November 4, 2006
By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
With goals at a premium this season, the Wolf Pack have little margin for error.
They made three mistakes on the same play Friday against Providence, and former Pack defenseman Ryan Glenn took advantage to give the Bruins a 3-2 victory before 3,428 at the Civic Center.
The Pack won a faceoff, but defenseman Dave Liffiton lost the puck and was outmaneuvered behind the net by Nate DiCasmirro. The Bruins wing passed in front to a wide-open Glenn, who had moved in off the left point and escaped coverage by Craig Weller.
"When you make three mistakes on a play, it's a good chance it's going to wind up being a pretty good scoring chance," Pack coach Jim Schoenfeld said. "You can't do that that late in the game. It was a good goal the way Glenn jumped in, but we missed coverage.
"With that limited time left, you just don't make errors in your own zone. Everyone knows their own assignment, and you take care of your own turf. But we got a little panicky in our coverage behind the net and in front. Bang, bang."
Glenn was a healthy scratch for five games before getting a chance to play when the Boston Bruins called up Matt Lashoff, their first-round pick in 2005.
"I guess I just saw my chance," said Glenn, who scored his second career AHL goal. "It was a nice pass from DiCasmirro, and I put it in."
"I was happy for Ryan, being a former Wolf Pack player getting the winner," Providence coach Scott Gordon said. "That type of play is the reason we wanted him. He has a good knack for jumping in on the play."
Al Montoya (23 saves) had no chance as he went to 0-5 despite a 2.44 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
"We played well, with a little lull in the second," Schoenfeld said. "But we can't keep saying losses are good games. This was different from some of the others because we made critical mistakes at the wrong time of the game. And this wasn't a group of kids. It was two veterans making a mistake."
The Bruins (5-2-1), who won their third in a row, never trailed, starting with defenseman Jordan Sigalet's first of two goals at 6:15. Brandon Dubinsky, benched in the third period, lost a faceoff to Nate Thompson, who got the puck to the point to Sigalet, whose shot eluded Montoya, screened by Darius Kasparaitis.
The Pack tied it at 9:53 as rookie Ryan Callahan scored his team-leading fifth goal and fourth in three games when he beat Brian Finley (27 saves) to the far corner off the rebound of a shot by Marvin Degon, who stole the puck at center ice.
After Montoya twice robbed Petr Tenkrat, Sigalet deflected in another shot by Tenkrat at 2:04 of the second. After Callahan had a second goal disallowed when referee David Branfield blew his whistle after losing sight of a loose puck, Dane Byers got his first pro goal, jamming in Degon's rebound with 42.6 seconds left in the second.
Finley made a diving save on Callahan's tip of Dwight Helminen's cross with 9:57 left, then Glenn sent the Pack (2-7-0-0) to their fourth loss in five starts after a 4-3 victory over first-place Portland Wednesday.
"I think we're all a little shocked because we felt we outplayed them, but a couple of bounces hurt us," Degon said. "We were hoping to get a little streak going, but it's a long weekend and we still have [two] games to play."
The Pack, who have a league-low 16 goals, host Norfolk tonight, then play at Bridgeport Sunday. They twice lost 3-1 at Norfolk last weekend.
