MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -Hartford, CT, November 13, 2009 - The Hartford Wolf Pack used a four-goal first period to power themselves to a 5-3 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Thursday night at the XL Center.  

Corey Locke led the offensive charge for the Wolf Pack, with two goals and two assists, and Dale Weise and Dane Byers had a goal and an assist each.

A night after being shut down for the most part offensively by the Binghamton Senators in a 2-1 shootout loss, the Wolf Pack scored four times against the Penguins in a wide-open first period, twice on their league-leading power-play (26.5%).
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The Penguins battled to get within one goal of Hartford twice, but could not overcome their first-period deficit and the Wolf Pack’s three total power-play goals in six attempts.

Dale Weise opened the scoring for the Wolf Pack at 8:59 of the first period, capitalizing on a five-on-three opportunity with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Brian Strait and Joe Vitale in the penalty box.

“Anytime you can get a power-play goal, you’re doing well,” said Wolf Pack Head Coach Ken Gernander.  “We’re good [on the power-play] and they were dangerous tonight.”

Weise had set up in the slot, and took a pass from Locke, which he one-timed past Penguins goaltender John Curry (28 saves) for the early 1-0 advantage. 

The lead was extended to two just 30 seconds later, when Paul Crowder beat Curry, again scoring on the power-play.  Crowder put a shot on goal from the right circle from a tough angle that managed to find the back of the net.

The Penguins scored to cut the Wolf Pack lead to 2-1 at 12:53 of the frame, as Tim Wallace came across the slot and buried a blocked shot from Brian Strait past Hartford goaltender Matt Zaba. 

Zaba, who finished with 21 saves, was playing in just his first action since an appearance against Springfield back on October 10, during which he played one period.

Less than three minutes later, at 15:34, Locke scored his tenth goal of the season to make it 3-1, and again extended the Wolf Pack’s lead to two goals.

Jordan Owens had forced a turnover in the Penguins’ zone and passed to Byers, whose shot was kicked out to Locke with a wide-open net for an easy score.

The Wolf Pack lead was then increased to 4-1 at 17:30 of the first, as Byers connected for his fourth goal of the season as he skated across the slot after receiving a feed from Owens, who earned his second assist of the night.

Although they started the second with another five-on-three power-play, the Wolf Pack could not continue their first period outburst, despite a quality chance from Ilkka Heikkinen that rang off the cross bar.  Curry made nine saves on Hartford in the period.

The only goal of the second period came from the Penguins’ Robert Bortuzzo, who snuck a shot past a screened Zaba at 2:55 to slash Hartford’s lead to 4-2.

Zaba made several quality saves in the second, stopping all nine shots he faced, including an in-close opportunity at 2:02 of the period by Tim Letestu.

The Penguins scored midway through the third period again to get within one of the Wolf Pack at 9:48, when Dustin Jeffrey took a shot from the point that was redirected in front of the net by Wade Brookbank, beating Zaba for Brookbank's first goal of the season.

But Locke once again added to the Wolf Pack advantage at 11:35, scoring his second goal of the night and team-leading eleventh of the season.  Locke received a perfect pass across the crease from Evgeny Grachev to give Hartford its fourth two-goal lead of the night at 5-3.

“We got back to basics tonight,” said Byers.  “We got more shots to the net and we were able to get a couple.”

The triumph boosted the Wolf Pack to 11-7-0-1 for 23 points in the Atlantic Division standings, tying the idle Lowell Devils for second place.  Hartford will head on the road to take on Syracuse Saturday (7:30) and Lowell Wednesday (7:00), before returning home to host the Portland Pirates on Friday, November 27 (7:00).

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3 At Hartford Wolf Pack 5
Nov 19, 2009 - XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

W-B/Scranton 1 1 1 - 3
Hartford 4 0 1 - 5

1st Period-1, Hartford, Weise 5 (Locke, Sanguinetti), 8:59 (pp). 2, Hartford, Crowder 4 (Dupont), 9:29 (pp). 3, W-B/Scranton, Wallace 4 (Strait, Haddad), 12:53. 4, Hartford, Locke 10 (Byers, Owens), 15:34. 5, Hartford, Byers 4 (Owens, Locke), 17:30. Penalties-Weise Hfd (holding), 0:24; Strait Wbs (hooking), 7:22; Vitale Wbs (tripping), 8:14; Owens Hfd (interference), 10:49; Grant Wbs (fighting), 15:44; Weise Hfd (fighting), 15:44; Williams Hfd (hooking), 17:57; D'Aversa Wbs (hooking), 19:13; Bortuzzo Wbs (slashing), 20:00.

2nd Period-6, W-B/Scranton, Bortuzzo 1 (Caputi, Sill), 2:55. Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-7, W-B/Scranton, Brookbank 1 (Jeffrey, Boulerice), 9:48. 8, Hartford, Locke 11 (Grachev, Weise), 11:35 (pp). Penalties-Brookbank Wbs (high-sticking), 5:50; Letestu Wbs (slashing), 10:16.

Shots on Goal-W-B/Scranton 5-9-10-24. Hartford 11-9-13-33.
Power Play Opportunities-W-B/Scranton 0 of 3; Hartford 3 of 6.
Goalies-W-B/Scranton, Curry 7-4-1 (33 shots-28 saves). Hartford, Zaba 0-1-0 (24 shots-21 saves).
A-1,935
Referees-Francis Charron (46).
Linesmen-Luke Galvin (2), Paul Simeon (66). 

Commissioner Bud Selig shaved drug suspensions of players and broke the rules of MLB. Will Manny Ramirez and three others do a year? What will happen to dozens of minor league players whose records, teams, and leagues are affected? Read the whole story at SZ ( www.mlnsports.com).