By Bruce Berlet
Hartford, CT, October 15, 2011 – The Connecticut Whale lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Saturday night, in the Whale’s home opener at the XL Center.
For the third time in four games, the Whale used their speed and strong forechecking to create a multitude of quality scoring chances and a two-goal lead, this time in less than 24 minutes.
But after surrendering and then regaining the lead on two third-period goals by speedy rookie Carl Hagelin, the second off a brilliant shorthanded effort, the Whale went to a third straight shootout before a thoroughly entertained 8,832.
But the Whale lost a second skills competition in 24 hours, scoring twice but hitting a post and a crossbar.
Sean Backman, Tyler McNeely and Tomas Marcinko got the shootout goals for the Sound Tigers (2-2-0-0), while John Mitchell and Brendan Bell tallied for the Whale. But Kris Newbury hit the post and Andreas Thuresson the crossbar, and when Kevin Poulin smothered Hagelin’s bid to send the shootout to extra rounds, the Whale had fallen to 1-1-0-2. They won their first shootout 1-0 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Sunday and lost 3-2 in Albany on Friday night.
The line of Hagelin-Newbury-Andre Deveaux combined for four goals and four assists, but coach Ken Gernander was more interested in stopping the blown-lead scenarios ASAP. He’ll have to do it without Newbury, who was called up by the New York Rangers after the game with wing Mats Zuccarello being sent down after a 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders.
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“We’re going to have to try some new methods to get our point across,” Gernander said. “I thought discipline was a huge issue tonight. There’s a lot of things that discipline encompasses, but the one that seems to rear its ugly head the most frequently with our team is penalties. But sometimes it starts before the penalty is taken with shift length and frustration and being able to control yourself and some of the decisions you make because of the consequences.”
Gernander said he would consider lineup changes for the Whale’s next game Friday night against the Manchester Monarchs, though he had only 11 healthy forwards Saturday night with rookie left wing Ryan Bourque being ill.
“(Benching a player) is definitely a consideration, but there are other methods that we have to try first,” Gernander said. “But the point has to be made, and I guarantee it will this week.”
Despite the lack of forwards, the Whale generated a season-high 45 shots, 22 in the second period when they actually lost the lead. It happened in less than 91/2 minutes and included Justin DiBenedetto’s 5-on-3 goal that tied it. Marcinko put the Sound Tigers ahead with 1:34 left in the second period when he circled into the right circle and fired a shot that deflected off Bell and past a stunned Chad Johnson (23 saves).
The Whale regrouped during the second intermission, and Hagelin tied it 52 seconds into the third period when he jammed in Newbury’s pass from behind the net. Hagelin then regained the lead for the Whale when he poked a puck free in center ice, and, despite being hooked several times and drawing a delayed penalty, he broke in alone and beat Poulin to the stick side at 7:12.
“It was (Hagelin’s) strongest game to date,” Gernander said. “He used his speed effectively and was drawing penalties, not just on the goal. It was a good night for him.”
On the shorthanded beauty, Hagelin said, “I was on the left side and saw them make a play to the left so I cut across and saw the guy make kind of a blind pass and was able to intercept it and just tip it forward. The defenseman (Matt Donovan) probably slashed me five times, so I just tried to get the shot off. It was a great feeling when it went in, but it was tough with the loss.
“We’re playing really strong in the first period almost every game and get the first goal and get rolling. But then we start to take a few penalties, then they get into the game. We have to regroup now and realize we have to play strong defensively once we’re up.”
Hagelin, who played five playoff games with the Whale in April after co-captaining the University of Michigan to the NCAA title game, admitted having his best jump of the young season.
“I’m starting to get used to the league more and more, so I’m getting into a rhythm and feeling the way I should feel,” said Hagelin, who has three goals in the last two games. “My legs have been a bit sluggish the other games, but tonight the jump as there and it’s pretty easy playing with Newbury and Deveaux. They make good plays and are strong on the puck, so they just want me to stay on the wing and try to create chances from there.”
Hagelin created his own chance on his shorthanded beauty, poking the puck free.
Before departing for New York and a four-game Western trip, Newbury said the Whale has to find a way to hold onto the lead.
“Every team in this league battles hard to get two points,” said Newbury, who had one goal and two assists and left the Whale with four goals and four assists in four games. “The playoffs are hard to get into, so we have to tighten up in our own end and go from there. Some penalties can be corrected, but it’s still early, so we learn from stuff.”
