HERSHEY, PA — Mike Vecchione scored another huge playoff overtime goal, but he wouldn’t have had to on a cleaner night for the Hershey Bears.
With 11:17 left in the third period, the Bears were sitting pretty after taking a commanding 4-2 lead over the Cleveland Monsters in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Hendrix Lapierre netted a power-play goal giving Hershey much-needed insurance.
Winners of six of their first seven playoff games and after a historically good regular season, the Bears seemed destined to close things out. A slice of the Giant Center crowd certainly believed so, heading for the exits as the final minutes waned and seemingly sure of the result. But Hershey uncharacteristically sputtered in an off night for their playoff MVP goaltender, Hunter Shepard.
With under two minutes remaining, the Monsters scored twice in one minute and three seconds. Trey Fix-Wolansky scored first on the power play, sending a tricky shot to the far post that surprised Shepard.
Then, shortly after Shepard tried to score a goalie goal that was caught by the Monsters in neutral, David Jiricek wheeled into the offensive zone and beat the screened netminder, tying the game 4-4.
The Bears retreated to the locker room stunned.
“I just told the guys, ‘Be ready for the first five minutes,'” Bears head coach Todd Nelson recalled saying in the locker room. “Sometimes, a lot of times in overtime, things happen real quick. Like you think you’re going into a fourth period and [are going to] just play it out; sometimes [the game-winner] happens real quick.”
The Monsters took it to the Bears early in overtime, but Hershey weathered the storm. Then, the club’s third line, consisting of Ivan Miroshnichenko, Garrett Roe, and Mike Vecchione, wrestled the momentum back. During one impactful overtime shift, Miroshnichenko registered what seemed like nearly a half-dozen shot attempts on Cleveland’s net, commanding the puck in the offensive zone.
“That line was good for us,” Nelson said. “That one shift we had where Miro was buzzing around there. And he had some good chances. That kind of sparked us and got us going a bit.”
On Vecchione’s next shift, the Bears legend ended the game, turning defense into offense. After winning the puck along the side boards, Vecchione broke the Bears out on a three-on-one break. The Saugus, Massachusetts native then finished the play, firing the puck past Monsters goaltender Jet Greaves.
Vecchione did his iconic ROAR celebration and jumped into Dylan McIlrath’s arms. The Bears mobbed him along the boards as the remaining fans cheered wildly.
“I was trying to get it out (of the zone) and knocked off somebody,” Vecchione said. “I think they stepped and just whacked it up to [Alex Limoges]. Saw Jimmy (Huntington) going, I got my boots going north and just played catch with Limo a little bit. And you see the D trying to keep it on one side, but once I got it, the weak side was wide open and that was it.”
The overtime-winner in the Eastern Conference Finals was Vecchione’s first sudden-death playoff goal since winning the Calder Cup for the Bears in 2023. Vecchione found the back of the net in overtime of that Game 7, writing his name into the AHL history books forever.
“I think he relishes the pressure,” Nelson said. “I thought he played well tonight. He’s been working hard. He’s just one of those guys, certain players rise to the occasion in overtime and he’s one of them.”
Vecchione has a broad skillset as a player; he’s crafty along the boards, sneaky with his speed, and the owner of a heavy, accurate shot. He’s also a leader in the locker room, serving as an egoless alternate captain. Despite being a Hobey Baker Award finalist in 2017, Vecchione is willing to fulfill any role necessary to win. After spending much of the last two seasons as a fixture on the Bears’ first line, Vecchione has been a major part of the third line’s emergence as the three players have scored 10 goals combined in the last five games.
“Just staying ready,” Vecchione said when asked what his keys to success are in big moments. “Things aren’t going to be easy: it’s playoffs. Couple bad bounces and next thing you know it’s tied up. We were in that position last year when Coachella did the same thing and we ended up scoring, so. It’s just a lot of resilience in the locker room, a lot of positive attitude, and just a lot of belief. We’ve been in plenty of overtime games throughout the season and it’s good that we face a little adversity at the end there and show we’re kind of taking control.
“I just really like the attitude in the locker room, the belief, positivity, all that stuff. It really goes a long way.”
In what could have been a devastating loss, the Bears rebounded in overtime and will now look to take a 2-0 series lead on Saturday at Giant Center.
“We got the job done,” Nelson said. “But we have to talk about it as a group. I’m glad that we went through it. I’m glad that we got the win. That’s a good hockey team we’re playing. They’re not going to quit.”
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