ALBANY — Nicolas Blanchard continues to flourish in his return to the River Rats lineup.
The left wing scored for the second consecutive game since his return from a three-game suspension, this time tallying on a shorthanded breakaway midway in the second period which wound up as the game winner as Albany shut down Hartford, 3-1 on Saturday night.
Rookie Drayson Bowman scored the game's first goal for the second straight night for the River Rats.
After Blanchard provided Albany with a 2-0 advantage, right wing Dale Weise scored on a shorthanded breakaway to draw the Wolf Pack within a goal with 7:42 remaining in the third period.
Left wing Jacob Micflikier added an empty-net goal for Albany with 2.9 seconds remaining.
Goalie Justin Peters made 19 saves to record his second straight win for the Rats. Matt Zaba finished with 26 stops for the Wolf Pack.