Rangers top prospect scores, Riley Nash gets Game 3 OT winner for Wolf Pack
Brennan Othmann scored his first professional playoff goal and Riley Nash netted the winner in overtime to lead the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 3-2 win against the Providence Bruins in Game 3 of their Calder Cup Playoffs series on Wednesday.
Hartford leads the best-of-5 series 2-1 and can advance with a win at home Friday.
Othmann scored on the power play at 8:39 of the first period to give the Wolf Pack their first lead of the game, 2-1. Standing to the right of the crease, Othmann swatted a rebound into the back of the net for his first goal and fourth point in six postseason games.
“A good, greasy goal,” Othmann described it postgame.
The 21-year-old forward scored 21 goals goals this season, second most on the Wolf Pack and tied for seventh among AHL rookies. He led Hartford and all AHL rookies with 10 power-play goals.
Othmann also played three games with the Rangers this season without recording a point.
Delivering in the postseason is nothing new for the 2021 first-round pick. Othmann helped Peterborough win the OHL championship last season when he had 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 23 playoff games. In the 2022 OHL playoffs with Flint, Othmann scored nine goals and 24 points in 19 games.
Related: How Rangers aced first real test in Stanley Cup Playoffs
Rangers prospects stand out in exciting Calder Cup Playoffs OT win
Wolf Pack celebrate Game 3 overtime win against Providence Bruins — Photo courtesy Hartford Wolf Pack
Rangers goalie prospect Dylan Garand was on top of his game once again on Wednesday. After allowing a playoff-worst six goals in a 6-0 loss in Game 2 in Providence, Garand made 33 saves in the overtime win in Game 3 at home, including 18 in the first period. The 21-year-old, a fourth-round Rangers pick in 2020, faced only one shot in overtime.
“He’s great,” Othmann said about Garand. “I’ve seen ‘G’ perform at high levels, World Juniors I played with him and he was outstanding. To know we have a guy like that back in our net … just give, not just myself but the whole team, a lot of confidence.”
The No. 1 star of the game, though, was a veteran who has 628 games of NHL experience. Nash scored Hartford’s first goal at 7:04 of the first period, assisted on Othmann’s goal and then delivered the game winner at 4:52 of overtime.
Nash deflected a Blake Hillman shot past Bruins goalie Brandon Bussi to win it for Hartford, one day before his 35th birthday.
“[Nash] built the game for us tonight,” Wolf Pack interim coach Steve Smith said. “He was tenacious early. I didn’t feel like we had a great start to the game. … We simplified our game as we went on and he was a big part of that.”
Nash leads the Wolf Pack with four goals and six points, helping them to a 4-2 record so far in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
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