Some of the crowd hadn’t settled into their seats when Newbury backhanded in a rebound of Deveaux’s shot from the right boards at 28 seconds off a pass by defenseman Jared Nightingale.
The Whale nearly doubled their lead at 8:37, but Poulin (41 saves) came out to stop Thuresson’s breakaway. On the ensuing Sound Tigers rush, Johnson stopped McNeely’s good bid off left wing.
The Whale controlled much of the remainder of the period, but Poulin got his pad on Kelsey Tessier’s deflection with 35 seconds left to keep it a one-goal game.
The Sound Tigers nearly tied it 1:21 into the second period, but Johnson stood his ground and denied Casey Cizikas out of the left corner off a steal from Mitchell.
The Whale immediately regained control and took a 2-0 lead as Deveaux took a pass from Newbury and hustled to lift his third rebound past Poulin at 3:59.
The Whale pressed during most of their second power play, and Poulin then somehow got his right pad on Tessier’s backhander after a brilliant pass from Tanski at 7:28 to prevent the Whale from taking a commanding 3-0 lead.
Then after the Whale amassed a 27-8 shot advantage in the opening 28:59, the tide began to turn as David Ullstrom picked up a loose puck in center ice, eluded Hagelin along the right boards to create a 2-on-1 and beat Johnson to the far side from the right circle at 8:59.
After Poulin made good stops on Hagelin and Blake Parlett and Johnson nabbed Ullstrom’s 30-foot shot from the slot, Mitchell was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and Nightingale got a high-sticking penalty, giving the Sound Tigers a 5-on-3 power play for 47 seconds. The Sound Tigers capitalized, as DiBenedetto deflected in Ty Wishart’s shot from the slot for his fifth goal with 5:38 left to tie it at 2.
The Sound Tigers then capped their comeback via the fortuitous bounce off Bell. Suddenly they had the lead despite being outshot 34-16 through two periods.
But the Whale regrouped during the second intermission and regained the lead thanks to Hagelin, whose bid for a hat trick nine seconds after his shorthanded goal hit the crossbar. Given that reprieve, the Sound Tigers tied it again when Brett Gallant deflected Wishart’s shot from the blueline past a screened Johnson at 9:33.
The Whale nearly pulled out a regulation win on a late power play, but Poulin stopped two good bids by Mitchell with 25 seconds left. The Whale had another power-play opportunity in overtime when Hagelin drew a hooking penalty on McNeely with 37 seconds left but couldn’t get a shot on Poulin, setting up a third straight skills competition that again ended badly.
REDDEN RETURNS, BOURQUE OUT
Whale veteran defenseman Wade Redden returned after missing a 3-2 shootout loss at Albany on Friday night because of sickness, but Bourque’s absence left the Whale short a forward. Redden again donned an A as alternate captain with Newbury and Mitchell and was reunited with Nightingale.
The other Whale scratches were defenseman Lee Baldwin and injured defenseman Pavel Valentenko, right wing Chad Kolarik and left wing Sean Avery.
The Sound Tigers scratched goalie Anders Nilsson, defenseman Benn Olson and right wing Tony Romano. One of the Tigers’ assistant coaches is West Haven native Eric Boguniecki, the AHL’s MVP in 2002 while with the then Worcester IceCats. Boguniecki ended his 13-year pro career in the 2009-10 season as a player/coach for Sound Tigers coach and former Wolf Pack defenseman Brent Thompson with the Alaska Aces in the ECHL and was named the team’s second assistant coach on July 12. It’s his second go-around with the Islanders organization, as he played for the Sound Tigers and parent club in the 2006-07 season. Thompson led the Aces to the Kelly Cup championship and was ECHL Coach of the Year last season before being named Sound Tigers coach on June 28. He won the AHL’s Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as Man of the Year in 1999 while with the Wolf Pack.
After a Friday-night home game against the Manchester Monarchs, the Whale play a home-and-home series with the Springfield Falcons (2-2-0-0), who lost 4-1 to visiting Providence on Saturday night. The Whale visits the MassMutual Center in Springfield on Saturday at 7 p.m. and then hosts the Falcons next Sunday at 3 p.m. Before the second game, Whale and Falcons fans will face off at noon in the first game of their inaugural seven-game series. For information on how to join the teams and tickets to the seven games, visit www.whalefalconsfangame@gmail.com.
