By Wil Goldsholl

Hartford, CT, February 17, 2013 – Brandon Segal set up two goals, 16 seconds apart, in the third period to help lead the Connecticut Whale to a 3-2 win over the Manchester Monarchs on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center. Connecticut, picking up its fourth straight win, won three days straight at home to put together a six-point weekend, which is essential as playoff time gets nearer.

The rate of play was down at first; the 5,143 in attendance had little to cheer or boo about. Then Connecticut’s Christian Thomas was sent off for hooking at 4:58.  With 35 seconds left in their man advantage, Manchester drew first blood.  Andy Andreoff started the play at the point, exchanging the puck with Tyler Toffoli on the bench-side wall. Finally, Toffoli drove it to the slot where Linden Vey was lurking backdoor. He tucked it behind Whale netminder Jason Missiaen for Vey’s 13^th of the year.

The closest Connecticut got to beating Manchester’s goalkeeper, Martin Jones, came when Micheal Haley banked a puck way ahead to himself, driving Jones’ crease with 80 seconds left, but being turned away.

Four minutes in to the second, with Manchester still leading 1-0, Mike Vernace was boarded hard on the backcheck by Anthony Stewart. Dylan McIlrath was there to stand up for his teammate and the two dropped the gloves. The power play wouldn’t produce much offense for Connecticut, as Toffoli found himself alone facing Missiaen, but put one off the pipe.

After the kill, the Whale managed to tie things up; Haley went cross-ice to Thomas, who released a wrister top shelf, earning his third goal of the weekend.

Toffoli, who finished with two points on the day, had a reply, however. With 53 seconds remaining in the period, he made a give and go with defenseman Nick Deslauriers at the point and rolled the circle. The low shot earned Toffoli his 24^th goal of the year.  Haley would have a doorstep try on Jones at the second-period buzzer but the 2-1 edge would stand.

The third period passed quietly, and things looked grim for Connecticut for nearly 14 minutes. A few chances from Andrew Yogan and Nick Palmieri woke the building up, and Connecticut started putting heavy traffic in front of Jones.

With 2:43 to go, Segal and Steve Eminger found themselves in a two on one situation. Segal pulled out wide and went cross-crease to Eminger with a nifty saucer pass. Eminger said afterwards, “Manchester played a good game, they worked really hard on the forecheck. On the goal, Segs [Segal] made a great play; he drove wide, made a nice pass, threw it flat.”

The momentum would turn out to be the difference for Connecticut; just 16 seconds later Segal found himself feeding yet another recent addition to the Whale lineup. This time it was Brandon Mashinter on the half-boards who started a give and go with the Whale’s de facto captain Segal. Taking the pass from out of the corner, Mashinter buried his seventh of the season on the far side to take a 3-2 lead. “We fought to the bitter end,” Segal, who earned First Star honors, said after the game, “Mish [Missiaen] played really well tonight; it’s hard for him coming in at the end of a three in three where the boys are tired.”

Head Coach Ken Gernander had praises for the humble Segal, “If you go through his goals there’s not a lot of muffins in there; you know, a sixth goal in a 6-1 game. He’s involved in big goals and it’s a product of either his play or just the whole team package or both.”

In the last two and a half minutes, Manchester managed to get Jones out of the net but couldn’t produce the goal they needed. Jones got out of the net with 82 seconds left, and finished with 26 saves. Missiaen had a strong day as well, turning aside 27 of 29. Connecticut will host the St. John’s IceCaps on Wednesday night at 7pm at the XL Center.

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Manchester Monarchs 2 at Connecticut Whale 3
Sunday, February 17, 2013 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Manchester 1 1 0 – 2
Connecticut 0 1 2 – 3

1st Period-1, Manchester, Vey 13 (Toffoli, Andreoff), 6:24 (PP). Penalties-Thomas Ct (hooking), 4:58; Huxley Mch (hooking), 6:44; Segal Ct (tripping), 17:09.

2nd Period-2, Connecticut, Thomas 13 (Haley, Parlett), 7:34. 3, Manchester, Toffoli 24 (Deslauriers, LoVerde), 19:06. Penalties-Stewart Mch (boarding, fighting), 4:05; McIlrath Ct (fighting), 4:05; Johnson Mch (interference), 12:31.

3rd Period-4, Connecticut, Eminger 1 (Segal, Collins), 17:17. 5, Connecticut, Mashinter 7 (Segal), 17:33. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Manchester 8-12-9-29. Connecticut 12-7-10-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Manchester 1 / 2; Connecticut 0 / 3.
Goalies-Manchester, Jones 12-18-3 (29 shots-26 saves). Connecticut, Missiaen 6-4-1 (29 shots-27 saves).
A-5,143
Referees-Jean-Philippe Sylvain (16).
Linesmen-Jim Briggs (83), Derek Wahl (46).

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By Wil Goldsholl

Hartford, CT, February 16, 2013 – In their second of three home games this weekend, the Connecticut Whale closed out their season series with the Norfolk Admirals with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win Saturday at the XL Center. Brandon Segal potted the game winner two minutes and eight seconds in to the extra period in a rare three-on-three situation, breaking a tie that held up since the first period.

The teams spent no time feeling each other out; just 62 seconds in to the squads’ fourth and final matchup of the regular season Sean Collins sat for boarding. Near the end of the kill, Kelsey Tessier picked Jordan Hendry’s pocket on the blueline and looked to replicate his shorthanded goal from Friday night, aiming for the five hole but being turned away by backstop Igor Bobkov.

