Hershey Bears Tame Cleveland Monsters 5-4 in Overtime in Game 1 of Eastern Conference Final


@MonstersHockey/X

The Hershey Bears defeated the Cleveland Monster 5-4 in overtime of Game 1 of the AHL Eastern Conference Finals. Mike Vecchione scored the game-winner at 7:58 of the overtime period.

LINEUPS

Hershey Bears

Joe Snively-Hendrix Lapierre-Ethen Frank
Alex Limoges-Jimmy Huntington-Pierrick Dube
Ivan Miroshnichenko-Garrett Roe-Mike Vecchione
Bogdan Trineyev-Riley Sutter-Henrik Rybinski

Aaron Ness-Dylan McIlrath
Lucas Johansen-Vincent Iorio
Jake Massie-Chase Priskie

Hunter Shepard
Clay Stevenson

Cleveland Monsters

Owen Sillinger-Luca Del Bel Belluz-Mikael Pyyhtia
Stefan Matteau-Hunter McKown-Trey Fix-Wolanski
James Malatesta-Jake Gaudet-Roman Ahcan
Justin Pearson-Josh Dunne-Alex Whelan

Stanislav Svozil-David Jiricek
Jakub Zboril-Cole Clayton
Marcus Bjork-Billy Sweezey

Jet Greaves
Malcom Subban

1ST PERIOD

The Chocolate and White wasted no time getting on the board, as Ethen Frank potted his sixth of the postseason on assists from Hendrix Lapierre and Joe Snively to make it 1-0 Bears just under five minutes into the contest.

Cleveland’s David Jiricek was called for a high-sticking, double-minor at 10:37, giving the Bears an extended power play which failed to add their lead despite some good looks. The Monsters took yet another high-sticking call with just over 3:30 left in the first but Hershey again, did not convert.

The first frame ended with Hershey on top 1-0, and leading in shots, 13-3.

2ND PERIOD

The second period started with fireworks after Bears forward Garrett Roe was knocked into the Cleveland net; the ensuing scuffle led Hershey 2023 Calder Cup hero Mike Vecchione to the sin bin for roughing.

Cleveland would strike on the man-advantage, with Hunter McKown notching his second of the postseason to tie the game at 1-1; David Jiricek and Stefan Matteau picked up the assists. Alex Whelan would add his own goal just over a minute later, pushing the Monsters to a 2-1 advantage.

Hershey would answer Whelan’s goal with a tally of their own from Aaron Ness (originally credited to Mike Vecchione), who beat Jet Greaves at 6:15 to give the Bears the equalizer.

Chase Priskie gave the home team the lead with 2:48 left in the middle frame on the power play, assisted by Garrett Roe and Jimmy Huntington.

The period ended with Hershey leading 3-2 and commanding 23-8 lead in shots on goal.

3RD PERIOD

Despite some close calls, neither club was able to dent the twine. At 7:02 Hendrix Lapierre picked up his second point of the night on a power play marker to pad the Bears’ lead by two; the goal was unassisted.

With 1:23 left to play in regulation and on the power play, the Monsters struck with Jet Greaves pulled for the extra man; Trey Fix-Wolanski potted his first of the playoffs to pull the Monsters within one.

David Jiricek tied the game with 19.1 seconds on the clock, sending the game to overtime.

OVERTIME

Mike Vecchione scored the game-winning goal at 7:58 of the overtime period, assisted by Alex Limoges and Jimmy Huntington.

The Bears finished the game having outshot the Monsters by a 35-25 margin, converting on 2/7 power plays while the Monsters made the most on two of their five man-advantages. Hunter Shepard stopped 21 of 25 shots faced.

ICE SHAVINGS
– AHL Box Score
– Mike Vecchione, Hendrix Lapierre, and David Jiricek were named the Three Stars of the Game

 

About Michael Fleetwood

Michael Fleetwood was born into a family of diehard Capitals fans and has been watching games as long as he can remember. He was born the year the Capitals went to their first Stanley Cup Final, and is a diehard Caps fan, the owner of the very FIRST Joe Beninati jersey and since then, has met Joe himself.

Michael joined the NoVa Caps team in 2015, and is most proud of the growth of the NoVa Caps community in that time. An avid photographer, Michael resides in VA.





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