Jed Ortmeyer broke a 1-1 tie with 7:49 remaining in regulation to lead Hartford to a 4-1 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday night, setting up a deciding Game 7 in the Eastern Conference championship series.
The winner of Saturday’s contest will advance to face Milwaukee in the Calder Cup 2004 Final.
A clearing pass by Penguins rookie Ondrej Nemec hit the skate of Ortmeyer in front of the net and got past Andy Chiodo to give the Wolf Pack a 2-1 lead. Just 50 seconds later, Cory Larose scored off a Garth Murray pass following a Wilkes-Barre turnover to make it 3-1, and Ortmeyer added an empty-net score with 1:23 to go.
Former Penguin Jason MacDonald opened the scoring for the Wolf Pack in the first period. Toby Petersen picked up the only Wilkes-Barre goal early in the third.
Jason LaBarbera made 26 saves for Hartford. Andy Chiodo stopped 22 shots for the Penguins.
