Providence, RI, February 13, 2011 – Special teams made the difference for the Connecticut Whale Sunday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center Providence, as three second-period power-play goals carried the Whale to a 4-1 win over the Providence Bruins.
The game was a preview of the Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl, which matches the same two teams this Saturday, February 19, outdoors at Rentschler Field at 7:00 PM.
The Whale, helped by 21 saves from Dov Grumet-Morris, were five for five on the penalty kill in winning their second straight since a 9-2 pounding they absorbed Wednesday in Toronto.
Brodie Dupont, Kris Newbury and Jeremy Williams had a goal and an assist each in the win, and Wade Redden also scored. The only one of 22 Bruin shots to beat Grumet-Morris was a late first-period penalty shot by Brian McGrattan.
With the win, the Whale (26-22-2-5, 59 pts.) moved past the idle Worcester Sharks and into third place in the Atlantic Division. The victory was the Whale’s fourth in their last five road games, and handed the Bruins their sixth straight loss.
After the Whale killed a double-minor assessed to Ryan Garlock at 3:29 of the first period, Garlock came out of the penalty box and joined Kris Newbury on a two-on-one. Garlock was able to find Newbury at the left side of the slot for a finish past the catching glove of Matt Dalton at 7:39.
That lead lasted until the 17:28 mark, when Jared Nightingale hooked McGrattan off the puck on a breakaway, causing McGrattan to be awarded a penalty shot. McGrattan was able to convert, snapping a shot past Grumet-Morris’ glove side, for only McGrattan’s fourth goal in 35 AHL games on the year.
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The Whale power play took over in the second period though, scoring three times on four opportunities.
Dupont gave the Whale the lead for good with his 11th goal of the year, and second in as many games, at 3:15. Dale Weise worked the puck out of the left-wing corner to Newbury on the right-wing boards. Newbury whipped a hard pass toward the slot and Dupont, headed hard toward the net, deflected it past Dalton.
Then Connecticut would get a pair of goals 2:39 apart in the last 4:10 of the period.
Redden made it 3-1 at 15:50, with Matt Bartkowski in the penalty box for hooking. Redden’s shot from the top of the left circle hit a Providence defender and deflected past Dalton. And at 18:29, Williams increased his team-leading goal total to 24 on another Whale power play. Chad Kolarik fed the puck from the right- wing boards to Williams at the top of the circles. Sliding to his left, the right-handed-shooting Williams one-timed a hard drive that overpowered Dalton (four goals-against on 16 shots), who was replaced after that goal by Nolan Schaefer, who stopped all eight shots he faced.
Grumet-Morris (3-2-0) then fended off a pair of Providence power plays in the third period, which was scoreless, notching his second consecutive win and his third in his last four starts.
The Whale finished three for five on the power play and are now 12/28 in the season series against Providence. Connecticut had lost the previous two games of the season series with the Bruins, after winning the first three, and are now 3-0-0 in Providence on the year, having outscored the Bruins by a total margin of 10-2 in those three games.
Connecticut Whale 4 at Providence Bruins 1
Sunday, February 13, 2011 – Dunkin’ Donuts Center
Connecticut 1 3 0 – 4
Providence 1 0 0 – 1
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Newbury 8 (Garlock, Dupont), 7:39. 2, Providence, McGrattan 4 17:28 (TXT_PS). Penalties-Garlock Ct (double minor – high-sticking), 3:29; Williams Ct (slashing), 10:05; McIver Pro (slashing), 10:05; Newbury Ct (fighting), 16:16; Cohen Pro (fighting), 16:16; Kolarik Ct (hooking), 19:06.
2nd Period-3, Connecticut, Dupont 11 (Newbury, Weise), 3:15 (PP). 4, Connecticut, Redden 4 (Williams), 15:50 (PP). 5, Connecticut, Williams 24 (Kolarik, Kundratek), 18:29 (PP). Penalties-Alexandrov Pro (high-sticking), 1:53; Bickel Ct (fighting), 3:40; LaVallee-Smotherman Pro (roughing, fighting), 3:40; Soryal Ct (fighting), 9:07; McIver Pro (fighting), 9:07; DiDiomete Ct (fighting), 14:54; Bartkowski Pro (hooking), 14:54; LaVallee-Smotherman Pro (fighting), 14:54; Ling Pro (tripping), 17:27.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kennedy Ct (hooking), 4:47; Kolarik Ct (slashing), 6:51; Bodnarchuk Pro (interference), 12:58; DiDiomete Ct (fighting), 16:01; Roussel Pro (fighting), 16:01.
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 4-14-6-24. Providence 8-6-8-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 3 / 5; Providence 0 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 2-2-0 (22 shots-21 saves). Providence, Dalton 7-7-0 (16 shots-12 saves); Schaefer 9-15-1 (8 shots-8 saves).
A-8,470
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Bob Paquette (18).
