Good Ol' Home Cookin'

No group of hockey players wants to be known as “homers”, but the biggest positive of the Wolf Pack’s season thus far is how well they’ve taken advantage of their home games.

As far as the home fans know, the team is 3-0, after the Pack bounced back from a third straight loss Friday at Adirondack to post back-to-back home wins Friday and Saturday, at the expense of Lowell and Worcester, respectively.

Don’t know if it’s line matchups, with the Wolf Pack getting the last line change at home, or just that they have yet to be able to feel comfortable on the road, but the difference has been stark.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence, either, that the two games the Pack won were the two that Mathieu Dandenault played. The 15th-year pro didn’t do anything spectacular, and he didn’t have a point, but he provided a steady, calming presence, authoritatively knowing just what to do with the puck when it came his way, to get the Wolf Pack out of whatever potential trouble they were facing.

And speaking of French Canadians, P.A. Parenteau doesn’t have much left to prove in the AHL, but he is playing like he has a major chip on his shoulder and is determined to show the whole hockey world that he should be in the NHL. He has been equally sharp passing the puck and finishing chances, and made a major statement in Sunday’s third period against Worcester.

It was the last period of three games in three days, and the Pack played the last two with only 11 forwards, so Parenteau had logged a ton of ice time and had to be dragging. Plus, he always has a target on his back in terms of whom the opposition knows it has to stop, and had been getting roughed up throughout the game by a fairly physical Worcester team. In the face of all that, though, Parenteau scored two goals in that third period, both on precision shots that hit pretty small openings. A big-time performance by a big-time player.

Parenteau, Corey Locke and Dane Byers had a nice weekend playing on a line together, both on the power play and at even strength. Looks like Parenteau and Locke are going to battle for the team scoring lead for as long as both are here, and Byers, after managing just one assist in the first six games, had goals Friday and Saturday this week, and two assists Sunday. Both of his goals, too, signified that he is playing exactly the game he needs to play. They were both rebounds, with Byers jamming away right in front of the goaltender.

And how about Miika Wiikman winning a pair of games in a row, after it was looking like he had been relegated to afterthought status at the start of the year? He didn’t put up any monumental save totals, but did his best work in both Saturday’s and Sunday’s games when the team’s game was at its weakest and they needed him most.