Danny O’Regan’s goal with 41.4 seconds left in overtime gave the Hartford Wolf Pack a 2-1 win over the Laval Rocket Friday night at the XL Center.
The Wolf Pack trailed the game as late as the 18:23 mark of the third period, when Nick Ebert scored, with goaltender Igor Shesterkin headed to the bench for an extra attacker.
“I think they wanted to come in and be the first ones to beat us in regulation,” Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “It felt like a playoff game tonight.”
The Rocket jumped on the board first with the man advantage in the second frame. Ryan Poehling got the lone goal for the Rocket at 7:33, with assists from Phil Varone and Alex Belzile.
Laval nearly made that lead stand up, but Ebert finally solved Rocket goaltender Charlie Lindgren (19 saves) with a slap shot to the stick side.
“Their D gave a nice screen for me,” Ebert said. “At the end of the game, we got the job done. It wasn’t the prettiest, but it’s two points. We’ll come back at it tomorrow.”
It was then O’Regan who sealed the deal for the Pack in overtime, letting go a blistering one-timer from the left-wing circle, off a cross-slot pass from Boo Nieves. The goal came one second after a tripping penalty to Laval’s Josh Brook expired.
“I saw Boo rush and had to jump into the play,” said O’Regan. “I drove the net and he put it right on my tape.
“We worked hard and are a tough team to play against. The power play is something we need to work on to get some momentum.”
Shesterkin also provided the team with much-needed momentum throughout the game, stopping 18 of 19 Rocket shots.
“Couldn’t be more impressed with Igor from the second he got here. He’s got a great attitude,” commented Wolf Pack defenseman Ryan Lindgren “Tonight showed a lot about our team and the way we play the game. We’re able to finish late.”
The win kept the Wolf Pack unbeaten in regulation for the season, at 6-0-0-1 for 13 points.
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