The Hershey Bears would not let the Coachella Valley Firebirds take two games from them at Giant Center as they came up with a huge 5-2 victory in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals on Sunday evening. Hershey handed the Firebirds only their second loss of this postseason.
Ivan Miroshnichenko, Jimmy Huntington, Pierrick Dubé, and Hardy Häman Aktell all added to their postseason goal totals in the win. Hunter Shepard was tested early and often, making 32 saves in his first Calder Cup Finals victory since last year’s Game 7.
Miroshnichenko grabbed his seventh goal of the playoffs just 5:51 into the first period to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. Hershey has struck first in both games of the series so far.
The young, Russian winger ranks second on the Bears in goal-scoring behind Ethen Frank (9).
Coachella Valley struck first in the second period just 2:42 into in the frame through Luke Henman. Henman beat Shepard with a quick wrist shot for his first goal of the playoffs.
After going without a shot for 12 minutes and 33 seconds, the Bears finally woke from their hibernation as Firebirds netminder Chris Driedger made a mistake behind his own net. Alex Limoges pounced on the golden opportunity and fed Huntington in front for an easy one.
Huntington grabbed his third of the playoffs after going five games without finding the back of the net.
Hershey wasn’t done there as just 3:41 later, Huntington skated into the Coachella Valley zone on a two-on-one with Dubé. After fumbling his first pass attempt, Huntington was able to slide the puck to Dubé for the finish at the far post.
Dubé was sent flying into the boards after scoring his third goal in five games.
Marian Studenic cut the Bears lead to one with a goal just 17 seconds into the third period.
Häman Aktell put Hershey back up two tallies with a one-time blast off of an offensive-zone faceoff win from Mike Vecchione. The big Swede has goals in both games to start the series against Coachella Valley.
Häman Aktell added another into an empty net from his own zone with just 11 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Bears were again without key defensemen Aaron Ness, Vincent Iorio, and Lucas Johansen. Garrett Roe, who scored the overtime goal to send Hershey to the Cup Finals, was also out due to the injury that forced him out of Game 1 early.
Matt Strome jumped back into the lineup on the team’s fourth line which sent Henrik Rybinski up a line to center Miroshnichenko and Vecchione. Limoges, Huntington, and Vecchione picked up multi-point nights in a game where the Bears’ top line didn’t get on the scoresheet.
The series will now head to California for the next three games. Hershey needs to win at least one of those games for Giant Center to see another playoff game this year.
Here are Hershey’s lines from the win:
Projected lineup for Game 2! 📝
Catch the broadcast:
📺 @NHLNetwork, @fox43.2 (Antenna TV), @MonSportsNet (DC region)
🖥️ https://t.co/HaxQBmLCRZ
📻 @FroggyValley, @foxsports1460am, @CapitalsRadio pic.twitter.com/gAVUv94f8a— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) June 16, 2024
