Pack Loses to Springfield in a Shootout, 4-3

by: Bruce Berlet | HartfordWolfPack.com | Saturday, December 13, 2008



HARTFORD, CT - After 8 1/2 nearly perfect periods, the Hartford Wolf Pack had a 2 1/2-minute lapse midway through the third period Saturday night that led to a 4-3 shootout loss to the Springfield Falcons before 4,409 at the XL Center.

The Wolf Pack had a seemingly safe 3-0 lead before Tyler Spurgeon jammed in a rebound at 9:50 after Dekar Bekar’s shot ricocheted off Wolf Pack defenseman Corey Potter. Just 11 seconds later off the ensuing faceoff, Bryan Lerg finished into an open net to complete a three-way play with Ryan Potulny and Guillaume Lefebvre.

Potulny then capped the Falcons’ furious comeback when he deflected a blind back pass from Lerg that fluttered over the left shoulder of Wolf Pack goalie Miika Wiikman at 12:17. It was reminiscent of opening night Oct. 11 when the Falcons rallied from a 3-0 first-period deficit and won 4-3 on Potulny’s goal with 9:40 left in regulation.

This time, Carl Corazzini’s backhander was the only goal in the shootout, as Falcons goalie Devan Dubnyk denied Greg Moore, Tommy Pyatt, Bobby Sanguinetti, Artem Anisimov and Brodie Dupont.

“I have no idea what just happened,” Moore said. “We have to do a better job after goals playing with the same intensity.”

Lerg’s goal was the turning point as Dupont, Patrick Rissmiller, P.A. Parenteau, Michael Sauer and David Urquhart let the Falcons waltz in from center ice.

“That was particularly frustrating,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. “We try to stress the importance of a shift after a goal. You hope you can win the draw or at the very least contain things and keep them to the outside. But we let them go right up the gut of the ice and build on their momentum.”

Pyatt played a team-low 3:09 in the first period but made the most of his time, helping the Wolf Pack score twice on the same shift in the final 3:15. A strong forecheck behind the Falcons’ net led to Pyatt taking the puck from Geoff Paukovich, circling in front and firing a shot that went off Dubnyk and was tipped in by Owens at 16:45.

Just 1:12 later, Owens passed from the left corner to the right point to Jared Nightingale, whose rebound was converted by Pyatt for a 2-0 lead.

Owens got his third point in the second period as he circled the Falcons’ net and passed in front, where Devin DiDiomete put a backhander past Dubnyk at 9:46.

But the Wolf Pack (12-11-1-3) had few quality scoring chances until after the stirring rally by the Falcons (12-11-3-1), who had been on a 0-2-1-0 slide thanks in part of several injuries and suspensions.

“We lost coverages down low,” Gernander said. “Until that point, we continued to attack, attack, attack, and then for whatever reason, we let them come at us. Then you start playing in the defensive zone, and there’s less time to recover if you make a mistake.”

The disheartening loss put a damper on successive strong efforts in a 2-0 victory over Providence and 4-1 win over Worcester.

“It’s a long season, and while we played a couple of good games, it doesn’t mean that everybody has all the lessons learned,” Gernander said. “If we’re ever going to be rid of mistakes, we have to continue to work and teach, and if you make mistakes, you have to learn from them and move on.”