April 22, 2005
By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
The Wolf Pack beat the odds twice Thursday night.
First, Jason LaBarbera, winless in three starts against Lowell this season, stopped 39 shots.
Then the Pack power play, a woeful 3-for-43 in eight games against the Lock Monsters in the regular season, converted two straight opportunities after missing their first six.
It all added up to a 5-2 victory before 2,023 at the Civic Center in the opener of the Atlantic Division semifinals.
That LaBarbera even got the start was somewhat of a surprise. He left practice early Wednesday, suffering from allergies, and Steve Valiquette was better against Lowell this season - 5-0-0-1 with a 0.71 goals-against average.
"We've got a plan and unfortunately I'm not going to tell you anything about it. Sorry," Pack coach Ryan McGill said. "We got outworked in the third period, and that's not really how we want to start at home. But I guess from a positive perspective, our power play hasn't been great all year and we got two power-play goals."
The power play wasn't great at the start. Included in the opening 0-for-6 showing was misfiring for 2:26 on two 5-on-3s.
Finally though, Alexandre Giroux broke through - twice. His first, off a second rebound of Joel Bouchard's shot at 12:21 of the second period, gave the Pack a 2-1 lead they didn't relinquish.
After Jeff Hamilton scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1 after two periods, Giroux converted again on the power play 1:39 into the third.
"The playoffs are all about tempo," Giroux said. "We got a lot of shots on the power play at first, and that can give you some tempo for the next time. We didn't really adjust anything. We just kept doing the simple things. We stayed with the game plan, and that's why we were successful."
Hamilton said he also stuck to the plan on his goal, when he lifted a shot past Cam Ward after blocking Bruno St. Jacques' clear-in attempt.
"There was a little bit of confusion at the blue line. It hit my shin guard, and the defenseman kind of got caught flat-footed," he said. "We watched plenty of tape on the goalie, so we knew what to do against him."
Giroux's two power-play goals came after the Pack failed to convert with the man advantage for 8:15 of the first, including 6:26 straight. They got eight shots on Ward (24 saves), but couldn't punch one in.
Layne Ulmer's rebound of a Hamilton shot was nearly kicked in by Lowell defenseman Mike Commodore at 6:45, but the puck stopped inches from the goal line. After Ward made a strong save on Giroux on the second 5-on-3, the Pack had a goal disallowed when referee Steve Kozari ruled Jozef Balej kicked in Giroux's centering pass at 12:42.
Despite that call, Lowell coach Tom Rowe said the Pack got some early help.
"We took way too many penalties in the first period, though I don't think they were all the right ones," Rowe said. "But McGill did a lot of whining and got the calls, and that put us behind the eight ball. Once we stayed out of the penalty box, we kind of got a rhythm going."
Hamilton assisted on Dominic Moore's goal 2:07 in, giving the Pack a 1-0 lead. Lowell picked up its forechecking in the second and tied it when Chad Larose's behind-the-back pass found Ryan Bayda, whose one-timer beat LaBarbera at 1:42. Carsen Germyn hit the post at 7:05, then Moore reciprocated at 10:35 during a 5-on-3 before Giroux put the Pack ahead to stay. After Lowell's Eric Staal hit the crossbar and LaBarbera made a brilliant pad save on Larose, Hamilton got the winner.
"The first playoff game everyone is wired and ready to go, and we took too many penalties at the start," Staal said. "But once we started to settle down and play our game a bit, I thought we played well. We had some chances; I hit a crossbar and a few other good shots. Hopefully when we come back Saturday they go off the bar and in."
McGill promised adjustments before Game 2 Saturday at the Civic Center.
"They had a lot of point-blank shots, so we have to get better as a group," he said. "And that's how we get better: as a group, not as individuals."
