointed words for his club as the Sharks team that hit the ice to start the third was not the same and jumped all over the Pack early in the period. At 4:03 Wiikman made what was clearly the play of hte game as a big rebound found the stick of Worcester center, Josh Prudden came in on Wiikman who recovered to make a huge sprawling save to stop a certain goal on Prudden's backhanded shot. The great save seemed to awaken the Pack and they came back at Worcester with an aggressive assault leading to a frustrated Craig Valette taking a foolish cross checking penalty on Potter in the offensive zone. The resulting power play came up short despite excellent chances by both Bourett and
korpikoski who missed wide open nets.

What would eventually prove to be the game winner came at 12:06 as Moore found Dawes with a pass off the back boards and Dawes saw Bourett crashingthe net through the slot and hit him right in the perfect spot to for the one timer that he buried glove side for a 3-1 lead.

It would stay that way for another 6 minutes when a great drive by Worcester leading scorer Mike Iggulden down the right wing beat both Thomas Pyatt, who also returned from a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss 10 games, and Hutchinson allowed him to swing in on Wiikman uncontested and he beat Wiikman with a pretty move going low to the glove side at 18:01 giving the home team a glimmer of hope that would soon be extinguished.

:13 seconds later Sprang sprung the death knell on his team by effectively removing any chance of having an extra attacker when he took an ill advised tripping penalty sending the Pack on the Power Play with an empty net that a nice intercept by Hutchinson led to a feed to Byers who, with 23.5 seconds left buried an empty netter sealing the 4-2 victory. The Pack outshot Worcester for the game 33-26
.
The Three Stars of the game were Bourett, Thomas Pock, who had a goal and an assist and Lukas Kasper with a goal for Worcester.

Scratched in this one were the injured players for Hartford along with Ryan Murphy, Ryan Constant and Mark Lee.

Lines were:

Dawes - Moore - Bourett with Taylor and Baranka
Dupont - Anisimov - Parenteau with Waddell and Hutchinson
Byers - Korpikoski - Jessiman with Potter and Pock
Pyatt and Oulette (excellent on the PK tonight)

For Bruce Berlet's story on the contest read it at the Hartford Courant. For the WOrcester point of view read the always cheerful Bill Ballou in the Worcester Telegram.

You'll find all the stats in the Game Summary and the Scorer's sheet.

A "ONE NIGHT STAND" FOR THE PACK

VERSUS

This afternoon the 2nd Place Hartford Wolf Pack (13-7-0-1) will board the bus headed for Worcester, Massachusetts for a head-to-head tilt this evening against the 5th place Worcester Sharks (8-7-1-1).

The sizzling Wolf Pack, winners of 8 or their last 10, and two straight visit a struggling Worcester franchise that have a 4-5-1 record in their last ten. The Pack have regained some strength in the return of Greg Moore (10-8-18 in 18 games) and Ivan Baranka (2-6-8 in 18 games) from their stint with the parent New York Rangers. According to Bruce Berlet of the Hartford Courant, the Pack have Tom Pyatt and Alex Bourret returning from injuries which should make for some powerful lines up front.

DAWES - MOORE - BOURRET
DUPONT - ANISIMOV - PARENTEAU
BYERS - KORPIKOSKI - JESSIMAN

Berlet adds, "Coach Ken Gernander will then pick two others as his extra forwards from these four, Pyatt, Mike Oulette, Mark Lee and Ryan Murphy. I imagine they'll start with Pyatt and Oulette, then sit Pyatt and perhaps Bourret for the second game since neither has played in 3-4 weeks." Also more good news from Berlet as he reports that, "Montoya is back practicing but is questionable for the weekend, but Dave Liffiton and Mike Sauer are still not skating, though Sauer said he received some treatment for his neck, which apparently is more the problem than his head/concussion. He said that was the case in the junior championships when he got some neck treatment that helped his head problem."

