By Bruce Berlet
HARTFORD, Conn. – Maxime Sauve provided the decisive offensive punch for the Providence Bruins in a 4-2 victory over the Connecticut Whale Tuesday night at the XL Center.
Sauve scored two power-play goals off rebounds in a three-goal third period that rallied the Bruins from trailing 2-1 after the second period.
Sauve also had two goals in the Bruins’ 3-2 victory at the XL Center on Jan. 15.
“It’s becoming a nice place to play and get some goals,” Sauve said. “I just try to play the game simple and put the puck on the net. I kept my feet moving, rushed the net, played hard and found the puck.”
The Whale (22-18-2-5) seemingly had control through 40 minutes before four penalties led to Sauve having four of his 12 goals in the last two meetings with their Atlantic Division rival.
“That’s the way it was going,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said of the calls. “We had some power plays in the second period and capitalized, and (referees Jamie Koharski and Tim Mayer) are going to look to maybe make amends. But if you keep your stick on the ice and your feet moving, you should be all right.
“But when you feel you’re on the defensive and flat-footed, there are going to be opportunities where you’re going to put yourself in a compromising position and possibly take a penalty. They were playing the whole third period in the offensive zone and could be aggressive.”
Consecutive penalties on Stu Bickel (interference), Jared Nightingale (boarding) and newcomer Bretton Cameron (tripping) in the opening 7:34 of the third period and a slashing call on Tessier that offset a hooking penalty on Colby Cohen led to Sauve’s two power-play goals as the Bruins amassed a 13-4 shot advantage in less than 11 minutes.
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Jeremy Reich’s empty-net goal with 1:04 left assured the Whale would lose their first game in regulation (13-1-0-2) when leading after two periods. Meanwhile, the Bruins (21-20-3-1) won for only the third time when trailing after 40 minutes (3-17-2-0). It wasn’t the way the Whale wanted to begin a key four-game homestand against division foes that they’re fighting for playoff spots and position.
The Whale lost the lead despite the return of right wing Dale Weise, playing his first game at the XL Center since Dec. 29, when he was called up by the Rangers for the second time this season. He was scoreless in eight games while averaging 61/2 minutes in New York, but he scored twice Tuesday night while playing 241/2 minutes and felt he could have played another 10.
Sauve’s winner came when he converted Cohen’s rebound with 9:37 left. That came 12 seconds after Nolan Schaefer (27 saves) made a strong stop on Weise’s backhander from 15 feet in the slot.
Weise said he had “a little hop in my step” but didn’t feel it was “a statement game” He said it took a few shifts to get into a rhythm and was the beneficiary of two brilliant set-ups by Tim Kennedy and All-Star right wing Jeremy Williams.
“I believe in myself and feel I can play, and I’m just down here to try to help the team win,” said Weise, who had a game-high seven shots and now has nine goals in 17 games with the Whale. “I’m not trying to send a message to anyone. I play with a chip on my shoulder, and both passes were great passes.”
But the penalties were most on Weise’s mind.
“I’ve been kind of checking up on the team lately, and even when I was here before, penalties are what were hurting us,” said Weise, who was on a line with Kennedy and Jason Williams and scored his first goals since Dec. 21. “We take a couple that are completely unnecessary, and they come back to bite you, and that’s usually what happens. I thought we were in full control of that game, and then we took some penalties, they scored on the power play and we just gave up two points.
“If you’re up in a 2-1 game, you can’t afford to take penalties in the third period. Power plays are the biggest momentum swings you have in games. We get a big (penalty) kill and all of a sudden we start rolling, and they score a couple and they get rolling.”
The Whale started strong with six of the first seven shots, but Bruins came closest to scoring when Zach Hamill hit the left post at 7:18 while on a power play. Just 40 seconds later, Schaefer, coming off a 41-save effort in a 2-1 shootout victory over Manchester on Sunday, stopped Jason Williams’ backhander on breakaway off a deft lead pass by Jeremy Williams.
The Whale got fortunate again with 6:20 left in the period when Kirk MacDonald hit the post, then on the ensuing rush, Chad Johnson (31 saves) denied Jeremy Reich from 15 feet in the slot.
