Sanguinetti's Late Goal Caps another Wolf Pack Rally

Right wing Andres Ambuhl called it the Wolf Pack’s new game plan: Fall behind by two goals and then rally to win.

The Wolf Pack did it that for the second consecutive night, spotting the Bridgeport Sound Tigers a 3-1 lead before scoring the final three goals for a 4-3 victory before 6,921 at the XL Center Saturday night.

Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti did his best right-handed Bobby Orr impersonation to register his first game-winner of the season, calling for a pass from Corey Locke, spinning away from Mark Wotton and Michael Haley and firing a 40-foot shot from the slot past Scott Munroe with 3:20 left.

“It’s good to come back like that because it shows character,” said Ambuhl, who scored the tying goal 10 seconds after Dane Byers started the Wolf Pack comeback in the second period.

Sanguinetti scored the winner after goalie Chad Johnson (25 saves) denied a wide-open Mike Radja at the right post with 5:57 left. Johnson also stopped Sean Bentivoglio’s breakaway in the first period, made a brilliant right-pad save on Tyler Haskins on a 2-on-1 in the second period and denied Trevor Smith on a 2-on-1 early in the third period.

“I’ve been working a lot on breakaways after practice because it’s an important skill to have, especially down the stretch,” Johnson said. “I’m starting to get a good feel on the breakaways, whether it’s in the game or in shootouts. They got kind of a lucky bounce on their third goal, but I’ve just been trying to keep the team in the game and do what I have to do.”

Johnson stopped three shootout attempts and had another hit the post Friday night, when the Wolf Pack rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory over the Adirondack Phantoms. The Wolf Pack (31-30-6-5) have three consecutive victories for the first time since they won four in a row from Dec. 27 to Jan. 3. They moved within seven points of the Sound Tigers (35-29-4-6) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with eight games left in the regular season to six for Bridgeport. It was the second straight loss for the Sound Tigers after a nine-game points streak (8-0-1-0).

The Wolf Pack scored once on their first 25 shots and then got even on the quick goals by Byers and Ambuhl. Sanguinetti then capped the stirring comeback in one of the season’s most entertaining and hard-hitting games.

“I just missed the net on my first try, but then I saw a lane and Corey made a nice play over to me,” said Sanguinetti, an All-Star defenseman who has a career-high eight goals this season. “I put a pump-fake on them, they bit and I was just looking for a hole. (Munroe) was moving side to side, and I beat him to the far right side.

“It was much needed because it’s been a while,” added Sanguinetti, who got his second goal in 16 games. “We knew coming in that it was going to be physical because we’re both battling for the playoffs. We knew it was live or die and that we had to win this one.

“This late in the season we just can’t get down and have to focus on playing with a nothing-to-lose attitude. We really played well late in the game, and we just have to be more consistent every shift. It’s basically playoff hockey for us now, and we have to find a way to get in.”

Both teams immediately demonstrated the importance of the game with physical play and a few cheap shots that left bodies strewn on the ice. It even carried to the end of the first period when 10 players gathered in the faceoff circle to the right of Johnson for about 30 seconds.

Fittingly, one of the Wolf Pack’s tough guys, Justin Soryal, scored the first goal at 6:11, when his deflection of Derek Couture’s shot slid past a sprawling Munroe (32 saves).

Johnson then made a nifty glove save on Jesse Joensuu at 7:20 and stopped Bentivoglio’s breakaway 30 seconds later.

But on the Wolf Pack’s first power play, Kris Newbury hauled down Haskins on a breakaway with 3:16 left in the period. Haskins was awarded a penalty shot and tied the score with a deke and a backhander for the Sound Tigers’ second penalty shot goal against the Wolf Pack this season.

Johnson stopped Greg Mauldin’s rush off left wing at 7:02 of the second period, but the Sound Tigers took their first lead at 8:30 on a power play when Smith took a pass from Brett Motherwell and fired a shot from 40 feet in the slot that beat a screened Johnson.

Just 1:04 later, the Sound Tigers made it 3-1 as Radja dropped a pass to Dustin Friesen, whose shot from the top of the left circle deflected off the stick of backchecking Wolf Pack forward Evgeny Grachev and fluttered past Johnson’s glove. It was Friesen’s first goal in his second AHL game since being signed to a tryout contract Thursday after spending most of the season with Idaho of the ECHL.

