Friday night, the Hershey Bears fell 2-1 to the Providence Bruins in the Atlantic Division Finals. The second-round series is now tied at two games apiece.
The Bruins struck first shortly after the start of the second period when Alex Grant capitalized on the power play with a quick wrist shot from the right wing. The goal marked the first time that the Bruins have been able to score while on the man advantage in the series, despite having had eleven power plays prior.
Just three minutes after the Bruins scored the first goal, Dustin Gazley responded with a slapper from near the blue line off a pass from Christian Djoos. The equalizing goal marks Gazley’s first tally of the playoffs.
Dustin Gazley evens things up in Providence with his first goal of the postseason. #HERvsPRO pic.twitter.com/UuCjhTXNK3
— AHL (@TheAHL) May 13, 2017
The Bruins regained their lead and registered the GWG with 41 seconds left in the second period when Providence’s Chris Porter scored on the power play amidst confusion in front of the net. Pheonix Copley attempted a cross-crease save that left him falling to the ice in pain, allowing the Bruins to score. Copley, who had registered 39 saves the night prior in the Bears’ win, required assistance getting off the ice after the goal and did not return to the game, suffering from a lower-body injury. He was replaced by Vitek Vanecek, who finished the game with nine saves in his first Calder Cup playoffs appearance. Meanwhile, Hershey struggled to get a mere three shots on goal in the remainder of the game.
After being outshot 40-15 in Game Three, the Bears once again had a meager number of shots on goal. Registering only 11 shots to the Bruins’ 39, the Bears tied their regular season record for least shots on goal during the game. Still, despite this and the overall loss, Bears’ captain Garrett Mitchell remained unconcerned after the game, saying “There’s no panic in that room, for sure.”
The loss marked Garrett Pilon’s first game with the Bears. The eighteen year old recently signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Bears after playing most of the season with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, where he scored 20 goals and registered 45 assists.
👇 That's @gpilon41. He's making his pro debut tonight. #HERvsPRO pic.twitter.com/4rC0kd4Pkf
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) May 12, 2017
The Bears will face off against the Bruins again on Sunday night, where Hershey will look to reclaim a series lead in their quest for the Calder Cup.
More from the Bears:
The Providence Bruins scored a 2-1 victory over the Hershey Bears in Game 4 of the Atlantic Division Finals on Friday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Bruins’ victory tied the best-of-seven series, 2-2, with Game 5 Sunday afternoon in Providence.
All three goals on Friday came in the second period. The Bruins opened the scoring for the second straight evening, striking at 2:04 of the middle frame. Providence’s Alex Grant scored on the power play, beating Hershey’s Pheonix Copley over the blocker with a wrist shot from the right wing to make it 1-0. The goal was Providence’s first power play marker of the series. The Bruins were 0-for-11 on the man advantage coming into tonight’s game.
Hershey responded quickly. Dustin Gazley tallied his first goal of the playoffs at 5:51 to tie the score, 1-1. Hershey defender Christian Djoos got the puck at the point and snapped a shot towards the goal. Gazley redirected the puck between the legs of Providence’s Zane McIntyre to quiet the crowd of 5,611.
Providence would score the game-winning goal at 19:18 of the second period. After a mad scramble in front, the puck came behind the goal to Providence’s Noel Acciari. With Copley down, Acciari centered a pass to Chris Porter. The Bruins’ forward scored on his second swipe at the puck to make it 2-1.
On the play, Copley was shaken up. The goaltender was helped off the ice and exited the game after stopping 28 shots. Vitek Vanecek took over in goal for Hershey.
Vanecek, who was making his Calder Cup Playoffs debut, gave Hershey a chance to equalize, stopping all nine shots he faced in his 18:48 of action. However, Hershey failed to tie the game, and were outshot 39-11 in the loss. The 11-shots ties Hershey’s season low during the regular season, set in a loss at Albany on Nov. 11.
Providence was 1-for-3 on the power play. Hershey was 0-for-1.
With tonight’s result, Game 6 of the Atlantic Division Finals will be necessary. That contest will be played in Hershey at the Giant Center on Tuesday, May 16 at 7 p.m.
Headline Image via @TheHersheyBears
