By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD -- The Wolf Pack got a playoff preview Friday night.
Though the Springfield Falcons are tied for last in the AHL, their physicality and tenacity forced the Pack to earn a 1-0 victory on Alexandre Giroux's goal 1:14 into overtime.
"I don't really remember what happened," Giroux said after taking a pass from Lawrence Nycholat, racing around Gerard Dicaire and stuffing his team-high 28th goal past Jean-Marc Pelletier. "It was just kind of a natural goal. I didn't know what move I was going to do or what was open. I got a great pass and just took it wide. The thing was I had a lot of speed and caught the defenseman a little off balance."
Giroux's goal enabled the Pack (44-21-3-3) to extend their points streak to 3-0-1-1 and move within four points of Atlantic Division leader Manchester, which lost a shootout to Providence. The Pack got to overtime thanks to the AHL's No. 2 penalty-killing unit going 6-for-6, including outshooting the Falcons 2-1 on a five-minute high-sticking major to Craig Weller with 5:15 left in regulation.
"We took too many penalties, but you have to look at how hard Springfield played," Pack coach Ryan McGill said. "I thought that was a playoff-type game, and they did a good job of playing very physical. It was one of those games where we weren't going to get a lot of room and neither team gave too much, and that's good because we need that.
"I thought we did a great job on the penalty kill, but we need to eliminate the ones that are needless. We had chances, but their goalie was good and they got away with some [penalties]. You don't know what to expect coming in here, but we battled hard, and it'll be another battle [tonight] against Portland."
Jason LaBarbera made 21 saves for his sixth shutout as the Falcons' AHL record for being shut out was extended to 17 games. LaBarbera played for the first time in two weeks and said he had no ill effects from slicing his right index finger while cutting chicken last Saturday, forcing him to miss a start in Bridgeport. He was more concerned with "probably the worst ice we've played on all year."
"It was tough to sustain any kind of flow with the puck bouncing everywhere," he said. "There was one simple shot from the point where I went down and the puck skipped over my stick. If I didn't have my legs closed, it would have gone in. You really had to pay attention, and it was tough to slide because you couldn't get a good push."
Giroux's deflection of Jeff Hamilton's shot during the Pack's only power play hit the post with 4:40 left in the first, then Hamilton hit a post with 3:05 to go in the second. LaBarbera made big stops on Shane Willis and Nick Tarnasky during the Falcons' third power play before Tarnasky hit the post with 18 seconds left in the second.
The Pack were at full strength for the first time in three weeks. Defenseman Joel Bouchard made his season debut after signing an AHL deal March 17 and started with Jeff MacMillan, who returned after missing six games with a shoulder injury. Wing Chad Wiseman (concussion) and center Layne Ulmer (groin) also were back, and wing Ryan Hollweg returned from a two-game suspension.
"We accepted the challenge," McGill said. "We got guys back, but we can't expect miracles the first game. Everybody injured was out for a fairly lengthy time."
