The Hershey Bears (fifth seed) will soon find out their opponent in the Atlantic Division Semifinals.
The Bears’ second-round foe will be determined by the victor of the three-game series between the Charlotte Checkers (third seed) and the Springfield Thunderbirds (sixth seed), which concludes on Saturday night.
Charlotte blew out Springfield 8-1 in Game 1, but the Thunderbirds tied the series in Game 2, beating the Checkers 5-2. Game 3 is set for Bojangles Coliseum with puck drop at 7 pm. All three games are being played in Charlotte due to an obscure AHL playoff travel rule.
The second round of the Calder Cup divisional playoffs is reseeded with the two top teams in the Atlantic Division receiving first-round byes. The Providence Bruins (first seed) will play the worst of the advancing teams, while the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will play the higher seed.
Atlantic Division Playoff Bracket
Therefore, if Charlotte takes the series tonight, they will play the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the next round, and the Bears will play the Providence Bruins — the Atlantic Division champion during the regular season. If Springfield emerges victorious, they will play Providence, while Hershey will play the Penguins, their intra-state rival.
The Bears weren’t great against either potential opponent during the regular season, going just 1-3 against the Bruins and 3-5-2 against the Penguins. Overall, they’d likely want to see Springfield eliminate the Checkers, since they won their final two matchups of the year against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
In their four games against the Bruins, they were outscored 12-8. In their 10 games against the Penguins, they were outscored 39-25.
The second round will be a five-game series.
Hershey has been waiting since Thursday night, when they swept the Bridgeport Islanders out of their three-game series. Hershey shut out Bridgeport 2-0 in Game 1 before returning home and winning Game 2, 5-2. Andrew Cristall scored twice, including the series-winning goal.
