Ken Gernander set up shorthanded goals by Jozef Balej and Jed Ortmeyer to help Hartford to a 3-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Saturday’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final.
The Wolf Pack have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 on Sunday.
After a scoreless first period, Hartford got on the board 4:43 into the second on a power-play marker by Alexandre Giroux. Balej made it 2-0 with his third shorthanded goal of the postseason less than four minutes later.
Wilkes-Barre pulled to within a goal when Alain Nasreddine scored early in the third period, but Ortmeyer scored 75 seconds later off a drop pass from Gernander on a shorthanded break.
The Penguins rallied late, getting a goal from Eric Meloche with 1:25 remaining and applying heavy pressure on the Wolf Pack and goaltender Jason LaBarbera, but fell short in their bid for another trip to overtime.
Hartford is now 6-0 in one-goal decisions during the Calder Cup 2004 Playoffs.