Whale goaltender Cam Talbot answered with two big stops on Dan Sexton when the puck deflected in front as the penalty expired, and those plays by Bobkov and Talbot would set the tone for the night.

Norfolk got on the board first with a goal from Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. At 15:42, a bad angle try snuck past Talbot’s left pad. Mat Clark and Sami Vatanen assisted the Levis, Quebec native’s ninth of the year. Talbot spoke on the goal after the game, “After that goal I tried to settle down. Maybe should have had that one, I was looking away and I left my post. Just picked myself up and tried to stop the rest.”

Two minutes later, Devante Smith-Pelly was called for hooking, and the Whale converted their second man-up try. Mike Vernace catalyzed the goal, knocking down a Norfolk clearing try at the line. He wrapped it underneath for Brandon Mashinter, who returned the pass on the half-boards. Vernace steered it to the middle where Logan Pyett had breathing room in the high slot. He backpedaled and let go a heavy slapshot to earn his fifth of the season and tie the game at one apiece.

The two teams would both rack up penalty minutes in a scoreless second. Steve Eminger played a solid period, hitting the pipe two and a half minutes in, and breaking up a three on one as time wound down.

The Whale kill was busy again in the third as well, but ended up a perfect seven for seven on the night. In the last minute of the period, Bobkov came up with a handful of tremendous saves, including one moving right to left on a Mashinter-Kris Newbury connection.

Newbury and Rod Pelley were put in the box for coincidental roughing minors 1:49 in to overtime. With three skaters on per side, Segal won a neutral zone draw and Sean Collins fed the puck down the wall for Pyett to break in. From the end boards, Pyett shoveled a pass to Collins, who quickly crossed it for Segal. Segal had to take two swings at it, but the rebound left out by Bobkov gave the Whale’s number 26 his seasons 14^th to seal the deal. “It was a great pass by Collins and a great forecheck by [Pyett],” Segal said afterwards. “It was a great win and we want to keep it going. Bobkov played great for them, Talbs (Talbot) too, gotta love playing games like that. And we can’t get too high or too low, it’s cliché but it’s true. Every point is so important.”

Head Coach Ken Gernander, speaking of the goal and the game, said, “[Segal] clutched it for a little bit but had enough poise to find the empty net there. Five-man units were tricky tonight with all the penalties.

Talbot would finish with 26 saves in his 39^th appearance of the year, while Bobkov turned away 33 of 35. The goaltenders earned Second and Third Star honors, respectively. Connecticut will be back in action Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. against the Manchester Monarchs to close out the three-game home weekend.

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Norfolk Admirals 1 at Connecticut Whale 2 (OT)
Saturday, February 16, 2013 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Norfolk 1 0 0 0 – 1
Connecticut 1 0 0 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Norfolk, Letourneau-Leblond 2 (Clark, Vatanen), 15:42. 2, Connecticut, Pyett 5 (Vernace, Mashinter), 18:45 (PP). Penalties-Collins Ct (boarding), 1:02; Brittain Nor (roughing), 9:25; Smith-Pelly Nor (hooking), 17:35.

2nd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Yogan Ct (high-sticking), 2:46; Mitchell Nor (fighting), 6:26; Haley Ct (instigating, fighting, misconduct – instigating), 6:26; Kurtz Nor (fighting), 9:09; McIlrath Ct (fighting), 9:09; McMillan Nor (tripping), 12:58; Pelley Nor (hooking), 16:24; Yogan Ct (hooking), 17:52.

3rd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Yogan Ct (interference), 2:53; Parent Nor (holding), 9:29; Pyett Ct (goaltender interference), 9:29; Collins Ct (hooking), 12:26.

OT Period-3, Connecticut, Segal 14 (Collins, Pyett), 2:08. Penalties-Pelley Nor (roughing), 1:49; Newbury Ct (roughing), 1:49.

Shots on Goal-Norfolk 11-7-9-0-27. Connecticut 14-6-11-4-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 0 / 7; Connecticut 1 / 5.
Goalies-Norfolk, Bobkov 10-14-0 (35 shots-33 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 19-19-1 (27 shots-26 saves).
A-5,825
Referees-Trent Knorr (44), Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Luke Galvin (2), Derek Wahl (46).

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NEW YORK, February 16, 2013 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has recalled forward Chris Kreider from the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Kreider, 21, registered one shot on goal in Connecticut’s 4-1 win last night against Portland. He returns to the Rangers where he has registered one goal and one assist for two points, along with four penalty minutes and a plus-two rating in seven games this season. Kreider tallied a point in consecutive games, including his first career regular season point with a goal on February 5 at New Jersey and his first career regular season assist on February 7 against the New York Islanders, after missing the previous five games, including four games due to injury. He made his NHL regular season debut in the season opener on January 19 at Boston.

The 6-3, 230-pounder established an NHL record for most postseason goals (five) and points (seven) by a player before skating in a regular season game during the 2012 playoffs. Kreider tied for first among NHL rookies in goals and power play goals (two), second in game-winning goals (two) and power play points (two), and ranked fourth in points during the playoffs. He also tied for third on the team in playoff goals, first in power play goals and second in game-winning goals. Kreider made his NHL debut on April 16, 2012, at Ottawa in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, becoming the first player to win an NCAA title and make his NHL debut in that year’s playoffs since 1990.

The Boxford, Massachusetts native was originally selected by the Rangers as a first round choice, 19th overall, in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

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