Johnson Serves up Bagels

When you are mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Jason LaBarbera and Steve Valiquette, that’s as good as it gets in goaltending at the AHL level.

And Chad Johnson put himself into that company this past weekend, when he pitched back-to-back shutouts Friday and Saturday nights, against Manchester and Worcester respectively. The rookie made 26 saves in a 2-0 win over the Monarchs Friday at the XL Center and then turned away 35 Shark threats in a 4-0 blanking Saturday in Worcester.

Only LaBarbera and Valiquette had ever accomplished zeros in consecutive games previously in Wolf Pack history, and it hadn’t been done in almost five years, since Valiquette was perfect in back-to-back outings January 15 and 19, 2005. And it could have easily been three straight for Johnson, save for a 2:27 stretch of the third period in Wednesday’s visit to Manchester, in which the Monarchs scored both of their goals in a 2-1 win over the Pack.

Johnson came to the Wolf Pack with excellent credentials, having topped all NCAA Division One goaltenders last year in both goals-against average and save percentage, and had an outstanding preseason with the Rangers, but seemed a little overwhelmed at times during his first six Wolf Pack appearances. He was 2-3-0 during that span, with a 3.66 goals-against average and an 87.1% save percentage. Since his Halloween-night outing, though, in which he shut out Providence and helped the Wolf Pack bounce back from that horrendous 6-0 home loss to Hershey the night before, Johnson has been lights-out. Check out these numbers…a 6-1-0 record, with the only loss being that 2-1 squeaker in Manchester Wednesday night, a 1.13 GAA, 96.0% save percentage, and three of his wins have been by shutout. And in his last four games, he’s 3-1-0, with a 0.75 GAA and a 97.4% save percentage. Not bad, eh?

The other element that corresponds exactly with the Wolf Pack’s recent run of success, in which they have won six out of their last seven games, is the presence in the lineup of ECHL callup forwards Derek Couture and Ryan Garlock.

Those two, along with rookie Chris Chappell, were brought in from Charlotte to shake things up after that meltdown against Hershey, and they seem to have added an ingredient that was just what the doctor ordered. Couture had the game-winning goal in Friday’s 2-0 win over Manchester, going hard to the net and poking in Justin Soryal’s rebound, and has done a good job of getting opponents off their game by finishing all of his checks and playing a consistent physical style. And Garlock has added some key depth at the center position, while chipping in four assists and going +4 in seven games. It’s intriguing how much difference the right one or two players can make at this level, even if they are not big name guys who put up a lot of gaudy numbers, if they are the right fit for what a team needs.

Also notable, I thought, this week was Dane Byers making a strong return to the Wolf Pack, after a two-week stint in the NHL with the Rangers. P.A. Parenteau, who went up when Byers came down, hadn’t missed a beat when he had been returned by the big club ten days earlier, and Byers followed his lead. The fourth-year pro scored a key insurance goal in Friday’s win, and then assisted on one of the Pack’s three third-period goals Saturday in Worcester, helping break open what was a tight, 1-0 game going into the third. Those two points gave Byers a five-game point-scoring streak, in which he has three goals and three assists, after he was held to one assist in the first six games.

The Rangers have already shown that they will not hesitate to give the guys who are driving the bus for the Pack a chance to go up if they have a need, whether it be because of injury or because of a desire to shake the NHL squad out of a rut. And I give a lot of credit to guys like Byers and Parenteau for recognizing that as a legitimate opportunity and keeping their feet on the pedal when they find themselves back with the Wolf Pack. That benefits all concerned.