Riley Nash scores overtime winner as Wolf Pack beat Bruins 3-2 in game 3
Riley Nash played the hero on Wednesday night, scoring the first overtime game-winning goal of his Calder Cup Playoff career 4:52 into the extra session to help the Hartford Wolf Pack defeat the Providence Bruins 3-2 in Game 3 of their Atlantic Division Semifinals series. The goal completed a three-point night for Nash (2 g, 1 a), and gave the Wolf Pack a 2-1 edge in the series.
Blake Hillman fired a shot from the left-wing point that Nash got a piece of in the slot. The puck flung past Brandon Bussi at 4:52 to give the Wolf Pack the Game 3 victory and the 2-1 edge in the series. The goal moves the Wolf Pack to 2-0 in overtime during the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Wolf Pack pushed the pace in the opening minutes as Tyler Pitlick nearly broke the ice just seconds into the contest. The Bruins pushed back, however, registering six consecutive shots. On the sixth shot, Marc McLaughlin capitalized on a defensive zone turnover and beat Dylan Garand under the blocker to put the Bruins up 1-0 at 5:23
Hartford provided a swift response under two minutes later as Nash buried a loose puck for his first goal of the series at 7:04. Adam Sýkora banked the puck off of a defenseman and in front of the net, where Nash found it and beat Bussi through the five-hole.
Fabian Lysell went off for hooking at 7:43, giving the Pack a chance to earn their first lead since Game 1. Brennan Othmann cashed in on a rebound just outside the crease for his first goal of the playoffs to put the Pack up 2-1 at 8:39. Nash notched his second point of the night with an assist on the play.
Two Hartford penalties in quick succession gave the Bruins a golden opportunity with 1:56 of five-on-three time. What followed was a penalty-killing masterclass, as the trio of Nash, Victor Mancini and Matthew Robertson kept the Bruins on the perimeter to preserve the lead.
The Bruins evened the score at the 18:07 mark of the first, as a drive from the point by Ian Mitchell caught a piece of Jayson Megna and deflected past Garand to make it 2-2.
The goal was Menga’s second of the series.
The middle stanza saw the sides deadlocked, as the stalemate to break the tie lasted the full twenty minutes. Each squad had a powerplay opportunity in the period but could not pull ahead.
The third period was tightly contested with both teams leaving little room for error, causing high-danger chances to be few and far between. The Bruins opened the period with a flurry of chances, but Garand stood tall.
A roughing call on Alex Belzile gave the Bruins a chance to pull ahead in the closing minutes, but another strong showing from the penalty-killing units held the Bruins to just one shot on the skater advantage.
Nash’s game-winner came just under five minutes into the overtime period, lifting the Wolf Pack to their first home overtime victory in the Calder Cup Playoffs since May 1st, 2015.
Garand finished the night with 33 saves, including 18 in the first period, to improve to 4-2 this postseason.
The Wolf Pack are back in action this Friday at 7:00 p.m. for Game 4 against the Bruins at the XL Center.
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