PACK TAKE NIGHT OFF...SHARKS DON'T

      VERSUS      

ROUND ONE - GAME FOUR

After a sudden stunning defeat 1:07 into the second overtime frame, the Hartford Wolf Pack looked to rebound and put a stranglehold on their best of seven semifinal playoff series with the Worcester Sharks. Unfortunately for the boys from Hartford they forgot to show up and got run out of the building in the third period allowing four goals in just under six minutes en route to a 6-0 thrashing in front of 1,911 at the DCU Center. The win evened the series at two games each.

The Pack dug themselves an early hole just 3:19 into the contest. Andrew Desjardins won an offensive zone faceoff in the right wing circle. The puck wound up on the stick of Dan DaSilva in the slot. DaSilva spun and fed the puck to 31-year old NHL veteran Kyle McLaren on the right point. McLaren fired a hard rising shot that Wolf Pack starter, Matt Zaba (21 saves) who was unable to see it as both Brian Fahey and Frazer McLaren (no relation to Kyle) dueled in front of him. The goal, was Worcester’s first lead of the series apart from the double overtime winner.

The Pack were unable to mount any real threat to Shark starter Thomas Greiss (30 saves) throughout the contest but kept it at 1-0 until the third period. The Pack team that put up such a strong fight throughout the first two games and most of third, just left their game in the locker room.

With Brian Fahey and Jared Nightingale particularly having a difficult time dealing with the hard forecheck that the Sharks threw at them, it was only a matter of time before something turned against them.  At 1:23 Fahey failed to get to a dump in. Tom Cavanagh was right there pressuring him and got the puck from the right side over to Riley Armstrong on the left. Armstrong slid over a bit to the right and saw rookie Logan Couture coming up the slot unfettered by the inconvenience of a Pack defender and went right in the rest of the way with Nightingale frozen at the crease blasted a shot over Zaba. The goal was Couture’s first as a professional and obviously his first playoff goal as well.

2:22 later the Sharks added a third goal when once again Fahey and Nightingale could not handle the forecheck and clear the zone. Lukas Kaspar took the puck on the right wing half boards off a pass from ex-Pack Cory Larose. Kaspar put a move on Fahey and got past the Pack veteran. Once again Nightingale was frozen at the crease, and didn’t challenge the shooter and watched as Kaspar put the puck just under the crossbar and it was 3-0.

It only took the Sharks another 2:31 to add their fourth goal. While on the rush, Larose left a drop pass for Kaspar who centered a pass which got past Bobby Sanguinetti and on to the stick of Ryan Vesce who beat Greg Moore and deflected the puck into the net to the left of Zaba. 4-0.

The fifth goal came just 1:05 after that. Armstrong put the puck down low and Brendan Buckley got away from Nightingale and put the puck in front and Fahey did not wrap up Cavanagh who put the puck into the net from right in front of Zaba.

The final insult came with just 47 seconds remaining when Fahey and Nightingale were burned again as T.J. Fox took a pass of the right wing from Vesce and beat Zaba high over the stick side  for the final tally.

Greiss was solid in net as the games’ First star for his first post season shut-out. The Sharks had five players with multiple point nights. Armstrong, Desjardins and DaSilva (Second Star) each had two assists while both Vesce and Kaspar (Third Star) each had a goal and an assist.

The shots were relatively even in the first frame as Worcester outshot the Pack 11-10, but the Sharks had the better of the play as they have this entire series, as the majority of the play was in the Pack defensive zone.

The second period saw the Pack play their best all around period as they put more shots on net, and while they outshot their hosts 12-6. The only problem was that most of the shots came from bad angles and outside and more importantly they couldn’t get past Greiss. Their hard work produced two power play opportunities, but without P.A. Parenteau to quarterback the power play, they looked as lost as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a B’nai B’rith fundraiser… just a total disconnect. The Pack could not set up their offense and the best chances of the two power plays all came for Worcester.

Bob Crawford has the story after calling the game at Hartfordwolfpack.com.  Bill Ballou reports on the home team at Telegram.com.

Game Summary and Official Scorers Sheet.

NOTES:

* Neulion, the parent company of AHL LIVE, reacted quickly jumping all over repairing their internet broadcast which started a bit late due to technical difficulties in the DCU Center.

* It’s time to sit Brian Fahey (minus-5) and Jared Nightingale (minus-5) and see if any of the new faces that the Pack have signed for the backend can do anything. Fahey and Nightingale were on the ice for four of the five goals. Dale Weise, Jordan Owens and Tommy Pyatt were all minus-3. 

* The only Pack players without a minus rating in the game were the defensive pair of David Urquhart and Michael Sauer, and forwards Patrick Rissmiller and rookie Brock McBride.

* This shellacking is hardly Zaba’s fault. He had no help in front of him and at all.