Johnson then kept it a two-goal game when he made a brilliant right-pad save on Haskins on a short-handed 2-on-1, and the Wolf Pack responded by scoring twice in 10 seconds, their fastest two goals this season.

Before the power play ended, Byers jammed in a rebound of Newbury’s shot from the right circle at 13:43. Paul Crowder then won the ensuing faceoff, and Donald Brashear eventually got the puck to Ambuhl, who skated into the Sound Tigers’ zone and fired a shot that went through Friesen’s legs and beat Munroe to the blocker side. It was Ambuhl’s fifth goal and first since returning from playing for Switzerland in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The Sound Tigers nearly regained the lead at 5:25 of the third period, but Johnson slid across to deny Smith on a 2-on-1.

“We’re not giving up volumes and volumes of quality chances under constant pressure, but Johnson has made some key saves for us the last couple of games, which has been really important for us,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. “It takes guys making big plays, whether it’s a big save, a big goal or someone making a big hit that arouses the bench. Big plays are important as far as building momentum.”

The Wolf Pack appeared to reclaim the lead on Brashear’s laser from the top of the right circle at 7:31 of the third period. But the goal was waved off by referee Chris Brown because Wolf Pack defenseman Jared Nightingale and Sound Tigers wing Jean Bourbeau were preparing to fight.

After Johnson stopped Radja alone at the right post with 5:57 left, Sanguinetti scored his first winner of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Wolf Pack.

“I don’t think we ever got discouraged,” Gernander said. “We had a pretty good shot total in the first period and a half that didn’t bear fruit, but you just have to stay with it. I don’t feel better about coming back. They stuck with it and persevered, but the important thing is wins.”

After completing a season-high, six-game homestand with a 4-2 record, the Wolf Pack bussed to Portland, Maine, for a game Sunday at 4 p.m. against the Pirates, who beat Springfield Saturday night and clinched a playoff spot when Norfolk lost 2-0 to Worcester. … Former Wolf Pack left wing Alexandre Giroux, the AHL’s MVP last season and a leading candidate for the award this season, had three goals and an assist as Hershey (55-14-0-3) beat Worcester 7-2 Friday night to clinch the regular-season Eastern Conference title. Giroux has 41 goals this season and 101 goals in the last two seasons. His 95 points this season are three fewer than linemate Keith Aucoin, another leading contender for MVP honors. The deadline for balloting for postseason AHL awards is Monday, and several will announced this week.

SUMMARY

Bridgeport 1 2 0 -- 3
Hartford 1 2 1 -- 4
First period: 1. Hartford, Soryal 4 (Couture), 6:11. 2. Bridgeport, Haskins 11, 16:44 (sh ps). Penalties—Morency, Bri (roughing), 10:19; Rechlicz, Bri (roughing), 10:19; served by Soryal, Hfd (bench minor-unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:19; Brashear, Hfd (roughing, roughing), 10:19; Wotton, Bri (unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:03; Heikkinen, Hfd (goaltender interference), 17:41.
Second period: 3. Bridgeport, Smith 20 (Motherwell, Martin), 8:30 (pp). 4. Bridgeport, Friesen 1 (Radja, Bourbeau), 9:34. 5. Hartford, Byers 21 (Weise, Newbury), 13:43 (pp). 6. Hartford, Ambuhl 5 (Crowder), 13:53. Penalties—Garlock, Hfd (tripping), 7:37; Radja, Bri (delay of game), 12:51; Nightingale, Hfd (high-sticking), 15:24.
Third period: 7. Hartford, Sanguinetti 8 (Locke), 16:40. Penalties—Bourbeau, Bri (fighting), 7:31; Nightingale, Hfd (fighting), 7:31; Potter, Hfd (slashing), 8:09.
Shots on goal: Bridgeport 8-13-7-28. Hartford 15-14-7-36; Power-play opportunities: Bridgeport 1 of 5; Hartford 1 of 2; Goalies: Bridgeport, Munroe 18-15-3 (36 shots-32 saves). Hartford, Johnson 19-16-2 (28-25); A: 6,921; Referee: Chris Brown; Linesmen: David Spannaus, Luke Galvin.