IceCaps Recap: Danis earns 200th AHL win in series split with Hartford

Friday

The IceCaps kicked off an eight game home stand on Friday, when they hosted the struggling Hartford Wolf Pack. The home team’s lineup was bolstered by the return of Bobby Farnham and Nikita Scherbak, who were both reassigned to the IceCaps on Thursday night.

St. John’s was the better team from the start. The majority of the first period was spent in the Hartford end, but the IceCaps couldn’t produce many quality scoring chances. From the early going, it was clear that both goaltenders, Magnus Hellberg for Hartford, and Charlie Lindgren for St. John’s, were dialed in.

The opening goal came with six minutes remaining in the second period. The speedy Bobby Farnham was sent in on a breakaway. The winger snapped a shot over the glove of Hellberg to give the IceCaps a 1-0 lead.

The IceCaps could’ve had many more goals in the period, but Hellberg made 18 saves in the middle frame. Wolf Pack leading scorer, Nick Jensen tied things up 1-1 midway through the third period. The rest of the third solved nothing, so it was off to overtime.

From the start of the extra period, Hartford looked the more likely winners. They were given far too much space with the puck, and it was only a matter of time when Wolf Pack forward Chris Brown slotted home the winner.

Even though they took a point from the game, it was tough one to swallow for St. John’s. They were the better team over the 60+ minutes, and the reality is they can’t afford to drop points to teams below them as they move towards a playoff spot.

Goaltenders:

HFD: Hellberg - W (29/30)

STJ: Lindgren - OTL (25/27)

Three Stars:

1. Chris Brown - HFD
2. Magnus Hellberg - HFD
3. Charlie Lindgren - STJ

Highlights:

Saturday

It was a milestone night at Mile Once Centre on Saturday. Veteran, Yann Danis picked up his 200th AHL win in his 400th game. The 35-year old became the 14th goalie in the history of the AHL to reach this plateau.

The IceCaps opened the scoring on the night. Captain Max Friberg was the beneficiary of a great play by Tom Parisi, whose patience paid off, finding Friberg all alone in front of the net.

In the second period, defenceman Steven Kampfer tied things up for Hatford, when his shot beat Danis through the five-hole. The third period was when the game finally opened up.

Alexandre Ranger put the IceCaps back in front 2-1 early in the final frame. The undersized forward, who had a great stint with the team last season, made a fantastic play to shield the puck from a much larger Ryan Graves. Ranger then roofed it over the shoulder of Wolf Pack netminder Brandon Halverson. Parisi picked up his second assist of the game on the goal.

The lead lasted just over 10 minutes before Nick Jensen tied things back up at 2-2 with a powerplay goal. But shortly after, it was the IceCaps’ turn with the man advantage. And none other than David Broll scored to put the IceCaps ahead 3-2.

With just over two minutes remaining, Anthony Camara added to the IceCaps lead, making it 4-2. Camara now has two goals in three games since joining the team on a PTO.

Goaltenders:

HFD: Halverson - L (30/34)

STJ: Danis - W (24/26)

Three Stars:

1. Yann Danis - STJ
2. David Broll - STJ
3. Nicklas Jensen - HFD

Highlights:

The IceCaps are back in action on Tuesday and Wednesday night, when they take on the Utica Comets in a two games series. St. John’s currently sits third in the North Division, with a 19-14-4-1 record.