Bruins Top Wolf Pack in Overtime

Mikko Lehtonen scored the overtime game-winning goal, and Kevin Regan made 40 saves in his first win of the season, in the Providence Bruins’ 4-3 triumph over the Wolf Pack Saturday night at the XL Center.

Lehtonen beat Wolf Pack goaltender Chad Johnson on a breakaway goal, winning the game for Providence with 41 seconds left in overtime.

Lehtonen had just finished serving a tripping call taken at 1:23 of the extra period, when he took Hartford’s Ilkka Heikkinen down from behind on a near breakaway.

Seconds before Lehtonen’s penalty expired, Heikkinen broke his stick taking a shot during Hartford’s power-play chance, and the puck sailed out to the Bruins’ Trent Whitfield, who passed to an all-alone Lehtonen, just back on the ice.

The Bruins had taken an early 1-0 lead just 2:48 into the first period, as Lane MacDermid took a shot that resulted in a scramble in front of the Hartford net, with Guillaume Lefebvre finally burying the shot past Johnson for his third goal of the season.

The Wolf Pack knotted the score at one at 10:58, however, with an extra attacker out on a delayed Bruins penalty call.

Jordan Owens received a pass off his skate from Heikkinen, and promptly backhanded it across the slot to Corey Locke, the AHL’s leading-scorer (12-21-33), who put it past Regan for his twelfth goal of the season.

Providence came right back to take a 2-1 lead, as Lefebvre connected again, this time with the Bruins shorthanded, at 14:15 of the first.

The Bruins cleared their own zone and created a two-on-one, and Drew Larman made a clean pass across the slot to Lefebvre, who earned his second goal of the night by beating Johnson.

Regan made numerous stops on Wolf Pack in-close opportunities in the first, including a stop on Paul Crowder at 8:36, as Crowder used a hesitation move to get open and take a shot on goal. Regan finished the first period with 13 saves, as the Bruins were outshot 14-11.

Crowder tied the game at 2-2 for the Wolf Pack at 16:28 of the second period, as Heikkinen sent a shot on goal after receiving a pass from Dale Weise. The shot knuckled and landed near Crowder, who tipped it past Regan for his fifth goal.

Regan went on to stop 12 of Hartford’s 13 shots in the period, keeping the score even despite quality chances by Locke and Heikkinen. Johnson (35 saves) was perfect, making stops on all 11 Providence attempts.

The third period saw Regan stand tall in goal, making 14 saves and forcing overtime with a tremendous glove save on Dane Byers during a short-handed opportunity.

Byers had received a pass from Brodie Dupont on a two-on-one chance, but was denied the go-ahead goal by Regan, who sprawled and reached behind himself to pull the puck back before it crossed the line.

The Wolf Pack’s best chance of overtime came from Heikkinen, who took the puck into the Providence zone and looked to have a quality scoring chance before being caught by Lehtonen, whose penalty set up his later breakaway opportunity.

“We played well, we got a point, but it didn’t end the way we wanted it to,” said Johnson.

The loss in overtime moved the Wolf Pack’s record to 13-8-1-1, and their point gained earned them sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division, one point above third-place Lowell and five behind first-place Manchester.

The Wolf Pack will complete their three-games-in-three days weekend on the road, when they face the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Sunday at the Arena at Harbor Yard (3:00). Hartford’s next home game will be Friday, December 11, when the Wolf Pack host the Portland Pirates (7:00).

Providence Bruins 3 (OT) At Hartford Wolf Pack 2
Nov 28, 2009 - XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Providence 2 0 0 1 - 3
Hartford 1 1 0 0 - 2

1st Period-1, Providence, Lefebvre 3 (MacDonald, Wozniewski), 2:48. 2, Hartford, Locke 12 (Owens, Heikkinen), 10:58. 3, Providence, Lefebvre 4 (Larman, Bodnarchuk), 14:15 (sh). Penalties-Owens Hfd (holding the stick), 6:11; MacDermid Pro (fighting), 12:27; DiDiomete Hfd (fighting), 12:27; Weller Pro (hooking), 13:07.

2nd Period-4, Hartford, Crowder 5 (Heikkinen, Weise), 16:28. Penalties-Soryal Hfd (roughing), 6:57; Dupont Hfd (holding), 9:07; Lehtonen Pro (hooking), 9:28; Bodnarchuk Pro (boarding), 13:56.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Marchand Pro (tripping), 2:59; Weise Hfd (high-sticking), 8:08; Larman Pro (high-sticking), 14:46.

OT Period-5, Providence, Lehtonen 8 (Whitfield), 4:19. Penalties-Dupont Hfd (tripping), 1:23; Lehtonen Pro (tripping), 2:12.

Shots on Goal-Providence 11-12-11-4-38. Hartford 14-13-14-1-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 of 5; Hartford 0 of 6.
Goalies-Providence, Regan 1-1-0 (42 shots-40 saves). Hartford, Johnson 10-6-1 (38 shots-35 saves).
A-4,488
Referees-Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-Luke Galvin (2), Paul Simeon (66).