Al Else Fails

Robert Gherson (Courant photo)

It was the best of games, it was the worst of games.

The Hartford Wolf Pack scored twice in the first 0:46 of their Game Five playoff match against the Manchester Monarchs earlier tonight, building a 4-0 lead by the time the first period was barely 2/3rds over. But then, with the score 4-1 and with just a small amount of time left in the first period, Wolf Pack goalie Al Montoya left the game with an apparent shoulder separation. Without Al-a-Mo in net, the Wolf Pack frittered away their lead, as Robert Gherson surrendered 7 goals on only 23 shots, allowing the Monarchs to walk away with an unlikely 8-6 victory. The Monarchs now lead the best-of-seven series, 3-2, with Game Six to be held in Manchester on Thursday.

Three goals by Manchester in the span of about 7 minutes of the second period tied the game at 4-4. The Wolf Pack took the lead back again before the second period had ended, 6-4, on goals from Brandon Dubinsky (his second of the game and fourth in two games) and Alexandre Giroux. That was Hartford's last gasp, though, as the Monarchs put the puck past Gherson four times in the third period.

Besides Gherson's horrible performance in net, the Wolf Pack let the Monarchs back into the game with a string of ill-timed and horrible penalties. Apparently, the referees were following stringent new penalty guidlines that state, if you're a Wolf Pack player and you have arms, that's a penalty. One trick the Monarchs' players used all night to draw penalties was to lift one skate as they were being checked along the boards, to make the hit look much worse and draw a boarding penalty. All told, Hartford was called for 35 minutes in penalties (on 12 infractions), versus 19 minutes (8 infractions) for Manchester.


Photographic evidence giving truth to the rumor that the Monarchs took a synchronized diving lesson from the Hanson brothers before boarding the team bus on Monday

The stupidest penalty of all was the instigating minor that Dale Purinton took with 2:43 left in the game, on top of a boarding minor that he had already received. The resulting 4-minute power play for Manchester left the Wolf Pack on their heels for the rest of the game, dulling whatever chance they might have had of getting the two scores they needed to tie the score.

Besides Dubinsky's second straight two-goal game, Craig Weller had a 4-point night with 2 goals and 2 assists, and Martin Sonnenberg and Alexandre Giroux had a goal and an assist each. There were at least a dozen Manchester fans in attendance, and when the "crowing rooster" sound effect was played over the PA after Alex "Rooster" Giroux scored his goal, I saw some of the Manchester fans leave their seats to go feed the chickens and milk the cows. Once they realized that it was too far to walk to the barnyard, though, they came back in to watch the rest of the game.