Wolf Pack Pull out Win with Late Goal

A night after losing their first third-period lead of the season, the Wolf Pack won their first game when trailing after 40 minutes against the AHL’s hottest team.

Jordan Owens, denied on an acrobatic save by Jonathan Bernier midway through the third period, put a shot from the right circle between the rookie goalie’s legs with 30.8 seconds left to give the Wolf Pack a 2-1 victory over the Manchester Monarchs before 5,819 at the XL Center Saturday night.

After Bernier made a glove stab on Owens while lying on his stomach in the crease with 9:42 left, Owens had a friendly chat with the Los Angeles Kings’ first-round pick (11th overall) as the two skated to their benches during a timeout.

“I knew he made a big save and so did he, so I asked him if he’d be a good guy and give that one to me the next time because I’m in a bit of a slump,” Owens said, smiling.

As the clock wound down, Owens broke in on a 3-and-2 and scored his second of the season to end the Monarchs’ season-high six-game winning streak, including five on the road, one shy of the franchise record.

“I got lucky that there was a defensive breakdown by them,” said Owens, who hadn’t scored since Oct. 22. “I was planning to pass to (Greg Moore) who was wide open, but as soon as the defenseman saw that, he went up on him so I knew I had to shoot. I had lots of time and closed my eyes and shot. Getting robbed early in the game was on my mind, but I’ve been working pretty hard and the bounce came for me.”

Moore got the Wolf Pack (9-9-0-2) even when his deflection of Brian Fahey’s shot from the left point on a power play went off the post and Bernier and into the net with 6:32 left.

Coach Ken Gernander tried virtually every line combination imaginable, but more emotion and energy proved the difference in the third period, when the Wolf Pack had 16 shots, two more than in the first 40 minutes.

“We had good perseverance,” Gernander said. “And there was good perseverance on Jordan’s part. It shows pretty good character to fire the puck like that after the heck of a save made on him the previous time.”

The Wolf Pack (9-9-0-2) trailed 1-0 after Teddy Purcell scored at 11:57 of the second period just seconds after a 5-on-3 Monarchs power play ended. Bernier was rarely tested in the opening 40 minutes, while Matt Zaba (26 saves) kept the Wolf Pack close with several stellar stops, notably twice off Russian rookie Viatcheslav Voynov.

But the Wolf Pack rallied to improve to 1-6-0-2 when trailing after two periods and end a two-game losing streak and 1-3-0-1 slide as they reached the season’s quarter pole. They had been 7-0-0-0 when leading after two periods until a 4-1 loss in Bridgeport Friday night.