The Hershey Bears are moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals after their 4-1 win on Wednesday night. The Bears took out the Hartford Wolf Pack in just three games for the second consecutive season in the Atlantic Division Finals.
Hershey earned the victory despite going into the first intermission down 1-0. The Bears got two goals from Vienna, Virginia native Garrett Roe and 17 saves from goaltender Hunter Shepard to power them into the next round.
Hartford got on the board first through Czech forward Jaroslav Chmelar. The big forward was left alone in front of Shepard and went from backhand to forehand for the finish.
Hershey responded less than two minutes into the second period. After Ivan Miroshnichenko had his shot blocked, the puck ricocheted right to defenseman Chase Priskie who fed his partner Hardy Häman Aktell at the other offensive point. Häman Aktell fired a shot pass right onto Roe’s tape for a deft deflection past Wolf Pack netminder Dylan Garand.
Roe struck again just over five minutes later as he broke in on a two-on-one advantage with Priskie. His pass attempt was blocked by the sliding Wolf Pack defender but ended up bouncing right back to him. He slipped a quick backhand past Garand to give Hershey the lead.
Roe’s last two-goal game came on March 23, 2013, with the Adirondack Phantoms.
The Bears had a chance to go up two goals before the second intermission when Bogdan Trineyev was awarded a penalty shot. Trineyev unfortunately fumbled the puck twice and was unable to get a shot away on Garand.
Matt Strome successfully put Hershey up two goals in the third period after he slammed home a pass from Henrik Rybinski behind the Wolf Pack net. The fourth line got the last few seconds of a power play opportunity and made no mistake with their chance.
Mike Vecchione added an empty-net goal to seal the deal.
Shepard earned the win, grabbing his sixth of the postseason in seven games. Priskie earned assists on both of Roe’s goals and Miroshnichenko continued his hot streak with another playoff point.
The Bears now await the winner of the North Division Finals between the Syracuse Crunch and Cleveland Monsters.
Here are Hershey’s lines from their win. Ethen Frank was a late scratch and Matthew Phillips took his place on the top line. Vincent Iorio made his playoff debut, returning from injury.
Projected lineup for Game 3! 📝
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