April 24, 2005
By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
Lowell coach Tom Rowe must have fed his Lock Monsters some nasty pills before Game 2 of the Atlantic Division semifinals Saturday night.
The Lock Monsters tried to hit every Wolf Pack player, even knocking leading scorer Alexandre Giroux to the ice three times without a penalty as he tried to skate to the bench about 4 minutes into the game.
The strategy worked much of the way, and Ryan Bayda's power-play goal with 10:34 left gave Lowell a 2-1 victory before 3,641 at the Civic Center Saturday night, tying the best-of-seven series at 1. Game 3 is today at Lowell.
"It was pretty intense and a physical game, and they certainly outchanced us just because they outcompeted us," Pack coach Ryan McGill said. "They felt it was do-or-die and played like it. They were to loose pucks first and their forwards drove to the net real hard, and we didn't make very good decisions in the second period at either blue line. Consequently we didn't generate a lot and they did with lots of speed through the neutral zone and [that's] why they scored the second goal."
Cam Ward (28 saves), who allowed a weak goal by Jeff Hamilton in the second period, preserved the win for Lowell when he denied Giroux from 20 feet in front on a power play with 1:34 left.
"If you're going to win the playoffs, you have to get dirty in the areas where it's hard to score and hard areas to compete in," McGill said. "We weren't willing to do that, so we'll really see who can bring their game to the forefront [today]. It'll be a real good challenge, and we'll really see who's up for it. It's a huge game for us, and if we compete like we did in the offensive zone, it'll be a Lowell night, for sure."
Bayda got the winner when Allan Rourke's shot from the blue line deflected off his inner thigh and past a screened Jason LaBarbera.
"I saw the shot coming but lost it halfway," said LaBarbera, who had 32 saves. "That's what you have to do on the power play, get the puck to the net and get guys in front. They got a lucky bounce."
Said Bayda: "The shot came through and I was just trying to make a screen. We battled all night in front on the power play."
LaBarbera noticed the Lock Monsters' increased intensity.
"They were desperate and battled hard," he said. "The whole role of the road is to get a split, so now we have to go in their building, come out hard and hopefully get a couple of wins."
LaBarbera, whom McGill said "did everything we asked of him the first two games," is likely to be the backup today to Steve Valiquette, who was 5-0-0-1 with 0.71 goals-against average and .977 save percentage against Lowell.
The Lock Monsters scored short-handed to take their first lead in the series. After LaBarbera stopped Colin Forbes' one-timer from the slot at 1:50, Eric Staal chipped the puck past Bryce Lampman to Chuck Kobasew, who raced down right wing and flipped in a backhander at 4:22.
"Chuck has been our go-to guy all season, and that goal lifted our whole bench," Bayda said.
Said LaBarbera: "He's quick and made a good move. He knows what he's doing, which is why he scored [38] goals this season."
The Pack tied it when Dominic Moore won a faceoff to the left point to Hamilton, who skated into the high slot and fired a 55-foot shot that got past Ward at 7:52 of the second.
"We're a pretty physical team, and they know that, and they tried to match that," Pack wing Chad Wiseman said. "They might have out-physicaled us, and we didn't play a full 60 minutes."
Said Rowe: "We wanted to establish our forecheck right from the start, and we were able to do that. If you don't play with that kind of intensity, you're not going to be around long."
Schoenfeld Behind Bench
Pack general manager Jim Schoenfeld was behind the bench with McGill, filling in for assistant Nick Fotiu, who missed the game because of a death in the family. Fotiu also will miss today's game. ... Garth Murray missed the last 14:37 of the first period to get 10 stitches above his right eye after being cut by a deflected puck. ... Tickets for Game 5 Thursday night at the Civic Center will be on sale Monday at noon at the box office, Ticketmaster and hartfordwolfpack.com.
