The Hershey Bears downed the Hartford Wolf Pack, 3-1 in game 3 of the Atlantic Division Finals Wednesday night at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. With the win the Bears sweep the best-of-five series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Wolf Pack opened the scoring late in the first period and held the 1-0 lead at the first intermission. The Bears tied the game late in the second period on Vincent Iorio‘s first postseason goal for a 1-1 tie after two periods of play.
The Bears took their first lead of the night early in the final frame on Lucas Johansen‘s first goal since October 28th and made it 3-1 a little over three minutes later on Garrett Pilon‘s second goal of the postseason. That would be the final.
LINEUP
Hunter Shepard (5-1-0, 1.82 GAA, .925 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Louis Domingue (0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 sv%) got the start in goal for the Wolf Pack. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione – Henrik Borgstrom – Ethen Frank
Joe Snively – Connor McMichael – Garrett Pilon
Aliaksei Protas – Hendrix Lapierre – Sam Anas
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Mason Morelli
Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Lucas Johansen – Vincent Iorio
Jake Massie – Logan Day
Hunter Shepard
Zach Fucale
Scratches: Mike Sgarbossa (injury), Aaron Ness (injury), Shane Gersich, Bobby Nardella, Henrik Rybinski, Matt Strome, Julian Napravnik, Bogdan Trineyev, Ludwig Persson, Dru Krebs, Alexander Suzdalev.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears and Wolf Pack skated to a scoreless draw in the first half of the first period, with Hartford leading in shots 7-3 at the midway point.
Beck Malenstyn would leave the game after catching a puck to the face near the nidway point of the opening stanza. He would return later in the period.
Beck Malenstyn catches a puck to the face. Heads to the room for repairs. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/1mPRdx7aXE
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) May 17, 2023
The Wolf Pack opened the scoring with a goal from Turner Elson (2) at 17:40 of the first period. Ryan Carpenter (3) and Anton Blidh (5) had the hepers.
Turk with the snipe 🎯 pic.twitter.com/HLUqWGoCQU
— x – Hartford Wolf Pack (@WolfPackAHL) May 17, 2023
The first period concluded with the Wolf Pack holding the 1-0 lead. Hartford led in shots 13-4.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears tied the game late in the second period on a snipe from Vincent Iorio (1) at 15:05. Mike Vecchione (1) and Henrik Borgstrom (2) had the helpers.
Vinny Iorio snipes to tie the game 1-1. It’s Iorio’s first postseason tally. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/UzqFOBA7hg
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) May 18, 2023
That would be it for the second period. The Wolf Pack led in shots, 10-6 in the second period and 23-10 after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears took their first lead of the night on Lucas Johansen‘s first goal of the postseason. Mike Vecchione had the lone assist, making a nice feed from behind the goal to setup the tally.
Mike Vecchione finds Lucas Johansen who snipes to give Bears a 2-1 lead early in third period. It’s LuJo’s first goal since October 28th. Bears blueliners have both tallies tonight. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/bKih1X9XaP
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) May 18, 2023
The Bears quickly made it 3-1 on Garrett Pilon‘s second goal of the postseason at 7:25. Connor McMichael (1) and Joe Snively (6) had the assists.
Get back, Jojo!
🍎 Vecchione pic.twitter.com/M4hLqKFcSD
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) May 18, 2023
The Bears would hold on for the 3-1 win and the 3-0 series sweep.
The Bears will face the Rochester Americans (The AHL’s two oldest teams) in the best-of-seven (2-2-1-1-1) Eastern Conference Finals beginning Tuesday in Hershey.
The Bears are now just eight wins away from their 12th Calder Cup.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 4,596
- Bears were 4 for 4 on the penalty kill.
- Hartford led in shots 34-16.
- Hunter Shepard stopped 33 of 34 for a .971 game save percentage.
- Stars of the game: 1) Hunter Shepard, 2) Mike Vecchione and 3) Turner Elson.