By Bruce Berlet
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The game’s venue moved 25 miles north, but the dramatic wins continued for the Connecticut Whale on Saturday night.
Not quite as dramatic as Wednesday night, but good enough for a 2-1 victory over the Springfield Falcons on defenseman Blake Parlett’s deflection of Kris Newbury’s shot with 27.5 seconds left in overtime before 6,486 at the MassMutual Center.
Newcomer John Mitchell scored the winner in a 3-2 victory over the Falcons on Wednesday night at the XL Center. In both cases, the Whale trailed entering the third period but now have won twice in 72 hours when in that situation after being 3-13-1-2 through 60 games.
Parlett, playing his seventh game with the Whale after being called up from Greenville of the ECHL, got a ceremonial puck from Brodie Dupont after he deflected Newbury’s shot from the top of the left circle between the legs of former Hartford Wolf Pack goalie David LeNeveu for his first AHL point and first overtime winner anywhere.
“Anytime there’s a quick transition four-on-four, I try to look to join the rush,” said Parlett, who was leading ECHL defensemen in scoring (31 points) when he was called up. “It so happened that Brodie had the puck, and I was the second guy on the rush so I drove the net. Newbury had a nice shot on net, and I was lucky to get my stick on it.
“That’s two big comebacks. I thought we had real good third periods in both games. Those are big two points, and we gain another point on (the Falcons), so we’re going forward. We’ve come back quite a lot since I’ve been here, so that’s nice. … I had two winners in regulation in Greenville, but it’s a nice feeling, good way to get my first (in the AHL). I’m just trying to make good first passes, get better each game and chip in when I can.”
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Newbury, back from his fourth stint with the parent New York Rangers, scored the Whale’s first goal with 6:31 left in regulation when he beat LeNeveu to the glove side after a Falcons’ clearing attempt ricocheted off Dale Weise’s ear, and then spotted Parlett driving to the net for the winner.
“I didn’t know how much time was left, so I thought if I put it to the net there might be a rebound or whatnot,” Newbury said. “But (Parlett) made a great play and tipped it in. Nice way to get your first (AHL) goal.”
The victory enabled the Whale (30-24-2-6) to remain tied for the third and final guaranteed playoff berth in the Atlantic Division with Worcester (28-22-4-8), which beat Charlotte 2-0 behind Daren Machesney’s 34 saves Saturday night and hosts the Whale on Sunday at 3 p.m. The second successive tough loss for the Falcons (30-29-1-3) dropped them three points behind the Whale and Sharks.
The Whale prevailed again despite being without eight regulars, including leading scorer and All-Star right wing Jeremy Williams, who missed his first game of the season with an injury sustained Wednesday night when hit by Kyle Neuber late in the first period.
“We’ve talked about it all season long,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said. “When you’re missing players and you’re short of bodies, there are opportunities for others, and you have to make the most of it. We did a real good job at the start of the third period grinding it out down low. I don’t think they gave up a lot defensively, but we had pretty good possession and continued to put pucks to the net. (The winning goal) was a real good play all around.
“They’re a good defensive club, and if we were going to get anything, we were going to have to work for it. Sometimes you don’t always get rewarded for all your hard work, but you don’t panic or change things too much until it comes down to the last minute and a half when you might get a little risky. But I thought the guys did a real good job of staying with things and really grinding it out.”
And Dov Grumet-Morris gave the Whale a chance for another stirring win when he made the best of his 19 saves off David Savard and Maksim Mayorov at 2:12 and 2:18 of overtime.
“I think it’s indicative of the team doing so well defensively throughout the whole game that you can point only two or three saves as those were the hardest or only challenging ones,” said Grumet-Morris, who signed an AHL contract on Wednesday. “They had some chances, but the ice was kind of warm so the puck was bouncing a lot on guys and they weren’t able to get an opportunity to score. Additionally, we’re in a playoff race, so both teams are playing defensive.
