Pack Comebacks Fail to Produce Wins

The way things are going right now, the Wolf Pack would have a hard time buying a win.

That’s not to say they are not going out there and battling hard, or that they are not close to success, as every non-win during their current 0-2-3-1 skid has been a one-goal verdict, and they have gotten points in four of the six.

They just can’t get over the hump, though, and it seems like they are in one of those collective ruts where they seem just to be waiting for something bad to happen, like it did in Sunday’s game in Toronto, when Marlie defenseman Brendan Mikkelson appeared out of nowhere to take a pass and score past Chad Johnson’s glove, with a mere 1.1 seconds to go in overtime. Seemed like it was going to a shootout for sure, with the Wolf Pack in control of the puck in their own zone, but then Anders Eriksson gets tripped down, the puck comes out but then gets taken away in that dangerous area just outside the blue line, and next thing you know, it’s in the net. Makes you shake your head.

The Pack aren’t doing themselves any favors, either, by consistently playing from behind. Now it’s almost like they don’t realize the game has started until they are behind by a goal or two, and then they start playing.

The first five minutes Friday night in Hamilton were a disaster, with the Pack giving up a goal 36 seconds in and then another at 4:43, and it was looking like the Western Conference-leading Bulldogs were going to hand the Wolf Pack a double-digit beatdown.

After that, though, the Pack seemed to flip a switch, and they started controlling play, against a Hamilton team that had won eight straight and is running away with the North Division. The Wolf Pack enjoyed an 18-9 shots advantage in the second period and had consistent pressure, before tying the game with a pair of goals 19 seconds apart late in the period.

They then allowed the Bulldogs only four shots in the third, but could never find any more offense of their own and lost 3-2 in a shootout.

Then in Sunday’s game, against a Toronto club that had been shut out in both of their previous two games and dressed only 15 skaters, three below the roster limit, due to a combination of injuries and recalls, the Pack came out flat in the first period and were outshot, 10-3. The Marlies were up 2-0 by the time the Wolf Pack scored a power-play tally late in the second to get on the board, and the Pack had only eight total shots by the end of the second.

A strong third period, which produced a 15-9 shots advantage for the Wolf Pack, led to Donald Brashear’s tying goal, his first Wolf Pack score, but again the Pack couldn’t get that crucial third tally, and ended up absorbing the punch in the gut that was Mikkelson’s last-second OT winner.

The Wolf Pack have now scored first only four times in their last 20 games, and being that it is generally acknowledged that it is much easier to play with a lead than play from behind, that tendency to start slowly has to be looked at as possibly the prime culprit in the fact that the Pack have won only three of those 20 contests (3-11-5-1).

The roster was tweaked at Wednesday’s trade deadline, and both of the veteran acquisitions, centerman Kris Newbury and Eriksson, a defenseman, saw tons of ice time during the Ontario trip, and both contributed. Newbury, in particular, seemed to be a good fit, taking numerous important faceoffs and doing well on them, and playing an in-your-face style that wore on the Pack’s opponents, particularly the powerful Bulldogs in Friday’s game. He and Eriksson put together a nice hookup for the Pack’s first goal in Sunday’s game, with Eriksson whipping a hard pass to the left-wing circle, and the left-shooting Newbury one-timing it under the pads of Toronto goalie James Reimer.

Eriksson, for his part, seems a lot like the guy he basically replaced on the Wolf Pack roster, fellow 15th-year veteran and former Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup champ Mathieu Dandenault. He handles the puck well and moves it well and makes smart plays in the defensive zone. He and Newbury are going to have to develop some quick chemistry with their new teammates, but it seems like their NHL-honed savvy should be a big addition to the Pack in this challenging playoff drive.

Two more road games left now in a stretch of five straight away games, and then six straight and eight of the next nine for the Pack are at home. So if they can stay within striking distance of a playoff berth, the schedule seems to work in their favor. They have to start putting some W’s up, though, with Bridgeport having won three straight and Syracuse starting to pick it up in the East Division as well.