Hershey Bears

Coachella Valley Firebirds Continue Dominance In The Desert, Down Hershey Bears, 5-2 To Force Decisive Game 7

By Jon Sorensen·
Photo: Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds

The Coachella Valley Firebirds downed the Hershey Bears 5-2 in game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals Monday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California. With the win, the Firebirds even the best-of-seven series at three games apiece, with a decisive game 7 set for Wednesday night in Palm Desert.

The Bears opened the scoring less than two minutes into game 6 with a tally from Connor McMichael, his first goal of the series and the Bears first goal at Acrisure Arena. But it was all Firebirds for the remainder of the period, getting goals from Max McCormick, John Hayden and Cameron Hughes for a 3-1 lead at the first intermission.

The Bears cut the Firebirds lead to one with a goal from Beck Malenstyn less than four minutes into the middle frame but the Firebirds answered with a power play goal midway through the frame to restore their two-goal advantage and held the 4-2 lead after two periods of play.

Coachella Valley added a fifth goal early in the final frame, chasing Hunter Shepard from the game. The Firebirds would lock it down for the 5-2 win.

LINEUP

Hunter Shepard (13-5, 2.14 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Joey Daccord (14-10, 2.22 GAA, .927 sv%) got the start in goal for the Firebirds. 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

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

Hunter Shepard
Zach Fucale

Scratches: Mike Sgarbossa (injury), Bobby Nardella, Jake Massie, Shane Gersich, Henrik Rybinski, Matt Strome, Julian Napravnik, Bogdan Trineyev, Ludwig Persson, Dru Krebs, Alexander Suzdalev.

FIRST PERIOD

The Bears opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game. Connor McMichael (5) notched his first tally of the series at 1:31, assisted by Joe Snively (12) and Lucas Johansen (4). The goal was the first for the Bears in Palm Desert.

The Firebirds answered with a power play goal from Max McCormick (13) at 10:10 of the opening stanza. Andrew Poturalski (7) had the lone assist.

Coachella Valley then took their first lead of the night with a tally from John Hayden (1) just two minutes later. Ryker Evans (19) and Ville Petman (5) had the assists at 12:10 of the first period.

The Firebirds quickly made it 3-1 late in the first frame with a goal Cameron Hughes (4) at 16:52 of the first period. Ville Petman (6) and Gustav Olofsson (3) had the helpers.

Coachella Valley held the 3-1 lead as the first period expired. Hershey led in shots, 10-9. The Bears were 0 for 1 and the Firebirds 1 for 1 on the power play in the first 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

The Bears cut the Firebirds lead to one with a goal from Beck Malenstyn (4) at 3:28 of the second period. Malenstyn made what looked like a centering pass that was redirected by the opposition past Daccord for the score. Riley Sutter (4) and Henrik Borgstrom (4) were credited with assists.

But the Firebirds would answer the Malenstyn marker to restore their two-goal lead with a power play goal from Kole Lind (8) at 11:50. Joey Daccord (3) had the lone assist.

The Firebirds held the 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission. Coachella Valley led in shots 7-3 in the second period and 16-13 after two periods of play. Hershey was 0 for 2 and Coachella Valley 2 for 2 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Firebirds made it 5-2 early in the third on Kole Lind (9) at 3:57. Alexander True (12) and Brogan Rafferty (9) had the helpers. Hunter Shepard was replaced by Zach Fucale following the Firebirds fifth tally.

The Bears pulled Fucale with a little over five minutes remaining in the final frame, but were unable to dent the twine. 5-2 was the final.

Game 7 is set for Wednesday night in Palm Desert with puck drop set for 10PM ET.

Video recap from “The Hockey Guy”:

SHAVINGS

  • AHL box score
  • Attendance: 10,087
  • Coachella Valley led in shots, 28-22.
  • Bears had 7 shots in first two minutes of the game and 15 shots in the remaining 58 minutes.
  • Hunter Shepard stopped 17 of 22 for a .772 game save percentage.
  • Connor McMichael, Sam Anas and Aliaksei Protas led all Bears in shots with 4 each.
  • Hershey was 0 for 2 and Coachella Valley 2 for 4 on the power play.
  • Bears have been outscored 14-2 in the three games at Coachella Valley.