The Columbus Blue Jackets recalled former Hartford Wolf Pack wing Alexandre Giroux from the Falcons on Thursday, replacing Greenwich native and former Avon Old Farms and Boston College standout Cam Atkinson, a right wing and sixth-round pick in 2008. Giroux was the AHL’s MVP in 2009 after getting 60 goals and 37 assists in 39 games with the Hershey Bears, who won their first of back-to-back Calder Cup titles that season. Atkinson made the NHL club after being the surprise of training camp but had only one goal and was minus-4 in the Blue Jackets’ first four games. He had one goal as the Falcons routed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7-4 on Friday night and was scoreless in the loss to Providence Saturday night.
Atkinson and wing Chris Kreider, the Rangers’ first-round pick (19th overall) in 2009 and the team’s top prospect who was named MVP of the Ice Breaker Tournament at North Dakota last weekend, were major reasons that BC won the national championship in 2010, when they the University of Wisconsin, whose key personnel included Rangers center Derek Stepan and defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who started last season with the Whale. Atkinson led the nation in goals that season with 30, including two in the title game. In a 10-game stretch, he had three hat tricks, then proved that wasn’t a fluke last season when he had 31 goals and 21 assists in 38 games before the top-seeded Eagles were upset by Colorado College in the NCAA West Regional semifinals with Kreider on the sidelines with a broken jaw. Atkinson then signed a two-year contract with the Blue Jackets and had three goals and two assists in five games with the Falcons.
Tickets for all Whale home games are on sale at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.
AHL STAFF TO RUN IN MEMORY OF ACE BAILEY
Six AHL staff members will be running half-marathons Sunday in Hershey, Pa., and Toronto, Ontario, in memory of Ace Bailey and in support of the Ace Bailey Children’s Foundation. The foundation was established in memory of Garnet “Ace” Bailey, who was killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. His family created the foundation to honor his memory and to perpetuate his deep caring for the happiness of children through the AHL’s work.
The Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center in Boston is the recipient of the funding. The foundation focuses on the well-being of hospitalized children through the building and renovation of hospital environments that improve the family-centered and softer side of hospital care. The foundation strives to reduce the stress of pediatric hospitalization by creating environments that are less clinical in appearance and more comforting and soothing for children and their families.
The AHL has received donations from many different hockey partners to help raise money for the foundation and began auctioning off the items on Wednesday. To bid on an item or to make a monetary donation, visit www.theahl.com.
Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5 (SO) at Connecticut Whale 4
Saturday, October 15, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Bridgeport 0 3 1 0 – 5
Connecticut 1 1 2 0 – 4
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Newbury 4 (Deveaux, Nightingale), 0:28. Penalties-Mitchell Ct (hooking), 9:27; Cizikas Bri (roughing), 12:24.
2nd Period-2, Connecticut, Deveaux 2 (Newbury, Hagelin), 3:59. 3, Bridgeport, Ullstrom 1 (Reese, Colliton), 8:59. 4, Bridgeport, DiBenedetto 5 (Wishart, Ullstrom), 15:48 (PP). 5, Bridgeport, Marcinko 2 (Langkow), 18:26. Penalties-Donovan Bri (tripping), 4:39; Bell Ct (slashing), 9:08; Cizikas Bri (interference), 9:17; de Haan Bri (holding the stick), 11:43; Mitchell Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:12; Nightingale Ct (high-sticking), 15:25; Newbury Ct (roughing), 18:34.
3rd Period-6, Connecticut, Hagelin 2 (Newbury, Nightingale), 0:52. 7, Connecticut, Hagelin 3 7:12 (SH). 8, Bridgeport, Gallant 1 (Wishart, Marcinko), 9:33. Penalties-served by Deveaux Ct (bench minor – too many men), 6:09; Ness Bri (interference), 17:43.
OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-McNeely Bri (tripping), 4:23.
Shootout – Bridgeport 3 (Backman G, McNeely G, Ullstrom NG, Ness NG, Marcinko G), Connecticut 2 (Mitchell G, Bell G, Newbury NG, Thuresson NG, Hagelin NG).
Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 4-12-10-1-1-28. Connecticut 12-22-9-2-0-45.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 1 / 6; Connecticut 0 / 6.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Poulin 1-1-0 (45 shots-41 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 1-0-2 (27 shots-23 saves).
A-8,832
Referees-Jean Hebert (43).
Linesmen-Paul Simeon (66), Kevin Redding (16).
But I will say this. I’m glad that Jon Lester took responsibility for his actions in “Fried Chicken and BeerGate”.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings are out for first time during the 2011 season and one of the teams that’s ranked No. 1 in the 
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