Schaefer flicked out his right pad to stop Nightingale’s right point shot with 5:24 left, and the Bruins then took the lead when MacDonald raced down the left wing and slipped his own rebound between Johnson’s legs with 2:55 to go. Lane MacDermid, son of former Hartford Whalers right wing Paul MacDermid, set the scoring play in motion when he forced a turnover in the neutral zone.
Johnson kept it a one-goal game when he stopped Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman on a 3-on-2 with 1:22 left, and Kennedy set the table for the tying play when he made a brilliant backhand pass from the right circle, through the slot to the left circle to Weise, who fired a one-timer on which Schaefer had no chance at 3:01.
The Whale took their only lead on their second power play as Weise got inside Cohen and deflected in Jason Williams’ centering pass from the left circle at 7:20.
After Johnson stopped Sauve’s partial breakaway at 5:28 thanks to help from defenseman Wade Redden’s hustling backcheck, Sauve converted the rebound of Cohen’s one-time shot from the left point to tie it at 6:16. Schaefer kept it even when he stopped Weise’s backhander with 9:47 left, and on the ensuing rush, Sauve got the winner when he put in Scott Arniel’s rebound 12 seconds later.
Weise nearly tied the score with 8:16 left, but Reich iced it three seconds after Johnson went to the bench for a sixth attacker.
“When we get up a goal, the best thing is to just keep getting the puck deep and keep forechecking,” Redden said. “I think sometimes you try to make plays, and if you turn the puck over, it’s coming back at us and then we’re in a position where we have to hook a guy or take penalties. I don’t think you can just say it’s penalties because there are plays that lead up to them that puts us in a bad position. So we have to play smarter.”
THREE RETURN, GARLOCK OUT AND FIVE COMING BACK FROM RANGERS
Besides Weise, center Todd White returned from the injured list and left wing Tyler Donati from the ECHL.
And after the Rangers’ 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden, Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather announced forward Vinny Prospal and former Hartford Wolf Pack wing Ryan Callahan had been activated from injured reserve and would be eligible to play Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game after the NHL All-Star break.
It was also announced that defenseman Michael Del Zotto and forwards Chad Kolarik, Evgeny Grachev, Kris Newbury and Brodie Dupont had been reassigned to the Whale.
White, who had missed four games with an injury sustained in a 3-0 loss at Portland on Jan. 14, skated between Devin DiDiomete and Cameron, playing his second game since signing a professional tryout contract on Friday. The Whale needed White because Ryan Garlock missed only his second game of the season with the flu, and wing Chris McKelvie was recovering from successful surgery at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford on Monday to repair a sliced toe sustained in the second period of a 5-1 victory over the Springfield Falcons on Saturday night. That was McKelvie’s second game since being called up from Greenville of the ECHL on Thursday.
“I was battling for the puck behind the net and someone just stepped on my foot,” said McKelvie, who was at the game on crutches. “I went back to the bench and asked for new laces and then looked down, saw blood and knew I needed something more than laces.”
With McKelvie out, Donati was recalled from the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL and played on a line with center Oren Eizenman and Chris Chappell, recalled from Greenville of the ECHL on Jan. 11. Donati signed an AHL contract with the Wolf Pack on Oct. 21 and was scoreless in eight games before being loaned to Elmira on Nov. 30. He had 10 goals and 11 assists in 17 games with the Jackals. Last season, Donati was the ECHL’s leading scorer and MVP with 38 goals and 76 in 67 games.
Besides Garlock and McKelvie, the Whale scratched goalie Cameron Talbot, expected to be out until after AHL All-Star Classic on Sunday and Monday in Hershey, Pa. He sustained a high ankle sprain at Portland on Jan. 14, and Pier-Olivier Pelletier was signed from Laredo of the CHL on Wednesday to back up Johnson. The Bruins scratched left wing Antoine Roussel and defenseman Sean Zimmerman.
BALDWIN SPEAKS WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Whalers Sports and Entertainment chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin will be speaking to the UConn Sport Business Association Wednesday night at the Student Union Theatre from 7-8:30 p.m.
Baldwin will be speaking about his past in the sport industry, as well as the past, present and future of hockey in Hartford. He has spent many years as an entrepreneur in the world of professional hockey and in the film industry.