The Sharks are led in goal by the talented Thomas Greiss (6-4-0 3.15 GAA .904%) and up front by Center, Mike Iggulden. The 6'3", 210 pounder from St. Catharines, Ontario has put up some impressive numbers. He leads Worcester with 10G, 11A for 21 points in 17 games. Iggulden is joined up front by veteran Right-Wing Graham Mink (5G-8A-13 Points in 17 games) and rookie forward Nate Raduns (5G-6A-11 points in 15 games). Worcester lost it's last game in a shoot-out with first place Providence 5-4.

You can catch all of the action with Bob Crawford's call for free on the net at ESPN 1410 AM or you can plunk down $6 and watch the broadcast live at B2livetv.com. Howlings will be in Worcester this evening and will post periodic updates during the game and then have a full recap afterwards.

In other Wolf Pack news, check out Bruce Berlet's profile of emerging Wolf Pack star, rookie Brodie Dupont in today's Hartford Courant. Assistant coach Pat Boller and defenseman Ivan Baranka will join Bob Crawford as his guests on the always informative and entertaining "Wolf Pack Confidential" heard every Tuesday from 7-8 pm on ESPN 1410AM from the M&M Restaurant in the Hartford Hilton.

With the holiday season in full swing a number of charitable functions will be taking place. At next Friday's home game against the Lowell Devils, the Wolf Pack are asking for your help in collecting donations of winter-weather essentials such as hats, gloves and scarves to donate to those in need in the surrounding area, nothing is more important this time of year than helping those less fortunate.

You are also running out of time to participate in the annual "Wolf Pack Bowl-a-Thon" at AMF Silver Lanes in East Hartford. The fundraiser, in which teams of four raise money and have the opportunity to bowl with Wolf Pack players offers a great opportunity to get to know the team on a one-on-one basis in an exciting environment to help Special Olympics athletes. There are chances to win prizes, and have a lot of fun.

This year's date is Sunday, December 16, 2007.

There will be two sessions, one starting at 11:00 am and another starting at 2:00 pm.

All money raised goes directly to benefit Special Olympics Connecticut Athletes from the Eastern Region. Over the past seven seasons, the Wolf Pack have helped to raise $156,000 for Special Olympics Connecticut through this popular event. For more information, contact the Special Olympics at 877-660-6667.

Down at the Wolf Pack and Rangers ECHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, defenseman Mike Busto makes his season debut as he returns from injury as the Checkers take on The Columbia Inferno at 7:30. GM/Coach Derek Wilkinson's squad has also been decimated by the rash of injuries both to their own squad and by those on the Wolf Pack, so many of his players have been called up leaving it difficult to put a strong team out there. According to Wilkinson, the Checkers only had Jordan Owens as a Rangers/Wolf Pack affiliated player under contract on his squad, saying, "it sort of feels like we're an independent down here." However ECHL All-Star Bruce Graham has been returned to the franchise along with the aforementioned Busto and with Montoya beginning to work out again, one of the two Charlotte goalies should be sent back shortly, most likely Matt Zaba. Also, as the team continues to recover, call-ups Ryan Constant, Matt Waddell, Mark Lee, Ryan Murphy and Mike Oulette may well be sent back soon. Should you want to check out the Checkers game, (sounds logical the whole checking out the Checkers thing, doesn't it?) you can also watch the contest on B2livetv.com. The Checkers are at home all weekend as on Saturday they to take on the Mississippi Sea Wolves and then Sunday face the Johnstown Chiefs. For the latest information on visit gocheckers.com

NOW WHAT?

NY Rangers agitator Sean Avery is going to have arthroscopic surgery performed tomorrow afternoon after a CAT scan he underwent yesterday gave results warranting it.

As the saying goes, one man's loss is another man's gain. The question is who's? Will it be Marcel Hossa's? Or perhaps the gain comes from Hartford and then who could that be? Does the call go out to Greg Moore who can play physical but has been putting the puck in the net? Or is the more likely call up go to Nigel Dawes who has played on that line with Gomez and Shanahan and played well there? There's always the chance the call could go to Dane Byers who is more of a physical presence. Time will tell.

