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Hershey Bears Rally To Beat Coachella Valley Firebirds, 3-2 In Overtime Of Game 7 Of Calder Cup Finals – Win 12th Calder Cup

By Jon Sorensen·
Photo: Twitter/TheAHL

The Hershey Bears rallied from two goals down to beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds 3-2 (OT) in game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals Wednesday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California. The victory earns the Bears their 12th Calder Cup in franchise history.

The Firebirds struck first less than five minutes into the contest with a goal from Ryker Evans, his fifth of the postseason and held the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. The Bears struggled with zone exits and zone entries in the early going, but settled down as the period progressed.

The Firebirds made it 2-0, just 24 seconds into the middle frame with a goal from Max McCormick, his 14th goal of the postseason. But the Bears would storm right back.

Connor McMichael added a power play goal, his second goal in as many games, and Hendrix Lapierre scored on a redirect to tie the game 2-2 going into the second intermission.

Following a scoreless defensive struggle in the final frame, Mike Vecchione scored the overtime series winner for the Bears 12th Calder Cup.

LINEUP

Hunter Shepard (13-6, 2.32 GAA, .910 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Joey Daccord (15-10, 2.21 GAA, .926 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 Firebirds opened the scoring less than five minutes into the contest with a tally from Ryker Evans (5) at 4:41. Andrew Poturalski (9) and Jesper Froden (5) had the helpers.

And that was it for the first 20 minutes of play. Coachella Valley led in shots 17-12 after 20. The Bears seemed a bit tight in the early  going, struggling with defensive zone exits and offensive zone entries, but improved as the period progressed.

SECOND PERIOD

The Firebirds stretched their lead to 2-0 just 24 seconds into the middle frame with a goal from Max McCormick (14). Kole Lind (22) and Ryker Evans (21) had the helpers.

The Firebirds had a clean shorthanded breakaway by Carson Twarynski with 13:27 remaining in the middle frame, but Hunter Shepard came up huge with the stop. The play would signal the turning point of the game.

The Bears cut the Firebirds lead to 2-1 with a power play goal from Connor McMichael at 13:52 of the second period. It was McMichael’s second goal in as many games. Mason Morelli (8) and Joe Snively (13) had the assists.

Moments later the Bears tied the game on a redirected shot by Hendrix Lapierre (3) at 17:09. Vincent Iorio (4) and Aliaksei Protas (8) had the helpers.

The second period concluded with the game remaining tied, 2-2. Coachella Valley led in shots 13-7 in the second period and 30-19 after 40 minutes of play. Hershey was 1 for 2 and Coachella Valley 0 for 1 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The first half of the third period was dominated by the Bears, but the Bears were unable to dent the twine, as regulation concluded with the game remaining tied, 2-2. The Bears had two power plays but could not capitalize.

Hershey led in shots 9-4 in the third period, with the Firebirds leading 34-28 after three periods of play.

OVERTIME

The Bears won it in the extra frame on a goal from Mike Vecchione. The Calder Cup winner came at 16:19 of the extra frame. Henrik Borgstrom and Ethen Frank recorded the assists.

The victory gives the Bears their 12th Calder Cup in franchise history. Bears Captain Dylan McIlrath was presented with the hardware.

Bears head coach Todd Nelson would eventually receive the Calder Cup from McIlrath after all Bears players and black aces had a chance to hoist and skate with the cup.

Bears goaltender Hunter Shepard was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy for series most valuable player.

The Bears have won their fourth Calder Cup since becoming the top development affiliate of the Capitals in 2005-06, with Hershey also winning in 2006, 2009 and 2010. The Capitals and Bears were previously affiliated for seven seasons from 1977 to 1984, including Hershey’s 1980 Calder Cup championship.

Nine Bears that were dressed for Game 7 also appeared in games with the Capitals this season, including Washington draft picks Connor McMichael (2019 NHL Draft, 1st rd, 25th overall), Aliaksei Protas (2019 Draft, 3rd rd, 91st overall), Vincent Iorio (2021 Draft, 2nd rd, 55th overall), Lucas Johansen (2016 Draft, 1st rd, 28th overall) and Beck Malenstyn (2016 Draft, 5th rd, 145th overall), as well as Herndon, Virginia native Joe Snively.

Championship merch is already available here:

SHAVINGS

  • AHL box score
  • Attendance: 10,087
  • Coachella Valley led in shots, 47-38.
  • Garrett Pilon led all Bears in shots with 9.
  • Hershey was 1 for 4 and Coachella Valley 0 for 2 on the power play.
  • Hunter Shepard stopped 45 of 47 shots faced for a .957 game save percentage.
  • Stars of the game: 1) Mike Vecchione, 2) Hendrix Lapierre and 3) Connor mcMichael

CALDER CUP STATS

  • 4th Game 7 in Calder Cup Finals for the Bears.
  • 12th Game 7 in Calder Cup history.
  • 8th time the home team won each of the first six games of the Calder Cup Finals.
  • The Bears are 4-2 in Calder Cups as the Capitals AHL affiliate.
  • The Bears won three of their four victories in overtime.

VIDEO RECAP COURTESY OF THE HOCKEY GUY