Home / News / Todd Nelson calls Hershey’s Game One blowout loss a wake-up call: ‘We can’t cry over spilt milk’

Todd Nelson calls Hershey’s Game One blowout loss a wake-up call: ‘We can’t cry over spilt milk’

By Ian Oland

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May 24, 2023 5:41 pm

HERSHEY, PA — Coming into Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hershey Bears had won six of their seven games in the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs, defeating the Charlotte Checkers in four games and sweeping the Hartford Wolf Pack in three in the Atlantic Division Finals. The only game Hershey lost, Game Three of their opening round, was a 2-1 squeaker against the Checkers.

Tuesday, the Bears’ cakewalk to the Calder Cup Finals officially ended as they had the brakes beaten off of them in front of their home fans by the Rochester Americans, 5-1.

In their march to the ECF, the talented and fast Amerks scored the second-most goals (38) and posted the second-best goals differential (+12) in the Calder Cup playoffs after finishing the regular season with only the East’s eighth-best record. Their victory against Hershey was their seventh straight win overall in the playoffs.

Game One began ominously as Bears fans were still making their way to their seats. Amerks defenseman Joseph Cecconi joined the play and fired a shot through Gabriel Carlsson’s legs, beating Bears’ goaltender Hunter Shepard clean 14 seconds into the game.

“It was a tough start,” Nelson said. “They score [14] seconds into the game and we talked about how they’re good off the rush, well, you guys saw that tonight, right? If we don’t finish on top of their defenseman, they’ll be joining the play all night. That’s part of the scouting report but I guess reality [had to] check in with our guys to understand how they play. They’re a good hockey team and they played well tonight. It’s going to be a battle against this team.”

Rochester added another goal eight minutes and 50 seconds later, after a no-look pass from Michael Mersch in Hershey’s crease gave Brett Murray a layup. Mike Vecchione lost Murray in coverage as Michael Davies weaved through the Bears defense.

The Amerks added two more goals in the second period: Matt Bartkowski scored from the point after the Bears again got lost in coverage and Mason Jobst scored on a two-on-one as Shepard sat deep in net.

Shepard was pulled after surrendering more than two goals for the first time all season for Zach Fucale. The Amerks added an empty-netter late in the third to leave the ice victorious 5-1.

“We can’t cry over spilled milk,” Nelson said. “We have to go and prepare ourselves to get Game Two on Thursday. I’m sure they’ll be coming out just as hungry if not hungrier because they want to put us in a pretty deep hole. You have to win games on the road to win a series. That’s just the way it is. We’ll just take it game by game. Focus on what we need to work on or talk about [Wednesday at practice]. There will be a clean slate on Thursday and away we go.”

There were some rare positives. Aaron Ness scored in his return from injury after missing the last four games. Garrett Pilon led all skaters with five shots on goal after the second line created many of the team’s dangerous changes on the night.

“Some positive things that we saw was when we cycled the puck in the O-zone that we can have possession time and get them worn out,” Nelson added. “I thought Lapierre had his feet going tonight. He had his legs. This is a fast team that we’re playing against. They’re quick and Lappy is one of the guys that can keep up with them.”

But the Bears struggled to pepper Amerks goaltender Malcolm Subban with shots, posting only nine in the first, eight in the second, and five in the third periods for 22 overall on the night.

“We have to get pucks on the net, first and foremost,” Nelson said. “They did a really good job of packing it in and getting into shot lanes. I know the crowd is yelling ‘Shoot’, but sometimes if you shoot, you’ll shoot right into their pads. You have to create some shot lanes.

“It’s a mentality. I’ve been telling the guys, ‘You guys have been double clutching the puck and you’re not getting pucks to the net.’ We have to get more pucks to the net. We have to win the netfront battles. It’s playoff hockey. It’s not going to be easy.”

To win their 12th Calder Cup, the Bears will have to overcome adversity for the first time since the regular season.

“I think every time our team did face it, we got stronger,” Nelson said. “It’s a wake-up call, for sure. We knew it was going to be tough.”

“They’re a great team,” Ness added. “There’s a reason they’re here. There’s a reason all these last four teams are here. There’s a winning recipe and they got a lot of speed all over their lineup and their goalie was playing very well. They’re going to be a tough team to beat. We know that and we’ll see what happens next game.”

Headline photo: Ian Oland/RMNB

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