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Connor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre and Aliaksei Protas Score In Bears 5-2 Win Over Checkers

Jon Sorensen
Photo: Jacob Kupferman/Charlotte Checkers

The Hershey Bears downed the Charlotte Checkers, 5-2 Friday night at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The victory gives the Bears a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five Atlantic Division semifinal series with the Checkers.

After a sloppy start, the Bears slowly began to dial it in and ultimately opened the scoring late in the first period with a tally from Mike Vecchione. The Bears made it 2-0 just two-and-a-half minutes later with a strike from Aliaksei Protas for a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.

The Bears quickly made it 4-0 early in the second period on goals from Hendrix Lapierre and Connor McMichael before the Checkers finally scored on a power play early in the middle frame to make it 4-1, the score at the second intermission.

The Checkers closed the gap to 4-2 midway through the final frame but were unable to draw any closer. Mike Sgarbossa added an empty net goal for the 5-2 win.

LINEUP

Hunter Shepard (20-8-5-1, 2.18 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Mack Guzda (16-9-3-1, 2.88 GAA, .897 sv%) got the start in goal for the Checkers. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Mike Vecchione – Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Joe Snively – Connor McMichael – Garrett Pilon
Aliaksei Protas – Hendrix Lapierre – Sam Anas
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Mason Morelli

Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Lucas Johansen – Vincent Iorio

Hunter Shepard
Zach Fucale

Scratches: Shane Gersich, Henrik Borgstrom, Henrik Rybinski, Matt Strome, Bobby Nardella, Bogdan Trineyev, Julian Napravnik, Jake Massie, Ludwig Persson, Dru Krebs, Alexander Suzdalev and Garin Bjorklund.

FIRST PERIOD

After a sloppy start, the Bears ultimately opened the scoring late in the first period. Mike Sgarbossa rifled a shot from the left side, which was redirected by Mike Vecchione for the series’ first tally at 14:12. Mike Sgarbossa (1) and Gabriel Carlsson (1) had the assists.

The Bears quickly made it 2-0 on a close-range strike from Aliaksei Protas at 16:43 of the first period. Sam Anas (1) and Hendrix Lapierre (1) had the helpers.

The first frame concluded with the Bears holding the 2-0 lead. The Bears also led in shots, 6-5. Charlotte was 0 for 1 on the power play while the Bears did not have a man advantage in the first 20.

SECOND PERIOD

The Bears quickly made it 3-0 on a goal from Hendrix Lapierre at 2:06 of the second period. Lapierre made a centering pass to Aliaksei Protas but the pass was redirected off the skate of a Checkers defenseman for the score. Sam Anas (2) and Vincent Iorio (1) had the assists.

The Checkers pulled Mack Guzda immediately following the Lapierre tally. He was replaced by J.F. Berube.

Connor McMichael quickly made it 4-0 less than two minutes later. Garrett Pilon (1) and Lucas Johansen (1) had the assists.

The Checkers finally got on the scoreboard with a power play goal from Lucas Carlsson (3) at 5:42. Aleksi Heponiemi (6) and Mackie Samoskevich (3) had the assists.

The second frame concluded with the Bears holding a 4-1 lead. Hershey led in shots 9-6 in the second period and 15-11 after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Checkers closed the gap to 4-2 midway through the final frame on a tally from Santtu Kinnunen (2) at 8:52. Riley Nash (1) had the lone assist.

The Checkers pulled J.F. Berube with three minutes remaining and the Bears’ Gabriel Carlsson was called for holding with 2:33 remaining giving the Checkers a 6-on-4 advantage. But the Checkers were called for interference with 52 seconds remaining, nullifying the 6-on-4 advantage.

Mike Sgarbossa added an empty net goal for the 5-2 win.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Saturday night in Charlotte. Puck drop is set for 6PM.

SHAVINGS

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