More likely than not this will leave Avery on the shelf for at least 2 weeks but more likely longer.

For reports check out John Dellapina's take on it at The Blueshirt Blog or Steve Zipay at On The Rangers Beat. Josh Thompson covering for the bad-back-most-likely-from-painting-over-the-holidays, or just maybe getting up there in torn calendar pages, Sam Weinman at Rangers Report gives a few gems including this one concerning Nigel Dawes:

Someone asked about Nigel Dawes and Renney said something along the lines of…”or someone else.” But it seemed like (Coach Tom) Renney may promote someone from Hartford.

I'm guessing, and that's all I'm doing at this point, but to me I read that as they may still want to see Nigel Dawes down here longer working on those things they've sent him down for and the call might go back to Greg Moore or even Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau who has been lighting it up of late or even Brodie Dupont isn't totally insane to envision although I admit it's HIGHLY unlikely and will most likely be Moore.

(Sean Avery taking down Darcy Tucker photo courtesy of prosportsdaily.com)

BUSTO BETTER, GRAHAM CRACKERS

Mike Busto's comeback just took another step for the better as he's apparently well enough to begin playing and though he has been an ECHL All-Star, it would appear that Bruce Graham has peaked at that level as he was mostly ineffective in Hartford. He will now join Derek Wilkinson's bunch in Charlotte as Hartford has sent them Packing.

Here's the official release...

HARTFORD, November 27, 2007: Hartford Wolf Pack general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned center Bruce Graham and defenseman Mike Busto from the Wolf Pack to the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL.

Graham has skated in 10 games with the Wolf Pack this season and has contributed one assist. In six ECHL games with the Checkers, the third-year pro has notched four goals and two assists for six points, along with six penalty minutes. Busto, a rookie out of the Western Hockey League, has yet to play this season due to injury.

The Wolf Pack will be back in action this Friday night, November 30th, visiting Worcester for a 7:05 game. The Pack then play back-to-back home games at the Hartford Civic Center, Saturday night vs. Springfield (7:00) and Sunday against Portland (4:00 face-off).

(Mike Busto photo via BlueshirtBulletin.com from Gettyimages.com and Bruce Graham photo courtesy of HartfordWolfPack.com)

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

While the parent club, NY Rangers continue to recover and get players back, Ryan Callahan is expected to return to the line-up Thursday against the NY Islanders, the Wolf Pack currently have 7 players recovering from various ailments. Al Montoya (Back, Day-to-Day), Dave Liffiton, Alex Bourret, Michael Sauer (Concussion - Indefinitely) Francis Lessard (Knee - Done for the Season), Mitch Fritz (Shoulder Surgery - 3 months), Chris Holt (Knee Sprain - 4-6 weeks) and Tom Pyatt (High Ankle Sprain - Day-to-Day).

Mike Busto, who has yet to play this season due to a concussion of his own has started skating and will hopefully be able to play soon and could be activated, probably to start in Charlotte any day now.

As bad as things appear to be for Hartford, in Charlotte it is far worse. According to GM and Coach Derek Wilkinson, the team feels "like an independent team. We only have one contracted player, Jordan Owens, on the roster right now." Wilkinson, who will be keeping Howlings readers up to date with reports on his team said that Clayton Barthel is out indefinitely having taken a stick to the face. He has a pretty bad fracture just below his nose. He has been getting headaches and the doctors are not sure if it's a concussion or if it's the result of the injury itself.

For those asking about Joe Barnes, who you'll recall came with Andrew Hutchinson in the Matt Cullen trade, is also done for the season having had a knee injury that required season ending surgery.

The cause of these rash of injuries is anyone's guess as these kinds of things can't be protected against per se. All that can be done is that you hope that these players are able to recover quickly and come back strong to compete.

