MANCHESTER, NH – Hartford Wolf Pack leading point-scorer P.A. Parenteau had a goal and two assists, and Matt Zaba made 33 saves, as the Wolf Pack equaled a season high with their third straight victory Saturday, defeating the Manchester Monarchs 4-3 in Manchester.
The win kept the Wolf Pack (25-18-2-3, 55 points) tied with Providence for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Artem Anisimov had two assists for the Wolf Pack, and Marty Murray tallied a pair of goals for Manchester.
Manchester drew two penalties from the Wolf Pack in the first 2:33 of the game, and the Monarchs connected on the first of those two man-advantages. Murray deflected Scott Parse’s shot past Zaba at 1:51, after Teddy Purcell found Parse in the left circle with a cross-slot pass.
The Wolf Pack tied the score at 5:36 of the second frame, with Dale Weise getting his fourth goal of the season, and his first since November 23rd. Patrick Rissmiller set Weise up with a pass to the right-wing side of the crease. Murray got his second of the game to put Manchester back in front at 10:39, off of a goalmouth scramble. Zaba stopped Purcell’s shot, but both Murray and Matt Moulson crashed the net, and Murray poked the puck in.
Bobby Sanguinetti tied the game again in a four-on-four situation at 16:17, driving a Parenteau pass into the net on the stick side of Monarch netminder Jonathan Bernier.
The Wolf Pack would only manage two shots in the decisive third period, but would score two goals. Parenteau fired in a pass from Anisimov for his 20th of the season at 8:52, and then Parenteau set up Tom Pyatt for what turned out to be the winner on a two-on-one at 16:35. Parse created the final margin with a sixth-attacker goal with 1:16 left, but the Monarchs could not get anything further past Zaba.