HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack built multiple leads on Friday night at PeoplesBank Arena but saw a third period lead slip away to the Rochester Americans. The result was a 4-3 overtime defeat, the club’s sixth straight loss (0-2-4-0).
Blake Hillman got the Wolf Pack on the board 1:57 into the hockey game with his second goal of the season. Off a faceoff victory in the offensive zone, Trey Fix-Wolansky gained puck possession. He quickly played it to Bryce McConnell-Barker, who tapped a backhand pass to the right-wing point for Hillman.
There, Hillman stepped into a drive that beat Topias Leinonen through traffic.
Anton Blidh extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:18, scoring his first goal of the season. Brennan Othmann won possession of the puck, then led a two-on-one rush into the offensive zone. Once there, he elected to dish off to Blidh. The veteran beat Leinonen with a quick shot.
Olivier Nadeau responded at 9:48, getting the Amerks on the board. The third-year forward ripped a shot by Talyn Boyko that clipped the goal post and found the back of the net to make it a 2-1 game. The goal was Nadeau’s second career tally and his first of the season.
The two-goal lead was restored at 16:21 when Jaroslav Chmelař lit the lamp for the third time this season. Brett Berard sent a pass from just inside the left-wing circle to Chmelař, who tapped the puck into a wide open cage with Leinonen too far to his right.
Hartford’s 3-1 lead would last until the 11:43 mark of the middle frame, when Trevor Kuntar scored his sixth goal of the season to make it 3-2. Kuntar toe-dragged in the left-wing circle and then released a quick shot that beat Boyko by the glove for the period’s only tally.
The comeback continued with another Kuntar goal on the power play at 17:05 of the third period. With Fix-Wolansky in the box, Jack Rathbone fired a shot from the blueline that Kuntar tipped by Boyko. The goal was Kuntar’s second of the night and seventh of the season.
The goal forced overtime, where the Americans were able to complete their comeback bid.
After a great save at one end by Leinonen, the Americans were sprung the other way on an odd-man rush. Zach Metsa fed Riley Fiddler-Schultz, who buried the game-winning goal at 1:05 to complete the comeback.
The goal was Fiddler-Schultz’s third of the season, and was his third point (1 g, 2 a) of the night.