Jacks

Backing in wasn't the most pleasant way for the Skipjacks to clinch third place in the AHL's Southern Division, but as coach Rob Laird said after last night's 7-6 overtime loss in Utica, N.Y., "We are where we want to be."The Jacks, locked at third place after Hershey beat Adirondack, will face second-place Binghamton in the first round of the AHL playoffs. They now have three games remaining this weekend that are meaningless, but Laird doesn't want to see the type of sloppy play the Jacks exhibited last night.

The Skipjacks are counting down the minutes until they take the ice against Binghamton at the Arena tonight.Down 3-0 in the AHL Southern Division semifinals just a week ago -- and left for dead in the minds of even their most ardent supporters -- the never-say-die Jacks have rallied to within one game of the faltering Rangers and can tie the series 3-3 with a win tonight (7:30, WITH-AM 1230)."We never counted ourselves out," said coach Robbie Laird after his team's 5-3 win in Binghamton, N.Y., on Wednesday night.

The Skipjacks and the Washington Capitals each earned their first victories of the season over the weekend.For the Caps, it took two home games, as they lost to Pittsburgh Friday, 7-4, before returning for a 6-4 victory over Detroit on Saturday with Mike Liut in net for both games.With goalie Don Beaupre back with the Caps as a backup, the Jacks reaped the benefit of the return of Jim Hrivnak, who was excellent in a 5-3 win in Hershey on Saturday. After falling behind 2-1, the Jacks rallied on a pair of goals from John Purves and one each from Reggie Savage and Alfie Turcotte.

The anger in the locker room after last night's Skipjacks game wasn't so much about losing it to New Haven as much as how it was lost.Down 3-2 with less than 30 seconds remaining, the Jacks poured into the Nighthawks' zone with an extra attacker, looking for the equalizer.With 11 seconds left, a Ken Lovsin shot made its way behind goalie Robb Stauber, but clearly inches from being over the line. The crease was quickly flooded with players and after the net was jolted off of its moorings and the pile was removed, it appeared the puck was in for a goal.

For the Skipjacks, defensive reality set in last night at the Arena.Despite having an unquestioned offensive powerhouse, these baby Jacks have some problems on the back line and they might not soon disappear.All that it's going to take to stop the Jacks (5-3) is a hot goaltender and last night he appeared in the form of Mike Parson, who stopped nearly everything the Jacks could offer in a 5-2 loss to the Maine Mariners."We know the caliber of goaltending in this league is very good," Jacks coach Robbie Laird said.

With less than two minutes remaining in last night's game, Skipjacks coach Robbie Laird was no doubt thinking about sneaking out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a point.After all, the Jacks -- 1-4-1 on the road trip through Canada's Maritime Provinces, going into the game -- were certainly in no position to argue. As Laird said after Tuesday's loss, salvaging anything is the key here.But once again, it wasn't meant to be.The Jacks (9-8-1) allowed a goal to Jaro Sevcik with 1:54 remaining and an empty-netter to Marc Fortier with 25 seconds left to lose to the Citadels, 4-2."

After Sunday's embarrassing 5-2 loss to Adirondack, a little change of personnel probably wouldn't hurt the Skipjacks.Although it comes out of necessity and not punishment, the Jacks will have a new look for tonight's American Hockey League game with the Hershey Bears at the Arena.The team's leading scorers, Alfie Turcotte and Steve Maltais, will be with the Washington Capitals at the Cap Centre tonight facing the New Jersey Devils.The Caps have sent the Jacks hard-hitting center Rob Murray, on a two-week conditioning basis, to fill the void.

After getting burned repeatedly by Utica's top scoring line of Valeri Zelepukhin, Brian Sullivan and Neil Brady in a 4-2 loss Saturday night, Jacks coach Robbie Laird had seen enough.It was time to call in the specialists.In previous seasons, his first choices probably would have been Steve Seftel, who is out until February with a leg injury, and Tim Bergland and Jeff Greenlaw, who are with the Washington Capitals.Little did he realize that the shadow defensive unit he needed was in the locker room all along.

The first loss was inevitable, but the Skipjacks said they didn't want it to be quite like this.Holding a 3-2 lead with a little more than eight minutes remaining in what had been a painfully sloppy game on both sides, the Jacks folded miserably.For the Utica Devils, perseverance paid off as Kevin Madill put the puck between goalie Jim Hrivnak's pads with 11:47 remaining to tie the game and Kevin Todd repeated the act four minutes later to defeat the Jacks, 4-3, before 1,897 at the Arena.

The Skipjacks are quickly learning that finding points on the road is as difficult as they had made it on visitors to the Arena during the first three weeks of the season.Three games into their 10-game excursion through the Maritime Provinces of Canada, the Jacks have just one point to show -- and they were lucky to get that Wednesday night in Moncton.Last night, the Jacks found another way to falter on the road, outshooting the Fredericton Canadiens 48-27 but losing 5-1 in what became a laugher.