“I can’t stress enough how well the team is doing defensively the last few games. When our defenseman is protecting the middle and only allowing a wide shot, it means you can read the play a little better and better position yourself for the second shot. My goalie coach in college always used to always say that goaltending is a game of billiards; you’re always setting yourself up for the next shot at the higher level. Everyone can make the first save, so you have to catch yourself for a second shot or a perfect pass. That’s one thing that I’m trying to be cognizant of and that’s one of the things that (Rangers goaltending coach) Benoit Allaire stresses as well.”
The Whale had a wide territorial advantage in the first period, not allowing a shot until Tomas Kana’s 30-footer from the slot with 3:25 left. The Whale had seven shots by then, but David LeNeveu (25 saves) had four good stops, notably two on Derek Couture, one when he was alone in front with 8:15 to go in the period.
The Whale allowed only two shots in the period, tying their season low, but the Falcons got their first power play with 16 seconds left and took advantage as Trevor Smith’s blind back pass through the slot found a wide-open Brent Regner sneaking in off the point for an easy finish into an open net at 49 seconds of the second period.
The Falcons nearly doubled their lead on their second power play, but Grumet-Morris denied Regner from point-blank range at 8:08.
The Whale’s Dale Weise won a unanimous decision over Regner with 4:46 left in the period, and then LeNeveu stopped Evgeny Grachev’s partial breakaway with 2:49 to go that drew a slashing penalty on Nick Holden. The Whale finally applied some pressure with a man advantage, but LeNeveu did a split to get his left pad on Wade Redden’s 40-foot shot from the slot with 1:41 left.
The Whale caught a break early in the third period as a wide-open Mayorov shot wide while falling to the ice at the right post. They then missed a good chance to tie when a wide-open Justin Soryal semi-fanned on a centering pass by Francis Lemieux at 6:01.
The Whale then picked up their cycling and nearly tied it with 9:02 left, but LeNeveu made bang-bang stops on Weise and Parlett. The Whale continued to press and finally got even thanks to the carom off the ear of Weise, who was headed off the ice when Newbury tied it, giving the Whale 10 of the first 11 shots in the third period and a 22-10 advantage in the game.
“The puck went up in the air (off Weise), so I figured I’d catch it, try to turn and shoot it as quick as I can,” Newbury said. “The puck rolled up on my stick, and I think I kind of fooled the goalie a bit and it ended up going in.”
The Falcons then took their first real impetus of the game for the remainder of regulation and overtime, but after Grumet-Morris robbed Savard and Mayorov, the Whale gained another dramatic decision.
“It’s good that we can come back, but you’d rather play with the lead,” Newbury said. “That puts less pressure on you, but we seem to be doing a good job when trailing going into the third. But we hopefully can change that around, keep going and hopefully keep winning.”
WILLIAMS IS WHALE’S LATEST CASUALTY
Williams, the Whale’s leader in goals (25) and assists (19), joined ailing centers Todd White and Ryan Garlock, wings Chad Kolarik and Chris McKelvie and defensemen Michael Del Zotto, Tomas Kundratek and Jyri Niemi on the injury list. Lee Baldwin replaced Del Zotto, but the Whale was one man short because Williams couldn’t play. But they were helped by the return of Newbury, who had one assist in 11 games in four stints with the Rangers but is the Whale’s second-leading scorer with 10 goals and team-high 33 assists in 52 games.
Right wing Petr Kalus, a second-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2005, made his Falcons debut after the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired him on Monday for future considerations and assigned him to Springfield. Veteran defenseman Mike Commodore, who helped the Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup in 2006, remained out with an ankle injury. The Falcons also scratched Neuber, Chris D’Alvise, Mike Blunden, Nikita Filatov and Cody Goloubef. … Before the game, the Falcons presented a check for $40,000 to the Mary Kay Foundation for breast cancer research. The Falcons wore pink jerseys that were to be auctioned off to raise more money for cancer research.
WHALE REMAIN ROAD WARRIORS
The Whale travels to Worcester on Sunday for a 3 p.m. game against the Sharks. The Whale is 3-1-0-1 against the Sharks and has a victory and a shootout loss in their two visits to the DCU Center.
