HARTFORD, Conn – The New York Rangers have a bright future in net if 25-year old Matt Zaba is in fact the stud he seems to be.
Zaba made his AHL post season debut for Hartford and simply made 38 saves (some stellar) in leading the Wolfpack to 2-0 victory and a 1-0 series lead. On the downside, the Wolfpack was outshot by a 15 shot margin in the game. Zaba’s heroics were necessary when assessing the team’s efforts.
The Sharks were unable to beat Zaba and they did themselves no favors by going 0 for 7 on the powerplay. Neither team was effective on the man advantage as Hartford was 0 for 5.
Yaroslavl-native, Artem Anisimov picked up the first goal of the game (and game-winner) at 4:19 of the second. Dale Weise and Corey Potter added assists on the goal.
Anisimov’s goal came in the second when Worcester was the busiest in the Pack’s defensive zone. The Sharks launched 18 of their shots in the stanza and made Zaba and the home town crowd sweat with each effort.
Dane Byers added insurance in the third (7:20) and gave Zaba some breathing room.
The third period settled down into a defensive struggle as neither team seemed interested in pursuing the affair. The Sharks seemed almost resigned to the loss given their futility in the second and the Wolfpack were content to ride out the 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard and ride their hot netminder to an series-opening win.
Contact lm.davis@prohockeynews.com
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