Wolf Pack Head into Christmas Break with 4-3 Win over Marlies

The estimated 1,000 fans who made it to the snow-bound XL Center Sunday afternoon certainly got their money’s worth, especially from the hometown Wolf Pack.

After falling two goals behind in a little more than a period, the Wolf Pack scored three times in a 12-minute span of the second in rallying for a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Marlies.

Greg Moore scored the winner on a power play with four minutes left in the second off assists from Artem Anisimov and P.A. Parenteau. Relief goalie Miikka Wiikman held off the Marlies the rest of the way as the Wolf Pack rebounded from a 6-2 loss to Hamilton Saturday night that ended a season-high, five-game points streak (4-0-0-1).

“It was definitely nice to get that win before the (four-day Christmas) break and end up on a high note,” said forward Tommy Pyatt, who had a goal and an assist. “We got a tough bounce at the start, but you have to shake those off, and the boys did a good job of just sticking with the game plan.”

The Marlies (14-13-0-3) got lucky 1:46 into the game when defensemen Richard Petiot’s shot from outside the blueline took a crazy bounce over Matt Zaba’s glove. The Marlies then had a 5-on-3 for 1:33, but Zaba made three saves and didn’t face a shot on the ensuing 5-on-4.

The Wolf Pack (15-12-1-3) tied it on their first power play when Pyatt converted a rebound at 7:09 after Adam Munro stopped Anisimov’s breakaway.

Munro kept the Marlies ahead when he stopped Mike Ouellette’s shorthanded breakaway with 2:27 left in the first period. Then with 55 seconds left, P.A. Parenteau beat Munro to a clear-in, but defenseman Anton Stralman stopped Parenteau's shorthanded backhander.

Given those reprieves, the Marlies took a 2-1 lead before the power play ended as Bates Battaglia beat Moore to Andy Schneider’s clear-in around the boards and then beat Zaba high to the glove side with 40.2 seconds left. The Marlies took a 3-1 lead at 2:04 of the second period on another weak goal as Alex Foster converted a Schneider shot that went off Zaba’s glove. Wiikman, pulled Saturday night, then replaced Zaba, who had allowed three goals on 11 shots.

The Wolf Pack retaliated 1:54 later as Jordan Owens capped a nifty three-way passing play with Vladimir Denisov and Ouellette to make it 3-2.

The Marlies then got a four-minute power play, but the Wolf Pack allowed only one shot and carried over that momentum as Denisov got the puck to Matt Stefanishion, who circled into the high slot and beat Munro with a 30-foot shot for his first AHL point at 11:01.

Moore got the winner when he tapped in a Parenteau pass tipped through the crease by Anisimov.

Wiikman, who stopped all 16 shots he faced, kept the Wolf Pack in front 22 seconds into the third period when he denied Darryl Boyce’s breakaway off a Moore turnover. Munro then kept Toronto in it with point-blank stops on Patrick Rissmiller and Stefanishion, but Wiikman & Co. wouldn’t allow the Marlies to get the equalizer.

“It was a good character win,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. “They got a few (strange) goals, but it was early enough in the game that we could stay the course and come back. It never got out of hand score-wise, and we spread it around pretty good. Anytime you have a day off or a break, you want to finish on a high note, and this gives you a little better feeling about yourself and allows you to relax a bit more.”