Home / News / Hershey Bears headed to Calder Cup Playoffs for 69th time in franchise history after Brett Leason overtime goal

Hershey Bears headed to Calder Cup Playoffs for 69th time in franchise history after Brett Leason overtime goal

By Chris Cerullo

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April 23, 2022 11:00 am

The Hershey Bears secured their very nice spot in the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Friday.

Washington Capitals prospect Brett Leason scored the clinching goal in the extra frame. Bobby Nardella, Aliaksei Protas, and Lucas Johansen had the other three markers for the Bears.

The Bears will be joined by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Bridgeport, Charlotte, Springfield, and Providence in the Atlantic Division playoff field. The top two teams in the division will get a bye into the division semifinals, while the third through sixth-place teams will square off in a best-of-three first-round series.

Once the Atlantic divisional playoff final is finished, the winner will take on the North divisional playoff final winner to see who gets to head to the Calder Cup Final.

This is the thirteenth time Hershey will be going to the playoffs in the AHL since beginning their affiliation with the Capitals in the 2005-06 season.

Here’s the full press release on the game from the Bears:

Bears clinch playoff spot with overtime win in Allentown

The Hershey Bears clinched a spot in the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday night at the PPL Center. The win was Hershey’s first in Allentown this season in seven tries. The Bears record sits at 34-30-6-4 with two games left in the regular season.

Friday’s game featured an entertaining first minute of action. Just seconds into the game, Lehigh Valley’s Garrett Wilson and Hershey’s Dylan McIlrath engaged in a heavyweight fight. Moments later, Max Willman started the scoring, striking on Lehigh Valley’s first shot of the game for his 11th goal of the season, making it 1-0 Phantoms just 36 seconds into the contest.

Hershey would respond later in the frame to break a long scoreless drought. Celebrating his 26th birthday, defenseman Bobby Nardella tallied his 6th goal of the season at 10:21 to tie the game, 1-1. Nardella drove in over the blue line and dished a pass to Garrett Pilon, and the forward gave it right back, allowing Nardella to tip the puck over Lehigh Valley goaltender Felix Sandstrom’s blocker. The goal snapped Hershey’s scoreless drought at 141:32.

Hershey grabbed a 2-1 lead at 10:23 of the middle frame as Aliaksei Protas connected for his 8th goal of the season. As Hershey rushed in over the blue line, Protas accepted a pass in the far circle and snapped a shot over Sandstrom’s right pad to pull Hershey in front.

Directly after the goal, Lehigh Valley’s Tanner Laczynski responded, striking off a turnover from the slot to make it 2-2. That’s where the game stood heading into the third period, with Hershey holding the Phantoms to just 10 shots through 40 minutes.

The teams traded goals in the third period as Lucas Johansen gave Hershey the lead at 6:03. After a Protas faceoff win, Johansen’s shot found its way through traffic to elude Sandstrom and make it 3-2 Hershey. The goal was Johansen’s 8th of the season. Only 57 seconds later, Wilson tied the game for the Phantoms, deflecting an Adam Clendening shot past Hershey goaltender Pheonix Copley to make it 3-3.

The game progressed to overtime where Leason played hero. The forward dashed in on an odd-man rush and elected to take the puck to the net. His initial chance was broken up, but he got the puck back and roofed a shot over Sandstrom to give Hershey it’s 10th overtime win of the season.

Shots favored Hershey, 31-16. The Bears were 0-for-2 on the power play while the Phantoms were 0-for-1.

The Bears return to action tomorrow night at GIANT Center versus the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at 7 p.m. It’s Yuengling Takeover Night, and ticket information is available at HersheyBears.com.

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB

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