Every Wednesday we’ll take a look at the status of the
Rangers’ AHL affiliate. Top prospects Ryan Bourque and Carl Hagelin will
be key players for the Whale this season - we’ll check on how they’re doing and
how the team performs as the season progresses.
- Connecticut’s five-game winning streak was snapped this
afternoon as the Whale fell to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in overtime. Connecticut still sits atop the Northeast
Division with
15 points.
Today the Whale surrendered a 3-1 lead and eventually fell to
the New York Islanders’ farm club when Tim Wallace completed his hat trick at
3:22 of overtime. Jonathan
Audy-Marchessault picked up two goals and an assist, John Mitchell had a goal
and an assist and Mats Zuccarello picked up two helpers for the Whale. Tim Erixon also picked up an assist in his
first AHL game. Ryan Bourque returned to
the lineup for the Whale after sitting out with concussion-like symptoms.
On Friday the Whale picked up its fourth-straight win, a
4-2 road victory over the Adirondack Phantoms. Veteran Jordan Owens led the way for the
Whale with two goals, while Mitchell also added a goal and Sean Avery scored an
empty-netter in his first game with Connecticut. Scott Tanski assisted on Owens’ second goal
for his first professional point. Cam Talbot stopped
27 of 29 shots to improve to 3-1-0 on the season. Zuccarello returned to the lineup for the
Whale after being injured by a vicious hit by Adam Mair last weekend. Pavel
Valentenko also made his season-debut after battling injuries while at Rangers
training camp.
On Saturday the Whale won its fifth game in a row, a 3-2
shootout victory over the Worcester Sharks.
Andreas Thuresson and Andre Deveaux scored second period goals for Connecticut,
but Zuccarello, Thuresson and Avery provided shootout goals to guide the Whale
to victory. Chad Johnson stopped 28 of
30 shots and ceded two goals in the shootout.
- After Sean Avery scored an empty-net goal in his Whale debut
on Friday and the game-winning shootout goal on Saturday, he was placed on
re-entry waivers by the New York Rangers and officially recalled yesterday.
- New York reassigned defenseman Tim Erixon and forward Kris
Newbury to the Whale this weekend and recalled forward Andre Deveaux. Newbury had factored into Connecticut’s first
eight goals of the season before being recalled, so he’ll be a huge addition
for the Whale. The Rangers originally
wanted Erixon to develop in Connecticut before being a mid-season call-up as
Ryan McDonagh was a year ago, but injuries to Marc Staal and Mike Sauer forced
the Blueshirts to keep Erixon with the NHL squad until Sauer returned to the
lineup.
- Coach John Tortorella said that he considered recalling Zuccarello,
who’s been tremendous for the Whale, but wants the Norwegian Hobbit to continue
receiving regular playing time, something
that wouldn’t be guaranteed in New York.
Zuccarello has three goals and four assists in five games with the Whale
and is a plus-4.
- Connecticut Coach Ken Gernander compared
Carl Hagelin to an NFL wide receiver in that Hagelin needs to harness his
speed and know when to break so his teammates have time to find him in open
areas for passes.
- Chad Johnson was the recipient
of the Reebok/AHL Goaltender of the Month award.
- Audy-Marchessault and Mitchell have joined Newbury in a
three-way tie for the team lead in scoring with eight points, but Newbury has
played in only half of Connecticut’s games.
- The Whale will host the Eastern Conference-leading St. John’s
IceCaps on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and on Saturday, Connecticut will visit the
Springfield Falcons, also at 7:00 p.m.
Past editions of The Whale Week That Was:
The
Whale Week That Was - October 5, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – October 12, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – October 19, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – October 26, 2011 >
The Whale Week That Was – November 2, 2011 >
Click
here for our full 2011-2012 Season Archive >
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