The event is open to the public. For more information, visit www.uconnsba.com.
HOMESTAND CONTINUES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS
Before the break for the All-Star Classic, the Manchester Monarchs visit the Whale on Friday night and the Portland Pirates are in town on Saturday night. The Pirates (28-13-4-1) overtook Manchester (27-16-1-3) for the Atlantic Division lead on Sunday when they beat Worcester 6-5 in a shootout while the Monarchs were losing 2-1 in a shootout with the Bruins. The Pirates increased their division lead to three points Tuesday night as AHL Player of the Week Mark Mancari scored his 27th goal, seventh in the last three games, in a 2-1 victory over the Norfolk Admirals.
The Whale is 1-4-0-1 against the Monarchs, losing three times in Manchester by one goal, once in a shootout. But they’ve also lost twice by three goals, including 3-0 at home on Jan. 2 when rookie Martin Jones made 39 saves for his first shutout of the season and former Yale forward David Meckler and Richard Clune helped set each other up in the third period. The Whale’s only victory was 5-1 on Dec. 11 when Mats Zuccarello scored twice and linemate Newbury had one goal and two assists and Johnson made 23 saves. Zuccarello and Newbury are among a staggering eight Whale players who have been on recall to the parent Rangers.
Left wing Bud Holloway leads the Monarchs’ balanced attack with 14 goals and 19 assists, followed by All-Star defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (9, 23), center Oscar Moller (9, 19), left wing Dwight King (12, 15) and centers Justin Azevedo (12, 15) and Corey Elkins (12, 14). Meckler has 13 goals and eight assists. Jones has had an excellent rookie season with a 16-5-0 record with a 2.17 goals-against average, .930 save percentage and two shutouts. Jeff Zatkoff is 10-11-3, 3.18, .897.
Hall of Fame defenseman Brad Park will make a special appearance Saturday night, when he will meet and greet fans and sign autographs before the game and then drop the ceremonial first puck before the Whale takes on the Pirates and former Hartford Whalers star and captain Kevin Dineen. Park also will play for the Bruins legends against the Hartford Whalers legends Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. at Rentschler Field in East Hartford before the Whale faces the Bruins at 7 p.m.
After the All-Star break, the homestand ends Feb. 4 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers before the Whale has a home-and-home set with Portland on Feb. 5-6.
WETHERSFIELD NATIVE MCDONALD AMONG ALL-STAR GAME ADDITIONS
Wethersfield native Colin McDonald, son of former Hartford Whalers and New Haven Nighthawks defenseman Gerry McDonald, was among seven players added to team rosters for the All-Star Classic.
McDonald, a fourth-year pro and a second-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2003, has already set career highs with 23 goals and 30 points while playing all 47 games for Oklahoma City Barons this season.
Providence forward Jamie Arniel, Worcester defenseman Justin Braun and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goalie John Curry were added to the Eastern Conference roster, while McDonald, Toronto defenseman Keith Aulie, San Antonio forward Mathieu Beaudoin and Hamilton defenseman Mathieu Carle were added to the Western Conference team.
The replacements were needed because Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Brad Thiessen, Providence’s Steve Kampfer, Worcester’s Jonathan Cheechoo, San Antonio’s Garrett Stafford, Toronto’s Joey Crabb, Oklahoma City’s Linus Omark and Grand Rapids’ Brendan Smith will miss the event because of injury or NHL recall.
Jeremy Williams will make his first All-Star appearance as the Whale’s lone representative.
Tickets for the All-Star Classic, including admission to the skills competition at 3 p.m. on Sunday and the All-Star Game at 7 p.m. on Monday, are nearly sold out. Tickets are also available for the post-skills party Sunday at 6 p.m. and the Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony Monday at 11 a.m. The Hall of Fame Class of 2011 includes Mitch Lamoureux, Larry Wilson and the late Harry Pidhirny and Maurice Podoloff, who grew in New Haven, graduated from Hillhouse High and Yale and was a former AHL and NBA president. AHL Hall of Famer Bruce Boudreau, former coach of the Hershey Bears and now coach of the Washington Capitals, will be the keynote speaker, and AHL graduate and 2008 Foster Hewitt Award winner Mike Emrich will be master of ceremonies. For more information, contact the Giant Center box office at 717-534-3911.
