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Welllll, hello there, everybody — this is Mel Allen, and how about that! We had ourselves a barnburner of a ballgame at UBS Arena this afternoon as the Hartford Whalers and the Long Island Islanders gave us twelve innings of good old-fashioned drama before Hartford came out on top, 7–6.
It all started early, folks. Hartford came out swinging in the top of the first with a couple of runs — but Long Island answered right back with three of their own. From there, it was back-and-forth action the likes of which you could bottle and save for a rainy day.
And the star of the show? None other than catcher Mike Zuke. The big fella put on quite a display — three hits in five trips, including a towering home run in the third inning that had folks in the mezzanine leaning back to catch it. Add in a double, a walk, two runs scored, and three driven in… and you’ve got yourself a ballplayer who flat-out delivered when it counted.
But let’s not forget third baseman Gianfrancesco Arriola — a name that’ll roll off the tongues of Whalers fans for a while after this one. Four hits, including two doubles, and most importantly… the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the twelfth inning. When the dust settled, Hartford had the lead they’d been chasing all afternoon.
The Islanders gave it everything they had, with Vinnie Hixson providing the fireworks — a triple early, a solo homer later, and a couple of fine defensive plays up the middle. And oh, what a game for Mike Bossy, too, driving in a run and keeping his club right in it. But when Hartford’s bullpen slammed the door shut with five innings of no-hit relief from Ruiz and Bujanda, the Islanders ran out of answers.
And so, after four hours and thirty-one minutes of edge-of-your-seat baseball, the Hartford Whalers walk away winners, 7–6, cutting the Islanders’ series lead to 2–1.
Tomorrow, they’ll be right back here at UBS Arena for Game 4 — and if it’s anything like this one, well, baseball fans, you’re in for a treat.
This is Mel Allen saying, how about that! — we’ll see you at the ballpark.
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