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Bears shut out again by Joey Daccord, face 2-0 deficit in Calder Cup Finals

By Ian Oland

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June 11, 2023 12:33 am

The Hershey Bears will return home facing a 2-0 series deficit in the Calder Cup Finals after having no answers for the Coachella Valley Firebirds in southern California.

The Firebirds defeated the Bears 4-0 in Game Two after a huge second period in which Coachella Valley scored four times on 13 shots.

Hershey will play the next three games at home at Giant Center as they try to claw back into the series.

The Bears began the game well enough, outshooting the Firebirds 15 to 5 and hitting the post three different times. Ethen Frank, who returned to the lineup, took a penalty and drew a penalty in the period.

The game however turned quickly in the second after Carsen Twarynski was awarded a penalty shot by officials at the 3:46 mark. Twarynski was stopped by Bears’ goaltender Hunter Shepard on the attempt, but instead of the Bears gaining momentum, the Firebirds took complete control of the game.

With Dylan McIlrath in the box, Jesper Froden scored on a knuckler during the resulting power play to put Coachella Valley up 1-0 at the 5:08 mark. The PPG came on Coachella Valley’s fourth man advantage in the first 25 mins of the game

Austin Poganski scored 1:14 minute later after the Bears got lost in coverage in the defensive zone with three players collapsing on the same player behind the net. When the puck was passed into the high slot, Joe Snively was caught looking the wrong way. Poganski stepped around him to beat Shepard to the far side of the net.

Coachella Valley’s third goal came on an unfortunate play where Lucas Johansen deflected a Ryker Evans over the out-stretched glove of Shepard. The goal came at the 11:55 mark.

Cameron Hughes scored on a breakaway after walking Gabriel Carlsson in the middle of the ice and with McIlrath again in the penalty box. The Bears’ captain took four of Hershey’s eight minors in the first two periods of play.

The victory marked Joey Daccord’s second straight shutout and his third of the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs. He’s stopped all 58 Bears’ shots in the series and made 33 saves for the victory in Game Two. The Firebirds have out-scored the Bears 9-0 in the first two games.

Notes: Saturday’s loss marked the first time the Hershey Bears have lost consecutive games in the 2023 postseason. The losses are Hershey’s first on the road this playoff year. Dylan McIlrath had a game high 18 PIMs after taking a 10-minute misconduct at the end of the third period. The game marked the third straight night the Hershey Bears have been shutout in the Calder Cup Finals stretching back to their 1-0 Game Four loss to the eventual 2016 champion Lake Erie Monsters. After losing the first two games in Coachella Valley, the Hershey Bears have lost the chance to potentially lift the Calder Cup in Hershey as the next three games of the seven-game series are at Giant Center. Tickets for Games Three, Four, and Five are limited per Zack Fisch.

Headline photo: Kyle Mace/Hershey Bears

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