(Mike Busto photo courtesy of BlueshirtBulletin.com via Gettyimages.com, Derek Wilkinson photo courtesy echl.com, Clayton Barthel & Joe Barnes photos courtesy of viewimages.com)

PROSPECTS PROSPECTUS

(L to R, MSG Personality, John Giannone, Assistant Coach, Perry Pearn, Head Coach, Tom Renney, Assistant Coach, Mike Pelino, former Ranger D-Man and now broadcaster, Dave Maloney)

Last night about 250 Rangers season ticket holders attended an invitation only event with the Head Coach, Tom Renney and his Assistant coaches, Perry Pearn and Mike Pelino in the lobby of the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The discussion was often light and comical as the coaches were loose and somewhat surprisingly candid as to their feelings on a number of issues. For a breakdown of those issues that were focused on New York and not Hartford, including assessments of some former Pack players now in New York, you can read that at BlueshirtBulletin.com.

The topic did come back to the youngsters currently on the roster in Hartford. One hot topic that was brought up rather quickly was the demotion of Nigel Dawes. Renney spoke extensively in his belief in the young man and that he was in charge of the draft when he was selected. They had originally slotted Dawes as a 6th round pick but that they were so impressed with his character and the potential upside that he had to his game that they decided that rather than take a chance on his not being available in the 6th round that they took him in the fourth instead. Renney said, "there is no doubt that he has a terrific offensive knack, without question. What we're looking for in the young man is to be more consistent in all three zones with and without the puck." He added, "we're fortunate that we have a lot of depth on this team and he has options so that we can send him to Hartford to improve that area and then bring him back without fear of losing him as we would have with other players."

Pearn talked about building a system where the team can have a stable of players "in-house" that the team can draw from so that it doesn't become as necessary to go out after free agents. He stated, "there are 7,8 maybe 9 players right now in Hartford that we see as NY Rangers of the future."

Pearn talked about how high the organization is on Michael Sauer saying that he's "just at the tip of the iceberg as to how good he is going to be."

Pearn said that he felt that Dane Byers had the skill set to be a "strong power forward at the NHL level and we're very pleased at his level of commitment."

When the name of Alex Bourret was brought up Pearn had his strongest and most direct words for him. "He has a LOT of skill, there is no doubt about that. We were not pleased at all in his preparation for training camp...It was not as good as others as he was competing against for jobs on the team. However, he is a VERY talented player. He is very skilled and has a nasty side to his game. He can agitate a lot like Sean Avery and we like this young man. We just need to get him committed to the game if he is going to get to the next level."

First round pick from this past season's draft, Alexi Cherepanov, who's nickname is "Siberian Express" who has broken all kinds of scoring records in Russia including surpassing the Russian league rookie goal scoring record previously held by Pavel Bure, was also addressed, this time by Renney. "He has a VERY good chance of being here (NY) next year although he might be in Hartford. He has seen what (Artem) Anisimov is doing and how getting into the North American game has benefited him and we're pretty confident he'll be either in NY or Hartford next season."

Overall, the coaches were open and informative and for those who attended a good insight into how and where these prospects are seen by the Rangers organization.

(Rangers coaches photo by Mitch Beck, Nigel Dawes, Michael Sauer, Dane Byers photo courtesy of viewimages.com, Alexi Cherepanov photo courtesy of newyorkrangers.com)

MOORE HARTFORD FOR MOORE

As predicted the Rangers are getting healthier and Greg Moore would be an extra and unnecessary cog so he has been returned to Hartford. This move, which again was expected, makes for an interesting first line in Hartford. Moore centering Dawes and Jessiman should be a highly productive line and we should start seeing big numbers coming up for number 27 if he expects to make it to the next level with this kind of support around him. This should make Dawes far more productive having two big men around him to open space and with Dawes' excellent passing ability it is safe to assume that Moore will be putting more biscuits in the basket.

Here's the release...