LINES:

Dupont – Anisimov – Weise

Byers – Ouellette – Owens

Pyatt – Rissmiller – Moore ©

DiDiomete - McBride - Crowder

Sanguinetti – Potter @

Urquhart – Sauer

Nightingale -  Fahey @

Zaba

SCRATCHES:

Denisov – Undisclosed Injury

Stich – Healthy

Loverock - Healthy

Parenteau – Concussion – Day-to-Day

Zaborsky – Shoulder - Season

Soryal – Hand – Season

Kundratek – Healthy

Glass - Healthy

Sugden- Healthy

Crowder – Healthy

Gaulton – Healthy

Bell – Undisclosed Injury

THREE STARS:

1. WOR - 29 Thomas Greiss
2. WOR - 23 Dan DaSilva
3. WOR - 22 Lukas Kaspar

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Chris Brown (86), Referee
Brian MacDonald (72), Linesman
Chris Libett (19), Linesman

AHL PLAY OFF BRACKETS

(ALL SERIES ARE BEST OF SEVEN)

EASTERN CONFERENCE	Conference Rank		Record
ATLANTIC DIVISION SEMI-FINALS
(1) Hartford Wolf Pack	4		Tied 2-2
(New York Rangers)
(4) Worcester Sharks	8
(San Jose Sharks)
(2) Providence Bruins	5		Lead 2-1
(Boston Bruins)
(3) Portland Pirates	7
(Buffalo Sabres)
EAST DIVISION SEMI-FINALS
(1) Hershey Bears	1		Lead 3-0
(Washington Capitals)
(4) Philadelphia Phantoms	6
(Philadelphia Flyers)
(2) Bridgeport Sound Tigers	2
(New York Islanders)
(3) Wilkes Barre / Scranton Penguins	3		Lead 3-1
(Pittsburgh Penguins)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
NORTH DIVISION SEMI-FINALS
(1) Manitoba Moose	1
(Vancouver Canucks)
(4) Toronto Marlies	6		Tied 2-2
(Toronto Maple Leafs)
(2) Hamilton Bulldogs	3
(Montreal Canadiens)
(3) Grand Rapids Griffins	4		Tied 2-2
(Detroit Red Wings)
WEST DIVISION SEMI-FINALS
(1) Milwaukee Admirals	2		Win 4-0
(Nashville Predators)
(4) Rockford Icehogs	7
(Chicago Blackhawks )
(2) Peoria Rivermen	5
(St. Louis Blues)
(3) Houston Aeros	7		Leads 3-2
(Minnesota Wild)

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE / RESULTS:

Game Five	Thu., Apr. 23	XL Center	7:00
Game Six (If Necessary)	Sat., Apr. 25	DCU Center	7:05
Game Seven (If Necessary)	Mon., Apr. 27	XL Center	7:00

Comments

[elsie]

The best ranger D prospect may be in the mix too, Del Zotto (and Taveras) were eliminated last night

[application]

Let face it the wolfpack wouldn't be where they are without Zaba during this playoff. But that being said, he had a Brain Cramp in the 3rd period which lead to a barrage of goals that could have been stopped.

[laurie]

Application, I couldn't disagree with you more about Zaba. Those goals weren't on Zaba. All five of the third period goals came off the sticks of guys who were allowed free access to the slot, courtesy of the Pack's porous defense. You can't give players a free ticket to your net and then expect your goaltender to stop everything.

That said, the fact he was left in for the whole game leads me to believe Wiikman may get the start tonight. On one hand, that worries me. But on the other, maybe the team will wake up once they realize they don't have Zaba behind them to bail them out again and again.

P.S. Mitch, Denisov's been out injured this whole time, not a healthy scratch.

[Ranger Dan]

Hey Laurie, Let's go to the video on just the third goal. Why was Zaba on his knees when the puck came off the side boards where the puck was picked up by a Shark's player, who was being pursued by the Wolf Pack defenseman who just came off the side boards after fighting for the puck with two Shark players, when the puck carry Shark's player moved to the net with a 35' to 40' shot from a tight angle? Zaba had plenty of time to set up and look at the shot. He also could have hugged the net tighter because of the angle. OH! Shot and a goal! Over the left shoulder of Zaba and into the net. If he is on his skates, nothing to do but stand in front of the goal. Result blame the defense.

Blame the Wolf Pack Defensive system, O.K. Blame just the two defensemen, WRONG. Where were the back checkers, that's the forward's who are suppose to skate back and help in the Defensive Zone. It seemed to me that the defensemen were constantly battling more Shark skaters than they had defensemen. Check the stats, it was usually one of two lines that had this problem.

Net analysis. Coaches should have paid to watch the game, because they certainly didn't didn't manage the game, which they were paid to do. The Coaches DID NOT prepare the team during the season - poor passing, maybe one offensive play, no defensive system or neutral zone system, individuals trying to get the job done on there own (lot of selfishness). No passing this year until late January. Did not find the starting goalie until late February when it was obvious there was a problem in the net, and that too was blamed on the defensemen at the time. Zaba played great the last six weeks of the season and the first three games of the playoffs, but he is human and had a let down. The rest of the team, coaches included, could have helped with a better system and a better prepared team.

Fire the Coaches, these rookies don't know anything about managing a hockey game or hockey players. There was nothing wrong with the talent on this team, just the coaches. Let's try to win next year, change the coaches!

[Mitch Beck]

Dan,

Laurie is more than capable of defending herself and perhaps will, but I disagree with one MAJOR thing that you have brought up here and that's the criticism of the Wolf Pack coaching staff.

The coaches, Kenny Gernander, JJ Daigneault and Pat Boller, have done a MAGNIFICENT job turning a group of, let's face it - not exactly top tier prospects, into a sound two way team that were one of the two or three best teams in the league over the second half of the season. It took time for these youngsters to develop and develop is exactly what they did.

There are a lot of decent players on this team now and a few that will get consideration for NHL jobs in the fall.

You want to criticize specific incidents, be my guest, but turning on a coaching staff that got consideration for post season awards, is at it's worst is really silly and to be more accurately is just outright wrong.

One last thought for you...why do you think that the Rangers organization brought in nothing but defensive prospects? Was it because they thought they had a defense that rocked the world, or do you think it was because they saw that as an overall weakness on the team that has hurt them all season long and that hey are looking at doing something about for next season? Personally, I think it was more the latter...