The Sharks are led by All-Star right wing Jonathan Cheechoo (18 goals, 29 assists), a 56-goal scorer for the San Jose Sharks in the 2005-06 season who missed his third consecutive game Saturday night because of a sore back. He reportedly hasn’t been the same since the Whale’s Mats Zuccarello, now with the parent New York Rangers, hit him from behind and sent him in the boards in a game at the XL Center on Dec. 17, earning a one-game suspension. Before that, Cheechoo had 11 goals and 20 assists in 29 games and had been 5-8-13 in the previous eight games. Since then, he’s 7-9-16 in 26 games.
Other top Sharks scorers are center Michael Swift (17, 16), left wing T.J. Trevelyan (14, 19), defenseman Sean Sullivan (12, 19), right wing Dan DaSilva (12, 16) and center Andrew Desjardins (12, 16). No. 1 goalie Alex Stalock (19-17-4, 2.63 goals-against average, .907 save percentage, no shutouts) has been lost for the season with nerve damage in his lacerated left leg that required surgery, but Daren Machesney (2-2-1, 1.85, .940, two shutouts) and Tyson Sexsmith (1-2-1, 2.95, .897) have held their own.
The Whale completes a demanding stretch of 10 road games in 12 starts Tuesday night when they visit the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (44-17-0-0), who had won two in a row and eight of 10 before a 4-2 loss at Providence on Friday night. The Penguins are missing three of their top five scorers – center Dustin Jeffrey (17 goals, 28 assists) and wings Nick Johnson (20, 19) and Eric Tangradi (18, 15) – because of a plethora of injuries to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they still have plenty of firepower in left wing Brett Sterling (20, 21), center Ryan Craig (14, 21), left wings Tim Wallace (16, 16) and Chris Collins (11, 16), center Joe Vitale (8, 19) and former Wolf Pack defenseman Corey Potter (2, 25). And they’ve allowed an AHL-low 140 goals thanks largely to the goaltending tandem of All-Star Brad Thiessen (26-6-0, 1.90 goals-against average, .924 save percentage, six shutouts), the AHL goalie of the month in February, and veteran John Curry (18-11-0, 2.49, .903, one shutout).
The Penguins, who started the season with nine straight wins, will be out for revenge after a 6-3 loss at the XL Center on Jan. 16. The Whale then plays 10 of their final 16 regular-season games at the XL Center. … The New York Rangers acquired Kolarik from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 11 for former Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers, who had requested a trade. Byers’ second trade from Springfield to San Antonio on Monday reunited him with former Wolf Pack teammate Ryan Hollweg and gives him a chance to break the AHL record for most games played in a season. Byers was scoreless in his Rampage debut, a 3-2 victory over the Abbotsford Heat on Wednesday night, and had an assist as the Rampage scored five third-period goals to force a tie before Greg Rallo’s power-play goal in overtime gave the Texas Stars a 6-5 victory on Friday night. Byers played his 67th game of the season Saturday night against the Syracuse Crunch, and the Rampage has 18 games left. The AHL record for games in a season is 83, set by Paxton Schulte with Cornwall and Saint John in the 1995-96 season. … Former Wolf Pack wing Matthew Ford’s second goal of the game and 20th of the season only 11 seconds into overtime gave Lake Erie a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Rockford on Friday night. … The AHL’s Clear Day deadline, when all 30 teams must submit 22-man lists, is Monday at 3 p.m. Only those players listed on a Clear Day roster are eligible to play in the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension. Teams also can add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts, but only after their respective junior or college seasons are complete.
WAY TO GO, AMERICANS!!!!!!
Kudos to the Rochester Americans for their support of Canadian troops in Afghanistan and their love for ball hockey.
The Canadian troops organized the sport on their base in an attempt to bring some level of normalcy to the tragedies they face every day. But something that started as a simple extracurricular activity became so popular that a league, comprised of the many brave men and women in our Armed Forces, had to be created. Again with the help of the Canadian troops, the league was formed and a rink was built, complete with an electronic scoreboard and standard hockey nets.
