Ethen Frank is having a postseason to remember.
Frank scored his 10th goal of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs after beating Coachella Valley Firebirds goaltender Chris Driedger from virtually no angle.
After taking a pass from Hendrix Lapierre, Frank peeled down the right wing with speed and put a hard shot on goal. Driedger, who has been leaky in the series, allowed the puck to clang off his skate and in.
Frank’s goal gave the Bears a 1-0 lead with 1:23 to play in the first.
The tally ties Frank for the league lead in playoff goals with Milwaukee Admirals’ forward Zach L’Heureux (10). The Admirals were eliminated by the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the Western Conference Finals.
With the primary assist, Lapierre has a league-leading 18 points (5g, 13a) in 18 games.
Frank’s performance in the playoffs comes a year after scuffling and being healthy-scratched by Todd Nelson for four games in the 2023 postseason. The Papillion, NE native scored in seven consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Hershey’s history. Frank has tied the franchise record for the most game-winning goals in a postseason (4) and is the first Hershey player in 50 years to score three consecutive game-winners.
Per the Bears’ Jesse Liebman, Frank is Hershey’s first double-digit goal-scorer since 2010 when Alex Giroux scored 14 and Andrew Gordon lit the lamp 13 times. Frank is now in a seven-way tie for the 10th-most goals in a single playoff year in franchise history.
