Wolf Pack Get First Divisional Win, 4-1 Over Manchester

After sitting near the bottom of the AHL on the power play, the Hartford Wolf Pack devoted time in practice this week working on the always important specialty team.

It paid dividends again Saturday night, as P.A. Parenteau and Dane Byers scored with the man advantage, leading the Wolf Pack to a 4-1 victory over the Manchester Monarchs before 2,893 at the XL Center.

Byers and Brodie Dupont scored 44 seconds apart after the Monarchs got within 2-1 early in the third period. It took the pressure off goalie Miika Wiikman (31 saves), who kept the Wolf Pack (3-3-0-1) in front through two periods with another strong effort in the team’s second straight victory.

“Miika played an unbelievable game again, and we finally got it done with some greasy goals,” said Parenteau, who had a goal and two assists. “And we’re moving the puck well on the power play. We worked on making some plays, and we’re shooting, creating stuff and getting the puck to net. That’s how it should be.”

The Wolf Pack were 2-for-8 on the power play and have four power-play goals on 19 tries in the last three games after going 1-for-20 in their first four starts. The Wolf Pack started using center Greg Moore at the point, and it has proved beneficial.

“If you can get a goal a game out of the power play, it’s good, and more times than not it’s simplifying things,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. “So we dedicated some time to it, and the guys responded.”

As they responded after Trevor Lewis’ rebound goal on a power play at 1:58 of the third period got the Monarchs (2-4-0-0) to 2-1. But Byers poked in a rebound at 3:36 after Tommy Pyatt’s nifty move down left wing and around defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov. Dupont then converted Dale Weise’s rebound at 4:21 after an initial shot by Artem Anisimov.

“We’ve basically got back to the basics on the power play,” Byers said. “We’re just trying to get the puck to the points and get shots, and as we do that, it opens more seams and guys are getting more confident in front. The coaches have been harping about net presence, and it has been working.”

The Wolf Pack had a golden opportunity to take an early lead, but Hamden native Jonathan Quick (22 saves) gloved Jordan Owens’ shorthanded breakaway bid at 5:05 and then denied his rebound. But Quick was victimized on a brilliant move by Anisimov, who got a chip pass from Chris Murray along the right boards, sprinted around defenseman Drew Bagnall and scored into an open net at 9:12.

Wiikman preserved the lead when he stopped Kevin Westgarth breaking in off right wing with 1:55 left in the first period. Then 6:23 into the second period, Parenteau took a pass from Moore and fired a shot from the top of the left circle on a power play that beat a screened Quick for his third goal in three games after not having a point in the first four games.

Lewis momentarily made it close early in the third, but the Wolf Pack retaliated quickly and then shut down the Monarchs the rest of the way.

“The whole team is playing better,” Wiikman said. “They didn’t have a lot of quality chances. Most of their shots came from the blueline, and I could see them. It’s a lot easier for me to play when it’s like that, and we started scoring some goals and didn’t take any stupid penalties.”