BELLEVILLE, Ontario (Interstat) — The Hartford Wolf Pack will visit the Belleville Senators in minor league hockey action on Friday, with both clubs looking to gain traction in the early portion of the season.

Hartford enters with a 4-7 record. The Wolf Pack dropped their most recent game, falling 5-4 in overtime at Hamilton. Matthew Robertson scored once and recorded four shots on goal in that contest, while Jaroslav Chmelař added a goal and two shots and Brody Lamb contributed a goal, three shots and two penalty minutes. Robertson, a defenseman, has one goal, one assist, seven shots on goal and four penalty minutes in his recent appearances, including a four-shot performance in the overtime loss. Hartford has mixed encouraging defensive efforts with difficult offensive nights, with a 2-0 win at Providence and a 2-0 home victory against Providence among the brighter results. The Wolf Pack also have losses to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Charlotte, Lehigh Valley, Laval and Hamilton.

Belleville enters with a 4-6 record. The Senators are coming off a 2-0 loss at Lehigh Valley. Christian Kyrou recorded two shots on goal in that game, while Phil Tomasino had two shots and two penalty minutes and Tyler Boucher registered three shots. Kyrou, a defenseman, has five assists and 10 shots on goal in his recent appearances. Belleville has shown the ability to score in bunches this season, including a seven-goal output at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but the Senators have also been hurt by one-goal and overtime defeats. Their recent results include losses to Lehigh Valley and Hershey, as well as an overtime setback against Toronto and a home overtime loss to Laval. Belleville will look to Kyrou to help generate chances from the back end and support a forward group that has produced mixed results.

The matchup features two teams still searching for consistency. Hartford’s Robertson and Belleville’s Kyrou are the players to watch, with each capable of creating offense from the defense position. Hartford will try to use its recent overtime effort as a building block, while Belleville will aim to bounce back after being shut out in its most recent outing.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Belleville 3, Hartford 2. Interstat’s ELO system gives Belleville a 57.3 percent probability to win. Hartford has been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The over/under for this game is 6.