By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
ALBANY -- Wolf Pack backup goalie Steve Valiquette jokingly gave Dave Liffiton a new nickname: Mike Tyson.
But two Liffiton fights in the second period Wednesday night proved momentum changers as the Pack rallied from a three-goal deficit, winning 4-3 over the River Rats on the only successful shot in a shootout by Nigel Dawes.
"We were down 3-0 and I thought there was a bit of a late hit on Marvin [Degon], so I thought it would be a good time to try to get something going," Liffiton said. "We were a little flat and there wasn't much of a crowd [2,997], so I tried to give the boys some life."
Liffiton's first fight with Cody McLeod at 8:47 of the second came 51/2 minutes before Brad Isbister scored short-handed on one of his 10 shots to get the Pack to 3-1.
Al Montoya, who stopped all five shots in his first shootout of the season, then denied Mike Angelidis on a partial breakaway, and the Rats' Tyler Weinman thwarted three more Isbister bids short-handed and sprawled to stop Dwight Helminen. After Montoya gloved Matt Murley's breakaway bid, Liffiton fought Tim Conboy with 1:23 left in the period.
Just 22 seconds later, Brandon Dubinsky's shot from behind the net ricocheted in off Weinman (38 saves). Then 1:48 into the third, Dubinsky picked up Dane Byers' rebound in the slot and beat Weinman high to tie it.
"Liffy definitely lit a fire under us and got us back in the game," Dubinsky said. "It was a little tough after so many games [nine in 13 days] and then a little break. It took a little longer than we hoped to get going, but the boys showed a lot of character to battle through some goals that were tough on us."
The Rats took a 1-0 lead on a power play 2:23 in, as Pat Dwyer fired a shot down the left boards that took a funny bounce and went in as Montoya scrambled to recover after heading behind the net to stop the puck.
"In these old rinks, you have to be aware of bad bounces," said Montoya (24 saves), who is 6-0-1 since a 2-9 start. "It was just a bad break, and you can either call it in or respond, and I think we got the momentum going into the third, which was huge."
But not before the Rats made it 2-0 on another soft goal when David Gove scored on a wraparound at 12:12. Then Ryan Bayda took a pass from All-Star Keith Aucoin in the left circle and beat Montoya at 3:34 of the second.
Liffiton awoke the Pack five minutes later, and after Dubinsky tied it, Montoya made brilliant stops off Shane Willis and Gove during a Rats power play. That carried over to the shootout, where the Pack are now 3-0.
"The ice was really bad, especially in front of the crease, so you have to assume shot first," Montoya said. "You also have to make sure they don't go around you, but the puck hit me, so I'll take it."
Despite being without All-Star and leading scorer Ryan Callahan (shoulder) for the second consecutive game, the Pack (20-16-3-0) won their eighth in a row against the Rats and improved their points streak to 5-0-1.
"It was a tough way to start the game with some bad bounces that kept Monty on edge," assistant coach J.J. Daigneault said. "I don't think we had much emotion, but Liffiton got involved physically and teammates followed suit. We got more engaged, generated more chances and got better as the game went on."