New York, November 26, 2007 -- New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that forward Greg Moore has been reassigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Moore, 23, has appeared in one game with the Rangers this season. The 6-1, 210 pound forward returns to Hartford having skated in 18 AHL games this season, registering 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points, along with 15 penalty minutes and a plus-14 rating. At the time of his recall, Moore led the Wolf Pack in goals (10), points (18), and plus/minus (plus-14) and his eight assists were tied for first on the team. His 10 goals and plus-14 were also tied for second in the AHL, while his 18 points were tied for ninth in the league.

(Greg Moore Photo courtesy of HartfordWolfPack.com)

INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT MEETING

In this off day for the Pack it's always nice to find a story that's worth talking about that's just positive and fun.

Here, Laurie, who posts here on a regular basis, as well as on BlueshirtBulletin.com and is a terrific woman who I had a wonderful chance to meet Saturday night, shares this wonderful story about last weekend's game.

It was nice meeting you on Saturday. As you know, my favorite prospect in the Rangers system is Artem Anisimov. I followed him over in Russia after the Rangers drafted him, watched him in the World Juniors and Super Series, read quotes and interviews, and just really like the kid. To give you an idea how much: You know how 'Ro (Hockey Rodent) feels about Prucha? That's pretty much how I feel about Anisimov (though I haven't registered any domain names yet!) I do, however, already have an Anisimov jersey, from his old Russian team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

So Saturday night my husband I made the trip up to Hartford to see the Wolf Pack play the baby Devils. Unwilling to break a winning streak wearing my Rangers jersey to see the Pack play, my husband ended up in the Anisimov jersey for the night. During the first intermission as we were walking back to our seats, my husband was stopped by a very animated Russian man who kept repeating "Anisimov! Anisimov!" among other things I wasn't able to pick up. Being as oblivious as I am, I didn't realize right away that my husband had stopped, and when I doubled back to see what all the commotion was about, I found the two getting ready to pose for a picture. Never big on having my picture taken, I tried to move off to the side, but was motioned back into the photo excitedly with a "Nyet! nyet! Rangers! Rangers!" And so my husband and I smiled quizzically as our photo was taken with with an extremely excited Russian man.

It wasn't until we got back to our seats that my husband turned to me and said "I think that was his dad." No sooner than he said it than it clicked -- they have the same eyes and lanky build. And it made the whole exchange make a whole lot more sense. While I have been with a friend who was wearing a Frolunda Lundqvist jersey at the Garden when she was accosted by a group of crazy Swedes, being approached by such an excited Russian man at an AHL game in Hartford seemed an unlikely coincidence.

With all that in mind, we went off to wander around the concourse between the 2nd and 3rd periods, with the thought that we might bump into them again and confirm our suspicions. As it turns out, they (the man, a woman about the same age, and the younger woman who took the picture) were also looking for us, because he immediately approached my husband and held out a hockey card -- a signed Anisimov Lokomotiv Yaroslavl card. Meanwhile, I was able to establish who they were with the younger woman, who turned out to be Anisimov's girlfriend, and fortunately spoke some English, because it was at that moment that just about everything I learned in four years of Russian language courses a dozen years ago escaped me. Dad was extremely curious to know, via the girlfriend, "Why Artem?". Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with the Russian to try to explain, and I don't think the girlfriend was able to make any sense of what I said in English. But you could tell that dad was blown away by the fact that his son already had fans in North America -- especially fans crazy enough to buy one of his jerseys!

It was a really cool experience... probably more exciting than meeting Anisimov (the player) himself would have been. The pride and happiness on this man's face was really something special to see. It really seemed like we'd totally made his night. In turn, he'd totally made ours.

Thanks for the nice story Laurie and it was a pleasure meeting with you. Thank you as well for your continued support and encouragement in making this site something special.

If you have a nice story that you would like to share of having interacted with a Wolf Pack player, their family or the organization itself, feel free to forward them to me at mitch@crossroadsconsulting.com.

