Photo: JustSports/Hershey Bears

The Charlotte Checkers beat the Hershey Bears 5-2 Wednesday night at Giant Center in Hershey. With the win, the Checkers sweep the Bears 4-0 in the best-of-seven series and end the Bears 2018-2019 campaign.

STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (2-2-0-0, 2.75 GAA, .909 sv%) started between the pipes for the Bears. Alex Nedeljkovic  (5-1-0-1, 2.00 GAA, .919 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Checkers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Walker – Megna – Barber
Gersich – Pilon– Whitney
O’brien – Pinho – Malenstyn
Fejes – McCarthy – Spinner

Ness– Lewington
Geisser – Sproul
Johansen– Hobbs

Scratches:  Mike Sgarbossa and Kris Bindulis (upper body) were the injury scratches. Joe Snively (School), Jusso Ikonen, Colby Williams, Hampus Gustafsson and Bobby Nardello were the healthy scratches for Game 4.

FIRST PERIOD
The Bears struggles on the power play continued at the start of this one. Hershey was awarded an early 5-on-3 man advantage, but were unable to convert.

The Checkers would open the scoring with a goal from Aleksi Saarela at 14:25 of the first period. Charlotte’s goal was preceded by a costly turnover by Steve Whitney in the corner.

The Checkers open the scoring with a goal from Aleksi Saarela at 14:25 of the first period. pic.twitter.com/QN7srmntBa

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) May 8, 2019

The first frame would expire with the Checkers leading 1-0. Shots on goal were tied 5-5. Both teams were 0 for 2 on the power play in the 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD
The Checkers would make it 2-0 just 57 seconds into the middle frame with a power play goal from Julien Gauthier.

The Checkers make it 2-0 just 57 seconds into the middle frame with a power play goal from Julien Gauthier. pic.twitter.com/Nlw0jAO5Xk

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) May 8, 2019

The Checkers would make it 3-0 with Aleksi Saarela’s second goal of the game, a nasty wrister from the right circle.

The period would conclude with the Checkers leading 3-0. Charlotte outshot the Bears 13-5 for the second period and 19-10 after two periods. The Checkers were 1 for 2 and the Bears 0 for 3 on the power play through two periods.

THIRD PERIOD
The Checkers would stretch their lead to 4-0 with a power play goal from Tomas Jurco at 3:01 of the final frame.

The Bears would finally dent the twine with a power play goal from Jayson Megna at 5:37 of the final frame.

The Bears would cut the lead in half with a goal from Shane Gersich at 14:44 of the third period.

The Checkers would add an empty net goal from Aleksi Saarela, giving him the hat trick, and giving the Checkers the 5-2 win.

Bears salute fans as the 2018-2019 season comes to an end. pic.twitter.com/1RZ7L8dXM1

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) May 9, 2019

SHAVINGS

• Charlotte was 2 for 3 and the Bears 1 for 5 on the power play.
• Checkers outshot the Bears 23-18 for the game.
• Attendance: 7,360
• The AHL box score is here.

SCENES FROM HERSHEY

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What a fun night watching the bears even if they loss this playoff game. 🍫🐻🏒 The sweet suite seats were extra special with these colleagues and friends!

A post shared by Rousop (@rousop) on May 7, 2019 at 8:00pm PDT

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It was a night with the girls! GO BEARS!!! Regardless of the loss we still had fun ❤🐾 #gobears @thehersheybears #girlsnight #hockey #hershey #giantcenter #playoffs

A post shared by Sarah Mae 💋 (@sarahmae20) on May 7, 2019 at 7:54pm PDT

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Bears fans, this was a roller coaster of a season. We overcame adversity. We turned doubters into believers. And we put Bears hockey back on the map after a down year. You were with us for every step, and we cannot express how thankful we are. THANK YOU, FANS!

A post shared by Hershey Bears (@thehersheybears) on May 8, 2019 at 7:00pm PDT