Chris Mueller tied it late, then won it short-handed to give Hartford a 3-2 series lead going back to the XL Center. The Wolf Pack took a too-many-men penalty at 11:13 of overtime. Mueller scored 26 seconds later. Game 6 is Friday. Steve Oleksy had a couple of assists for Hershey.
Oklahoma City evened up its series with Utica with a 7-4 win at home in Game 4; Darnell Nurse had three assists in his Barons season debut. Rockford got on the board against Grand Rapids in Game 3 at home with a 4-1 win (of course Teemu Pulkkinen scored the Griffins’ goal). Stephen Johns had a goal and an assist for the IceHogs, who scored the opening goal short-handed 25 seconds into a Cody Bass first-period major. Both Western series continue Thursday.
Of course the World Championship quarterfinals are Thursday, too, with the Americans starting it off (9 a.m., NBCSN).
And RIP, Bill Guthridge.