About a month ago, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Gary Vandertang, a resident of Rochester and a fan of the Americans, contacted the AHL team requesting a set of hockey jerseys because they wanted a jersey that proudly displayed “Americans” and knew the Amerks would be perfect.
When he heard about the request, Amerks manager of communications and hockey operations Warren Kosel was honored at the chance to fulfill the request and delighted to help in any way the organization could for the troops. Kosel, whose great-uncle served in World War II, took Vandertang’s request to Amerks president Lewis Staats, who was instantly on board.
Though Vandertang requested any kind of jersey (replica or practice) that displays the Americans logo on it, what they got was more than he could have expected. When the package arrived on the base, Vandertang found 16 game-worn jerseys from the 2006-07 season awaiting to be worn with pride once again. Vandertang and his teammates were grateful for the jerseys, but the Amerks organization was just honored they could help in any way.
Here is his e-mail to Kosel, thanking the second-oldest AHL franchise for its efforts in the initiative:
Warren,
I just wanted to make sure you received the email that we got the Jerseys and they are great!!! People couldn’t believe that not only did we get jerseys, but they were the “real deal.” Hopefully we will get some actual game photos soon, but here is a group photo that we had taken last night before the game. Had a few people not there, but it’s fun having the Canadians wear the Americans Jerseys, I guess they were ok with it since they were made in Canada. For the team make-up we have 8 US, 5 Canadian and 1 Australian, too. Currently our record is 2-1. When we have our next game I am going to try to get a photographer there for the whole game to take pictures. Again I want to thank you and the team for the support; it was really great to have the jerseys.
Vandertang sent a few photos to Kosel, one with members of his ball hockey team sporting their Americans jerseys and one with their hockey hero and AHL legend Don Cherry. Cherry, an AHL Hall of Famer, played on three of Rochester’s Calder Cup championship teams in the 1960’s and was named the 1974 AHL coach of the year during his time with the organization. Cherry, who is now a host of Hockey Night in Canada, is an advocate of the military and makes frequent visits overseas to express how much he appreciates the sacrifices the brave men and women do to keep everyone safe and give us the opportunity to live in freedom.
No one in the Amerks organization has ever met Vandertang or anyone else in the ball hockey league, but it didn’t matter. The instant connection that people have for those who serve is what makes the human heart special. The continuous effort to comfort soldiers in any way, whether sending jerseys, letters or pictures, is the way citizens can remind them how grateful we are.
In military parlance, congratulation to the Americans for going beyond the call of duty.
Connecticut 0 0 1 1 — 2
Springfield 0 1 0 0 — 1
First period: No Scoring. Penalties: Guite, Spr (boarding), 4:27; Valentenko, Ct (delay of game), 19:44.
Second period: 1. Spr, Regner 6 (Wilson, Smith), 0:49 (pp). Penalties: Harvey, Spr (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:14; Nightingale, Ct (roughing), 7:34; Smith, Spr (cross-checking), 8:13; Weise, Ct (hooking), 10:32; Weise, Ct (fighting), 15:14; Regner, Spr (fighting), 15:14; Holden, Spr (slashing), 17:11.
Third period: 2. Conn, Newbury 10 (Weise), 13:29. Penalties: Weise, Ct (fighting), 19:48; Sigalet, Spr (fighting), 19:48.
Overtime: 3. Conn, Parlett 1 (Newbury, Dupont), 4:32. Penalties: None.
Shots on goal: Connecticut 7-5-12-3-27. Springfield 2-7-8-3-20; Power-play opportunities: Connecticut 0 of 4; Springfield 1 of 3; Goalies: Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 6-3-1 (20 shots-19 saves). Springfield, LeNeveu 16-15-2 (27-25); A: 6,486; Referee: Geno Binda; Linesmen: David Spannaus, Kevin Redding.
Kemba Walker was named to the All-Big East First Team and shockingly enough, wasn’t an unanimous selection. Freshman Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier were named to the All-Big East Rookie Team.
Buchholz went three innings, allowing a hit with a walk and two strikeouts. 
