Photo: Jacob Kupferman/Charlotte Checkers
The Hershey Bears are heading home on Sunday with a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinal series with the Charlotte Checkers following Saturday night’s 5-1 victory in Charlotte. The victory capped a very successful weekend in the Queen City for the Bears, who outscored the Checkers 10-3 in the two-game set.
One look at the Bears healthy scratches for both games (they went with same lineup both nights) and it’s easy to conclude the Bears have a very deep roster in this year’s postseason run. Here are the scratches for games one and two:
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. That’s a decent team in and of itself.
So with all of that talent watching from the press box, where is the offense coming from? It’s been the Bears middle six forwards, with the second line recording nine points and the third line posting eight points (17 of the 23 points by forwards – 74%).
Mike Vecchione (1) – Mike Sgarbossa (2) – Ethen Frank (1)
Joe Snively (3) – Connor McMichael (2) – Garrett Pilon (4)
Aliaksei Protas (3) – Hendrix Lappiere (2) – Sam Anas (3)
Beck Malenstyn (0) -Riley Sutter (1) – Mason Morelli (1)
Bears head coach Todd Nelson has constructed the second and third lines with young, less-experienced, but talented forwards, and anchored each line with a seasoned vet on the right side. The formula has worked well so far in the series.
It should also be noted that goaltender Hunter Shepard has also (unsurprisingly) been excellent in goal, playing both games and stopping 41 of 44 for a .932 save percentage in Charlotte.
The series now shifts to Hershey for Game 3 on Wednesday night with the Bears needing just one win in the next three (potential) games in chocolate town to advance.
By Jon Sorensen