By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
There hasn't been much mystery to the first four games of the Wolf Pack-Lowell Atlantic Division semifinal series. The team with the most jump and intensity at the start has prevailed.
The Pack have contained one of the AHL's best lines and allowed only two goals 5-on-5, with the second of Mike Zigomanis' two goals late in the first period of a 3-2 loss Tuesday night coming as Jamie Lundmark's penalty ended.
So the team that grabs the early impetus tonight in Game 5 at the Civic Center figures to be in line to shoot for the clincher Saturday night in Lowell.
"They're good on the power play and sound defensively," said Pack captain Ken Gernander, who played in a record 121st Calder Cup game Tuesday. "We didn't compete the first period and gave them too many power plays. They capitalized, so we spent the rest of the game trying to play catch-up against a good defensive team. The onus is on us to be ready right from the start."
Coach Ryan McGill continues to be exasperated by the inconsistency of some top players. He had an optional skate Wednesday, focusing on meeting with certain players he wouldn't name.
"I feel I shouldn't have to meet with guys this time of year," he said. "We ironed a few things out that we expect out of them. ... The playoffs boil down to outworking your opposition, but to outwork them, you have to outsmart them, too. I thought [Lowell] outsmarted us [Tuesday] by going to the net hard and forced us into bad penalties and bad decisions when we were penalty killing.
"And we weren't prepared to play desperate the first 20 minutes. But I don't care about [Tuesday] night. I just want us to figure out a way to win a game."
McGill's chats were a carryover from Tuesday night, when several players hung around the locker room longer than usual.
"The easiest thing in the playoffs is to forget a loss and learn from it," said goalie Steve Valiquette, the target of the charging Lock Monsters. "It's easier than the regular season because we know we're here for four out of seven, not day to day. We know winning [tonight] is going to put us in position to win the series, so why stress ourselves out about the loss.
"That's why we were talking a lot more open in the locker room, because we're so in it together and know if we talk it out and get it together, it's going to be a win the next game. ... We've been around long enough and seen everything, so we know why. We're not searching for answers. It's been black and white, like barnstorming, where we've traded periods. Now it's up to us to get in our minds to take control and play the way we're capable of, starting in the first minute."
The Pack have handled Lowell's top line of Eric Staal, Chuck Kobasew and Colin Forbes (one short-handed goal and two assists, one on a power play). But the No. 2 line of Zigomanis, Ryan Bayda and Chad Larose has six of the Lock Monsters' eight goals and five of their 15 assists.
"It seems the team that scores first gets the momentum," Zigomanis said. "They haven't had a bad game against us all season and I don't expect one, no matter how long the series goes."
Zigomanis lauded Valiquette and Jason LaBarbera, who is likely to start tonight. They have combined to stop 132 of 140 shots, with each allowing four goals.
"I don't know too many teams that switch goalies in the middle of a series, but that tells you how good they are," Zigomanis said. "They've played well all year and are playing well now, so we had to find a way to beat them by getting traffic in front and having second efforts to the net for rebounds."
Coach Tom Rowe said the Lock Monsters talked about getting their forecheck going, using their speed and annoying Valiquette, who had been 6-0-0-1 with an 0.75 goals-against average and .975 save percentage against Lowell.
"Things worked [Tuesday], but we've said from the beginning it wasn't going to be an easy series," Rowe said. "It's long from being over, and I expect desperation to continue to be a key. They're going to come out hard because they have to, so we need to keep the same edge."
