VERSUS 
BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack
Hartford, CT, March 30, 2019 – Chase Balisy scored with 48 seconds left in overtime Saturday night at the XL Center, to give the Belleville Senators 3-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The Wolf Pack had leads of 1-0 and 2-1, on power-play goals by Gabriel Fontaine and Tim Gettinger, but Jordan Murray tied the score on a Senator man advantage with just over five minutes remaining in the third period.
“The difference maker in the game was in the second period,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said. “I didn’t feel we had the puck very much, which gave them some momentum, but we got ourselves in some penalty trouble in the third.”
The Wolf Pack scored on the game’s first power play for the only goal of the first period.
With Joseph LaBate off for high-sticking, Fontaine scored his tenth goal of the season at 8:24. Fontaine worked a give-and-go with Ryan Dmowski, and Fontaine moved to the middle from the left side before firing a close-in shot past Senator goaltender Marcus Hogberg (26 saves).
Belleville tied the score at 5:31 of the second period, on the first goal in a Senator uniform for Austin Fyten. A shot from the left side by Erik Burgdoerfer was blocked wide of the Wolf Pack net by Josh Wesley, but the puck caromed off the end boards to the right side, and Fyten was able to backhand it past the short side of Hartford netminder Adam Huska (31 saves).
The Wolf Pack power play struck again to regain the lead, with only 45.6 seconds left in the period. After Murray was called for delay-of-game at 19:04, Gettinger deflected a shot by Sean Day past Hogberg on the stick side.
“We hadn’t seen Belleville in a long time,” said McCambridge, “so we made some adjustments to our power play on how we felt we could create some opportunities.”
It was the Senators who spent much of the third frame on the power play, though, as the Wolf Pack would be shorthanded four times.
Hartford killed the first three, including a two-man advantage of 1:19, after Brandon Crawley was called for cross-checking at 5:50 and Nick Jones for tripping at 6:31.
Belleville finally capitalized at 14:55, though, after Fontaine was sent off for high-sticking at 13:52. Drake Batherson fed the puck from the left-wing boards to Murray at the top of the slot, and he slung a wrist shot that went through a screen set by Vitaly Abramov and eluded Huska.
“Adam’s game was strong,” McCambridge said of Huska. “The 5-on-3 kill was really good for us. He came up with some key saves for us during the game, and that’s all you can ask your goaltender to do.”
The Senators controlled the overtime session, however, outshooting the Wolf Pack 6-0. Huska held the visitors off until former Wolf Pack Adam Tambellini deflected the rebound of a Stefan Elliott try to Balisy, and he easily buried the puck from the left side of the slot.
The Wolf Pack are next in action this Wednesday night, April 3, when they travel to Springfield to take on the Thunderbirds. Faceoff is 7:05, and all of the action can be heard live on News Radio 1410 AM, and 100.9 FM, WPOP, and online at newsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at theahl.com/AHLTV.
The next home game for the Wolf Pack is next Saturday night, April 6, a 7:00 PM contest vs. the Utica Comets. Tickets for all 2018-19 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, online at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499. Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $13 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase.
Information about all of the Wolf Pack’s many attractive ticketing options can be found online at hartfordwolfpack.com. To speak with a Wolf Pack representative, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.
Belleville Senators 3 (OT) at Hartford Wolf Pack 2
Saturday, March 30, 2019 – XL Center
Belleville 0 1 1 1 – 3
Hartford 1 1 0 0 – 2
1st Period-1, Hartford, Fontaine 10 (Dmowski, Bergman), 8:24 (PP). Penalties-LaBate Bel (high-sticking), 7:03; Meskanen Hfd (slashing), 9:09; Paul Bel (roughing), 19:47; O’Gara Hfd (roughing), 19:47.
2nd Period-2, Belleville, Fyten 4 (Burgdoerfer, Carlisle), 5:31. 3, Hartford, Gettinger 14 (Day, Gropp), 19:14 (PP). Penalties-Falk Bel (high-sticking), 7:36; Murray Bel (delay of game), 19:04.
3rd Period-4, Belleville, Murray 9 (Batherson, Abramov), 14:55 (PP). Penalties-O’Gara Hfd (interference), 2:41; Crawley Hfd (cross-checking), 5:50; Jones Hfd (tripping), 6:31; Fontaine Hfd (high-sticking), 13:52.
OT Period-5, Belleville, Balisy 6 (Tambellini, Elliott), 4:12. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Belleville 8-11-9-6-34. Hartford 12-7-9-0-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Belleville 1 / 5; Hartford 2 / 3.
Goalies-Belleville, Hogberg 19-7-6 (28 shots-26 saves). Hartford, Huska 1-2-1 (34 shots-31 saves).
A-6,219
Referees-Jordan Deckard (14), Michael Sheehan (74).
Linesmen-Mike Baker (11), Luke Galvin (2).
