Jimmy Huntington scored one of the biggest goals of his career, Saturday.
With the Hershey Bears down 1-0 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Huntington took a pass from Pierrick Dubé and found the back of the net with 1.3 seconds remaining in the first period to tie Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals.
After his initial shot, a one-timer, was stopped, Huntington found the rebound in his skates and beat Coachella Valley Firebirds goaltender Chris Driedger to the short side.
Zack Fisch, the voice of the Bears, had an incredible call on the telecast.
“One last rush, five seconds left,” Fisch began. “Limoges to Dube down the right wing. Bobbling puck in front. Huntington. Save made. REBOUND SCOARRRRRR!!!! SCORE! A BUZZER BEATER! HUNTINGTON IN THE FINAL SECOND!”
The goal marked Huntington’s second goal in five Calder Cup Finals games after having two in his previous 14.
Bears’ second-line players of Limoges-Huntington-Dubé have scored four different times in the championship series. Three of the tallies have come at even strength where the Bears have only 10 total goals through five games.
“Hey, we play til the last whistle, right?” Huntington said to FOX43’s Todd Sadowski at intermission. “A great play Prisk (Chase Priskie) pushing up the puck. Great play by Limo (Alex Limoges). Great play by Dubes (Pierrick Dubé) after. You know what? We’re just hanging around, man. We’re just hanging around.”
Huntington is coming up big after signing an AHL contract with the Bears over the offseason. He previously spent four seasons with the Milwaukee Admirals and Syracuse Crunch.
The fiery 25-year-old pivot tallied 33 points (16g, 17a) in his first season for the Bears, including five game-winning goals — tied for fourth-most on the team.
The Laval, Quebec native helped Milwaukee reach the Western Conference Finals last season. This is the first time he’s played in the Calder Cup Finals.
“We just right in it,” Huntington said. “We just gotta keep going.”
Update: Huntington scored with 3:15 remaining to give the Bears a 3-2 victory.
