Wolf Pack lose two of last three

Hartford is 4th in Atlantic; 5th in East.

Against teams with poorer records than the Wolf Pack, Hartford did not impress, managing only one win against three Eastern Conference bottom-dwellers.

The Wolf Pack did manage a great match against the Binghamton Senators, and brought the match to their first shoot-out of the year, but took the SOL, 2-1 (2-0). Hartford got back on the right track, as they took a victory against the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins, 5-3.

To finish the weekend, Hartford was up against the Syracuse Crunch, a team with the lowest point total in the Eastern Conference. Not only did they take the loss on the road, they came within 2 seconds of getting shut out by Crunch goalie Kevin Lalane. The Pack fell in Syracuse, 2-1.

Even though the Pack lost two of three this past week, a silver lining can be found in Corey Locke and Chad Johnson. Locke, the 25-year old center, scored six points over the last three games, including two goals and two assists against W-B/Scranton. Johnson, the rookie goalie from Calgary, stopped 47 of 50 shots against Binghamton and Syracuse (Matt Zaba stopped 21 of 24 against W-B/Scranton; not too shabby as well).

The Wolf Pack will play five of their next seven games on the road, including Wednesday in Lowell against the Devils, before settling back into Hartford for a five-game home stand, beginning with the Portland Pirates on December 11th.

After Wednesday’s match, the Wolf Pack host former Whaler Kevin Dineen as he coaches the Portland Pirates Saturday at 7:00pm. The weekend wraps up with a game in Hartford against the Providence Bruins, then a continuation of the GEICO Connecticut Cup in Bridgeport against the Sound Tigers, with the puck dropping at 3:00pm.

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, Wolf Pack fans have something to be thankful for: Chad Johnson. The rookie is tied for 5th for most wins in the AHL, with 8. He also has a GAA just over 2, well enough for 8th. Factor in Corey Locke leading the AHL with 30 points (11-19) and Bobby Sanguinetti tied for 6th with 20 (6-14), and Johnson has himself some room for error (knock on wood). With Matt Zaba able to provide relief for Johnson whenever possible, Chad can become a healthy and dominating goalie in the AHL by the All-Star break.