By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack hosted the North Division’s Belleville Senators for the first of two meetings this season on Saturday night at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack found themselves down two goals for the second time in three games, but a late surge led to an exhilarating 4-3 overtime victory.
Riley Nash was the hero tonight, scoring his seventh goal of the year 4:19 into overtime to complete the comeback. Mac Hollowell recorded his second assist of the night on the play, as he made a nifty move while driving to the net before finding Nash at the back door. The veteran forward tapped home the first overtime winner for the team this season.
The Wolf Pack saw an early powerplay opportunity just 39 seconds into the game. The Pack registered four shots on the man advantage, but Kevin Mandolese denied them all.
Mandolese was busy in the first period, making some difficult stops on deflected point shots by the Wolf Pack. Hollowell went off for tripping at 16:42, giving the Senators their first powerplay of the evening. Belleville struggled to find a shooting lane, later taking a penalty of their own as Zack Ostapchuk was called for hooking.
Only 12 seconds into four-on-four hockey, the Sens got on the board courtesy of defenseman Maxence Guenette. He beat Garand up high for his second goal of the season and team-leading 13th point to make it 1-0 for the Sens.
A fortuitous bounce for the Senators found the stick of Orrin Centazzo, who put Belleville up 2-0 only 53 seconds into the middle stanza. The goal was the first of Centazzo’s AHL career.
Hartford would get another crack at the powerplay shortly after as Brennan Othmann was high-sticked. The Pack quickly cut Belleville’s lead in half as Othmann netted his fourth of the season, ripping a shot over Mandolese’s left shoulder to make it 2-1.
The Wolf Pack controlled possession for the next several minutes, and they were rewarded with the game-tying goal, courtesy of Adam Sýkora at 9:26. The rookie forward tallied his second goal of the season as he got a piece of Matthew Robertson’s point shot from the left-wing side.
For the second game in a row, the Wolf Pack entered the third period tied. After last night’s game was knotted up 1-1, tonight’s tilt featured a 2-2 score.
The Senators came out swinging to start the third period, leading to Angus Crookshank scoring his sixth of the year to put the Sens on top once again at 5:35. Garand came up big on several occasions to keep the game within reach as the Senators piled on the shots following the Crookshank tally. That would turn out to be a big storyline down the stretch.
The Wolf Pack pulled their goalie with under two minutes to play, and with the extra attacker on the ice, Othmann tied it up at 18:46 to make it 3-3 with his second goal of the evening.
Nash found a streaking Othmann on the far post who made no mistake, burying his second goal with an extra attacker this season.
Hartford outshot Belleville seven to two in the overtime period, with Nash sealing the deal to complete the comeback and give the Pack their fourth straight victory both at the XL Center and overall.
The Wolf Pack continue their four-game homestand next weekend as they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on back-to-back nights on Friday, December 1st, and Saturday, December 2nd. Friday’s puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. Tickets are available at hartfordwolfpack.com.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK:
The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers’ newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
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