(Artem Anisimov photo courtesy of NewYorkRangers.com)

"THE TIES THAT BIND..."

There's a reason that coaches say you have to play a 60 minute game. Well, after dominating play all over the ice for 58:54 of the contest, a defensive let-down by the Wolf Pack (13-7-0-1) led to a Stephen Gionta deflection that sent the game to overtime. However, the Wolf Pack regrouped, took 6 of the 7 shots in the period as they have been doing regularly thus far in the season, The Pack pulled together to gut out a win in overtime, on a Pierre Alexandre Parenteau goal from high in the slot at 3:52 to defeat the Lowell Devils 3-2 in front of 4,592 in the Hartford Civic Center.

This game was very fast paced as it only took 2 hours 11 minutes to play. Just 1:10 into the games the action started as after Lowell D-Man Mark Fraser boarded Hugh Jessiman the two fought. Jessiman landed the harder shots and prevailed with not one, but two take-downs of Fraser.

Some special teams play following each team taking penalties resulted in the pace being very quick with very few stoppages. At 12:31 Matt Waddell, a recent Charlotte call-up for the Pack, took a holding penalty. Less than a minute into the power play opportunity Lowell, currently 18th in the league in Power Play opportunities, struck against the Pack's 23rd ranked penalty kill. Noah Clarke, who would become the games third star, started a rush and found Rosario Ruggeri in the slot open for a shot. The puck hit Pack goalie, Miika Wiikman (3-0-0 3.01 GAA and .891%) in the chest and dropped to the ice. Petr Vrana was right there to stuff it past Wiikman for the 1-0 lead.

The Devils didn't have much of a chance to celebrate as it took the Pack just :38 seconds to strike back. Hugh Jessiman, who would be the games second star, rushed the puck up left wing past defenseman Olivier Magnan-Grenier, darted in on Devil goalie Frank Doyle (4-7-0 3.00 GAA .903%), switched backhand to forehand and stuffed it between the pads of the beaten goalie. It was the first sign in a long time that Jessiman has shown why he was the Rangers first round pick and the type of Power forward that he has it in him to be. Jessiman was assisted on the play from Corey Potter and the surging Nigel Dawes, who after a slow first game back from the Rangers has been an offensive machine in the last two.

It was a back and forth affair the rest of the period until at 18:04 when Jessiman bungled the puck at center ice, had it taken from him and Stephen Gionta and Clarke came in 2-0 and Wiikman made a huge save and deflected the puck into the corner till help could arrive. By far the save of the game and may well have been the turning point of the contest. The period ended with the Pack leading in shots 9-8 and the score tied at 1.

The Pack came out determined to start the second frame and just 1:13 in Dane Byers rifled a shot on goal that hit the post and :43 ticks later Artem Anisimov found Jessiman again and if not for a terrific save by Doyle would have lit the lamp.

At 8:30 Ruggeri was called for holding putting the Pack on the Power play and this time they would strike pay dirt. It took just :25 seconds for Ivan Baranka to find Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau who executed the same back-door play the previous day against Bridgeport as he saucered a puck across ice down low to Anisimov who was wide open on the right doorstep and put it away easily for a 2-1 lead. The assist was Baranka's first since returning earlier in the day from the Rangers where he also had an assist on Colton Orr's game winning goal Thursday night in his first NHL game against Tampa Bay.

Grant Marshall took a hooking penalty at 11:22 and 9 seconds later Jessiman g0t called for goalie interference negating the power play. With 9 seconds left on the 4 on 4, Potter took an ill advised boarding penalty that created a 4-3 situation that became a 9 second 5 on 3 however the Pack were able to kill off the penalties without any real threats to Wiikman.

The period ended with the Pack leading in shot on goal, 21-14 and more importantly leading on the scoreboard 2-1. The Pack entered the game 9-0-0 in games when they led after two periods.

