HARTFORD — With one goaltender rehabbing after an on-ice collapse and another called to the parent club in Boston, Mike Brown has been forced to keep the Providence Bruins afloat in net.

Brown made 26 saves as the P-Bruins topped the Hartford Wolf Pack, 3-2, last night in front of 2,931 fans at the Hartford Civic Center.

The win was the fourth of the season for Brown and helped Providence take sole possession of first place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division. The P-Bruins (12-2-1-0) lead the Wolf Pack (11-7-0-1) by two points and have four games in hand.

Brown’s play was steady in the first 30 minutes as Providence dominated Hartford. Then it was crucial in the game’s latter half. The goaltender gave up a late score with 27.7 seconds left in the game, but secured the win with a sprawling save with less than 10 seconds to go.

“It’s not fun,” said Brown, “but at the same time, you can’t panic.”

Jeff Hoggan slipped a wrister past Hartford goalie Chris Holt to put Providence up, 3-1, 1:31 into a tense third period. Hartford then appeared to get within a goal when Andrew Hutchinson’s slap shot got past Brown. But Hartford’s Dane Byers was called for goalie interference and it was disallowed.

Still, Pierre Parenteau’s slap shot from the point made it 3-2 at 19:33 and Brown was forced to save the game late.

David Krejci took a centering feed from T.J. Trevelyan to take a 1-0 advantage at 17:26 of the first. It was Krejci’s sixth goal of the season, tying him for the team lead.

In the second, Byron Bitz’s second score of the season gave Providence a two-goal cushion at 3:15 when he knocked in a rebound from Matt Hendricks.