HERSHEY, Pa. — The Hershey Bears capitalized on their chances in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals to beat the Coachella Firebirds 5-2 and even the series 1-1.
Similarly to Game 1, the Bears drew blood first early, this time with good forechecking that led to a turnover in the Firebirds zone. Mike Vecchione picked up the loose puck and centered it to Ivan Miroschnichenko for the one-timer goal to put the Bears up 1-0.
Hunter Shepard had some big-time saves following the goal, as the Firebirds led in shots 11 to 5 with about 7 minutes to play in the first period. After the first frame, Hershey trailed in the shot category 12 to 9.
The Firebirds responded to start the second period. Luke Henman skated right into the slot and wired one top shelf to knot the game back up 1-1.
However, following the early Firebirds goal, the second period was about great goaltending and capitalizing on chances for the Bears. With about 7 minutes in the 2nd period, Firebirds netminder Chris Driedger coughed the puck up behind his net and was stolen by Alex Limoges. Jimmy Huntington was in-front for the open-net shot and scored the Bears' second goal to put them back up by one.
Under 4 minutes later, Huntington would use his speed to create a two-on-one chance. His centering pass was perfect to find Pierrick Dubé and beat a sprawled out Driedger to extend the Bears' lead. Despite being outshot 24 to 13 after two periods, the Bears took a 3-1 lead into the 2nd intermission.
It didn't take long for the Firebirds to answer back in the 3rd period. Under 20 seconds into the frame, the Bears have trouble getting out of their zone and the mistake proved to be costly, as Marian Studenic was able to walk in for the point blank shot that cut the Bears lead back to one.
Sticking with the back and forth theme, 10 minutes later, a left circle faceoff in the Firebirds zone was drawn right back by Vecchione (who replaced Hendrix Lapierre after getting kicked out of the faceoff) to Hardy Häman Aktell who wound up for the one-time slapshot and beat Driedger over his left shoulder, for a Bears 4-2 lead.
The Bears scored an empty net goal while killing off a late penalty with under 2 minutes to play to seal the 5-2 win. The Bears head out west for Game 3 on Tuesday June 18, where they will play the next three games of the series.
2024 Calder Cup Finals TV Schedule | Hershey vs. Coachella Valley
- Game 1 | Coachella Valley wins 4-3
- Game 2 | Hershey wins 5-2
- Game 3 | Tuesday, June 18 | 10pm | Palm Desert, CA | FOX43 / MNMT
- Game 4 | Thursday, June 20 | 10pm | Palm Desert, CA | FOX43 / FOX43.2 / MNMT
- Game 5 | Saturday, June 22 | 9pm | Palm Desert, CA | FOX43.2 / MNMT
- Game 6* | Monday, June 24 | 7pm | Hershey, PA | FOX43.2 / MNMT
- Game 7* | Wednesday, June 26 | 7pm | Hershey, PA | FOX43.2 / NHL Network / MNMT
*if necessary
Dates and channels are subject to change.