ZUCCARELLO STILL PERFECT; ANISIMOV BREAKS DROUGHT WITH WINNER
Zuccarello continued his amazing shootout run in the NHL Monday night, making it 4-for-4 since being called up from the Whale. But “The Norwegian Hobbit” then had to pass the baton and headlines to former Wolf Pack center Artem Anisimov, who converted a shootout attempt for the first time in five tries in the sudden-death fourth round to give the gritty, beat-up Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.
It was almost a carbon copy of Saturday night in Atlanta, where the Rangers rallied from a one-goal, third-period deficit to beat the Thrashers 3-2 as Zuccarello again proved a magician with the puck as he deked Ondrej Pavelec and scored the only shootout goal. He did likewise against Capitals rookie goalie Braden Holtby, then Anisimov scored two rounds later with a brilliant backhander that gave the Rangers a league-high 17 road victories and made them a league-best 7-12-3 when they trail entering the third period.
“It was a more defensive game for us, so as an offensive forward, you feel like you didn’t play a good game, so I feel like had to score again (in the shootout),” Zuccarello told reporters after the game. “It’s just a great feeling to see that go in. Then Artie goes, and it’s good. … Every game, it’s just people doing their job, and it’s just an unbelievable team spirit. It was a great team effort and just a great win.”
Martin Biron, filling in for All-Star Henrik Lundqvist, got the Rangers to the shootout with six of his 22 saves in overtime against the pressing Capitals. Then he stopped two of four shootout shots as the Rangers improved to 5-1 in the skills competition despite having six rookies in the lineup. Biron’s eighth win in the first year of a two-year, $1.75 million contract tied the combined total of all Rangers goalies not named Lundqvist since the 2007-08 season. Alex Auld, former Wolf Pack goalies Steve Valiquette and Matt Zaba and Whale goalie Chad Johnson had seven in two seasons.
Michael Sauer did a bang-up job on the Rangers’ No. 1 defense pairing, taking Girardi’s spot alongside another former Wolf Pack defenseman, All-Star Marc Staal. They were matched against Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Jason Chimera, and while Ovechkin had a game-high six shots, the Caps’ top line fired blanks in the scoring department.
It continued to help an ascension for Sauer, the biggest bargain on the Rangers with a league-minimum cap hit of $500,000 after being a longshot to be on the roster in training camp after he had a variety of injuries during much of two of his three seasons in Hartford.
“Playing against that top line was a good opportunity,” said Sauer, who had four blocked shots and one hit in 24:22. “Every game does get better. When you’re put in situations more and more to get out and have that experience and do the job you gain confidence.”
BRUINS 4, WHALE 2
Providence 1 0 3 – 4
Connecticut 0 2 0 – 2
First period: 1. Prov, MacDonald 9 (Penner), 17:05. Penalty: Valentenko, Ct (hooking), 6:19.
Second period: 2. Conn, Weise 8 (Kennedy, Williams), 3:01 (pp). 3. Conn, Weise 9 (Williams, Williams), 7:20 (pp). Penalties: Reich, Pro (hooking), 1:26; Whitfield, Pro (tripping), 6:34; Caron, Pro (hooking), 17:01.
Third period; 4. Prov, Sauve 11 (Cohen, Ling), 6:16 (pp). 5. Prov, Sauve 12 (Arniel, Alexandrov), 10:23 (pp). 6. Prov, Reich 10, 18:56 (en). Penalties: Bickel, Ct (interference), 1:53; Nightingale, Ct (boarding), 6:03; Cameron, Ct (tripping), 7:34; Colborne, Pro (hooking), 8:15; Tessier, Ct (slashing), 8:31; Redding, Ct (hooking), 19:23.
Shots on goal: Providence 11-7-17-35. Connecticut 12-11-6-29; Power-play opportunities: Providence 2 of 5; Connecticut 2 of 3; Goalies: Providence, Schaefer 8-12-1 (29 shots-27 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 14-15-3 (34-31); A: 3,119; Referees: Tim Mayer, Jamie Koharski; Linesmen: Paul Simeon, Luke Galvin
