Every Wednesday we’ll take a look at the status of the
Rangers’ AHL affiliate. Top prospects Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Bourque and Tim
Erixon are key players for the Whale this season - we’ll check on how they’re
doing and how the team performs as the season progresses.
- On Friday Chad Johnson led the
Whale to a 4-1 victory over the Providence Bruins with 28 saves. Connecticut took seven minor penalties during
the game but killed them all. Scott
Tanski scored his first goal of the season and Tommy Grant, Kris Newbury and
Mats Zuccarello also added goals for the Whale.
On Saturday Connecticut scored
a whopping five third period goals, all on the power play, to come from
behind and beat the Springfield Falcons 6-3.
It was the Whale’s fifth third period comeback win this year. Connecticut only had 10 shots through two
periods including just two in the first frame, but Johnson made 39 saves to
keep the Whale in the game. Ryan Bourque scored in the second period to cut the lead to 2-1 and in the final frame Andre
Deveaux scored twice while Newbury, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Aaron Voros all scored on the power play. Former
Wolf Pack member Dane Byers scored twice for the Falcons.
On Sunday the Whale allowed Binghamton
to roar back from a two-goal deficit and beat Connecticut 4-3, snapping the
Whale’s four-game winning streak. Zuccarello scored twice and Andreas Thuresson added a goal for Connecticut. Cam Talbot made 30 saves.
- The Whale is 8-for-15 on the power play in
its last four games.
- Tim Erixon has missed
the Whale’s last four games with an undisclosed injury.
- Connecticut is in first place in the Northeast Division and
sits second
in the Eastern Conference.
- New York re-assigned Deveaux to the Whale after he finished
serving a three-game suspension last week.
- Newbury returned on Friday following a four-game suspension.
- Audy-Marchessault continues to lead the Whale with 22 points
(eight goals, 14 assists). Zuccarello is
closing in though; the Norwegian has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in
just 17 games.
- J.A.M. leads the team with eight goals but Zuccarello, Newbury,
John Mitchell and Carl Hagelin all have seven apiece.
- Deveaux has led the Whale in power play goals all season
despite spending a lengthy period in New York.
He added two more in his first three games back with the team and now
has five on the year.
- Johnson and Talbot had gone save for save early in the year,
but Johnson has emerged as Connecticut’s go-to-guy. He’s 8-3-2-1 with a 2.49 goals against
average and a .914 save percentage while Talbot is 6-4-0-1 with a 2.99 goals
against average and a .890 save percentage.
- The Whale re-assigned defenseman Lee Baldwin to Greenville.
- Bruce Berlet examines how the
Whale has persevered despite losing key players to injury and recalls by
the Rangers.
- Berlet also checks in with
Chad Kolarik, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon.
- Nick Perri at SNYRangersBlog.com has posted his first
quarter player reviews for Connecticut.
- Jim Cerny reports that Erixon, Zuccarello and Bourque were all at Madison Square Garden
on Monday to watch the Rangers host Toronto.
- The Whale unveiled its new
website this week.
- The week ahead: Connecticut will be home on Friday against
the Hershey Bears and on Saturday against the Providence Bruins before visiting
Providence in the second game of a home-and-home on Sunday.
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 >
The
Whale Week That Was – November 9, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – November 16, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – November 23, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – November 30, 2011 >
The Whale Week That Was - December 7, 2011 >
Click
here for our full 2011-2012 Season Archive >
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