The third period wasn't filled with much in the way of action as the Devils really pressed their trap which took all of the flow from the game. Lowell took a couple of penalties that the Pack weren't able to capitalize on. The only notable moment was that for a while it appeared that Jessiman got hurt when he was hit but returned to the game later. At 18:11 Thomas Pock made an errant cross ice pass that started a flurry of action around the net that led to Lauri Korpikoski taking a hooking penalty setting up on power play with just 1:49 remaining in the game. It was an opportunity the veteran filled team was not about to let slip away.

With the puck clearly controlled by the visitors in the Pack zone and 1:18 remaining on the clock the Devils pulled Doyle for an extra attacker and creating a 6 on 4. Just :12 seconds into the advantage Marshall found Clarke open in the slot and fired a shot that was deflected by Gionta and it got past Wiikman who had no chance and the score was tied at 2 and off to overtime they went. Shots were 32-20 for regulation.

In overtime it was all Pack. At :16 seconds Dawes was all alone down low off a bad turnover and nearly ended it right there but his shot hit iron and Doyle was able to cover it and stop play. At 2:50 Jessiman returned to the game. Jessiman would tell Hartford Courant beat reporter Bruce Berlet, that he had injured his shoulder but that he was okay.

At 3:52 the Pack faced an offensive zone face-off to the right of Doyle. Anisimov won the face-off cleanly and and after a great face-off win in which he and moved the puck forward. He swept behind goal and found Potter on the right side. Potter fired a pass over to Parenteau who was all alone in the high slot and Parenteau unleashed a rocket between the legs of Richard Matvichuk that rose beating Doyle stick side easily giving the home team the 3-2 victory. The Pack took 6 of the 7 shots in overtime.

With the win the Pack have now won 6 of their last 7 and 8 of their last 10, are 10-0-0 when leading after two periods and Parenteau has a season high 7 game scoring streak scoring 4 times and assisting on 5 others for 9 points over the span.

The Pack are now off until next Friday when they have an important weekend of divisional games as they travel to Worcester to take on the 5th place Sharks (8-7-1-1) and then finish the 3 games in 3 days with two games on home ice against 4th place Springfield (10-7-1-3) and 3rd place Portland (11-7-1-1).

In other Pack related news, Francis Lessard told Bruce Berlet that he has decided on having the season ending knee surgery necessary to repair his torn ACL sustained last Saturday in Lowell. He will have the surgery on December 3rd.

For Bruce Berlet's account of the action read it in The Hartford Courant and get Bob Crawford's recap at HartfordWolfPack.com. For the the Lowell perspective read the story in the Lowell Sun. For the stats read the game summary and for the complete recap of the game find the game report.

(Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau photo courtesy of Chris Rutsch via HartfordWolfPack,com and Miika Wiikman photo also courtesy of HartfordWolfPack.com Hugh Jessiman photo courtesy of BlueshirtBulletin.com)

BARANKA BACK MOUNTAIN...HOPEFULLY A SHOT IN THE ARM...

This just in...

New York, November 24, 2007 -- New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that defenseman Ivan Baranka has been reassigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Baranka, 22, has registered one assist and a plus-one rating in one game with the Rangers this season, making his NHL debut on Wednesday, November 21 at Tampa Bay. The 6-3, 205 pound defenseman has appeared in 17 games with Hartford (AHL) this season, collecting two goals and five assists for seven points, along with 16 penalty minutes and a plus-six rating. In his third season with the Wolf Pack, the Ilava, Slovakia native has recorded 10 goals and 41 assists for 51 points, along with 153 penalty minutes in 130 AHL contests.

From today’s practice, Martin Straka (rest) and Sean Avery (rest) did not practice. The Blueshirts return to action tomorrow, November 25, when they will face off against the Dallas Stars at Madison Square Garden (1:00 PM). The matinee match-up will be televised on WWOR-TV/ My9.

It is unknown at this time if Baranka will be in tonight's line-up against Lowell at the Civic Center.

(Ivan Baranka photo courtesy of HartfordWolfPack.com)