HARTFORD, Conn. – Timing really can be everything in life – and especially in sports.
On Monday, the Connecticut Whale added gifted wing Mats Zuccarello, reassigned by the parent New York Rangers after being a healthy scratch in their last two Stanley Cup playoff games. Then on Tuesday, the Whale added another gifted wing, Chad Kolarik, who returned after missing 17 consecutive games and 26 of 28 with an injury.
Meanwhile, the Portland Pirates lost All-AHL right wing Mark Mancari to another recall to the Buffalo Sabres, leaving only center/captain Matt Ellis and defenseman Dennis Persson as reinforcements from their parent club.
So the Whale appeared to have gained an edge for Game 4 of the teams’ tightly contested Atlantic Division semifinal Tuesday night at the XL Center. Then again, the Pirates had lost their only game in the best-of-seven series with Mancari and Persson, victimized on the Whale’s tying-breaking and insurance goals in Game 3.
Then five minutes into the game, Whale right wing Dale Weise left for the night when crosschecked into the boards by AHL Rookie of the Year Luke Adam without a penalty being called. Whale coach Ken Gernander said he didn’t know the extent of the injury to Weise and that he hoped Weise would be able to play in Game 5 Thursday night at Portland.
So the end result of all the comings and goings? Kolarik and Zuccarello each had a goal and an assist to support another strong penalty killing effort and goaltending by Dov Grumet-Morris as the Whale beat the Pirates 3-1 before 2,581, tying the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
“They made big plays at key times,” Gernander said of the return of the Whale’s two most skilled players. “That’s what you would hope they would do in that situation.”
Kolarik, admittedly a bit rusty after playing only two games since Feb. 13, misfired on his first shot, then took advantage of the first of the game’s four 5-on-3 power plays to put the Whale ahead to stay when he beat David Leggio between the legs from the left circle with 4:28 left in the first period off a pass from Jeremy Williams.
“It’s a cliché, but if you can’t get up for playoff hockey you don’t have a pulse,” said Kolarik, acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 11 for former Hartford Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers. “It was exciting to get back in there, and I was playing with two great players (Zuccarello and Kris Newbury), so it’s pretty easy to play with those two.
“I should have scored on the first shot (with 5:50 left in the period) because it was a great pass by Zucks, but I don’t have a good one-timer and was a little rusty for sure. But it was good to get that first one and get a little confidence going. It was good to get that 5-on-3 because it makes it a lot easier when you have a lot of time with the puck. You get your hands back a little bit, and once you get that goal, you get the adrenaline going and the confidence up. A guy with confidence is tough to stop.”
Kolarik, who had 21 goals and 20 assists in 49 games with the Whale and Springfield Falcons, set up the clinching goal when he stole the puck from Corey Fienhage and Colin Stuart, who had collided, and made brilliant cross-slot pass to Zuccarello for a quick finish into an open net at 4:48 of the third period. It was Zuccarello’s first goal since he scored twice for the Rangers against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 6. Kolarik now has the most points against the Pirates this season (five goals and six assists).
“I had good energy, and it was a great team win,” said Zuccarello, who scored his first goal in six with the Whale since Dec. 15. “Without the good job by Dov and the penalty killing, it would have been a different game. But they’re playing awesome, and we’re the lucky ones to get to chip in with the goals.”
The Whale’s penalty kill was 7-for-7, making it 24-for-24 since allowing two goals on the Pirates’ first three power plays in Game 1.
“A guy like Pavel Valentenko blocked probably 100 shots and some of the other defensemen blocked shots, too, along with the forwards chipping in,” Zuccarello said. “We just played really good. We got a few too many penalty minutes (16), but that’s life. We played good on the penalty kill, and they got one lucky goal, but that happens.”
Gernander also commended the penalty killing.
“We’ve done a really good job, but you don’t want to have to rely on it,” he said. “Some defensemen have really sacrificed their bodies to block some shots, and that takes a lot of courage night in and night out. They’ve done a good job in that regard, but we’d like to give them a little bit of a breather, maybe not take so many penalties.”
The Pirates had the better of the play at the outset, with Grumet-Morris (19 saves) making a good stop on Adam’s rush off right wing at 4:32. Just 32 seconds later, the Whale lost Weise, who immediately skated off to the locker room.
The Whale nearly took the lead at 6:24, but Valentenko’s one-time laser from the left point hit the crossbar behind a screened Leggio. But the Whale did break through with two seconds left on a 5-on-3 power play for 1:12 when Kolarik took a pass from Williams and fired a shot that beat Leggio between the legs with 3:28 left in the period. Zuccarello got the secondary assist.
The Pirates nearly tied it on a carryover power play into the second period, but Grumet-Morris made a brilliant glove save on T.J. Brennan’s bid off the right point off a turnover at 32 seconds. The Pirates then got a 5-on-3 power play for 1:10, but the Whale allowed only one shot thanks to brilliant penalty killing by Mitchell, Newbury, Wade Redden and Stu Bickel.
Moments after the Pirates’ ensuing 5-on-4 expired, Evgeny Grachev poked the puck ahead to Mitchell, who broke in alone, deked Leggio to the ice and slipped in a forehand shot for his team-high third goal of the playoffs at 4:45.
A series of penalties gave both sides odd-man advantages, but the only serious threat was the Pirates’ Paul Byron from 20 feet in the slot on another 5-on-3 power play. When Grumet-Morris stopped the bid with 6:52 left in the period, Byron put his hands to his head in disbelief.
Leggio was alert to stop Carl Hagelin’s one-timer with 2:05 to go, then the Whale caught a break when Jacob Lagace shot high off a perfect goal-mouth setup by Ellis with 12 seconds left.
Leggio robbed Kelsey Tessier from 10 feet in front at 3:56, then 37 seconds later, Grumet-Morris made a stellar save on Derek Whitmore’s backhander off a right-wing rush.
After Zuccarello made it 3-0, the Whale had another 5-on-3 for 1:27, but Leggio made four saves to keep it close.
Three seconds after the Whale killed a sixth shorthanded situation, the Pirates finally broke through as Mark Voakes took a pass from Corey Tropp and beat Grumet-Morris high to the stick side from 35 feet in the slot with 7:37 left.
“Those are pretty hollow (victories), especially when you lose,” Pirates coach Kevin Dineen said of Voakes’ goal. “We need to get production out of those areas (power play), and it’s not happening right now. It’s pretty obvious (we’re struggling). We tried to address it in our personnel. Now we need to make sure we have the right people on the ice.”
Hagelin hit the post off a Tessier pass with 3:37 left, and the Pirates then had yet another power play and pulled Leggio with 2:09 left for a 6-on-4. But the Whale allowed only one shot on Grumet-Morris, assuring the Pirates’ playoff road losing streak would reach six games. They haven’t won away from home since their opener at Providence in 2009.
“We had some guys on our line who can put the puck in the net and are confident doing it,” said Newbury, who is scoreless in the playoffs after leading the Whale in scoring in the regular season with 61 points despite playing 11 games with the Rangers. “But wins are what’s most important. It doesn’t matter who puts the puck in the net if you get the win.
“The bench got shortened a little bit (after Weise was injured), so guys are going to play a little more. Missing a guy like that out of your lineup hurts, so guys jumped on board and did what they had to do to get the victory.”
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