The Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. were hoping home ice advantage at Giant Center would change their fortunes. Unfortunately for them, it did not.
The Hershey Bears dropped the first two games of the Atlantic Division Finals (second round) of the Calder Cup playoffs to the Charlotte Checkers on the road. The series shifted to Giant Center in Hershey but not even the home ice advantage made the difference for the Washington Capitals AHL affiliate.
The Checkers, like their parent club the Carolina Hurricanes, came away with a 3-0 series lead at the end of the night with the 3-1 victory.
The Bears had an early lead but Charlotte tied it in the second period and scored twice in the third.
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Late in the first period at 18:56, Nathan Walker deflected in a goal to put the Bears up 1-0. The deflection tip-in came off a slapshot-like pass towards the net from Ryan Sproul. Jason Megna was also credited with the secondary assist.
That 1-0 lead was what the Bears took to first intermission after a good first 20 minutes where they outshot the Checkers 11-7.
The Checkers would respond in the middle stanza, however, knotting the score at 6:32 on a rocket from Aleksi Saarela. Andrew Poturalski and Morgan Geekie had the helpers.
It was a good first 20 minutes for the Bears but a dismal second 20. Charlotte outshot Hershey by a whooping 12-2 in the second period.
It was scoreless much of the third period. The Bears had a couple of good looks but were unable to capitalize. It cost them dearly in the final minutes. Now their backs are to the wall.
The Checkers took a 2-1 lead at 17:52 on a Stelio Mattheos rebound goal that came off of Bears goalie Vitek Vanecek’s save on Trevor Carrick.
The Bears pulled Vanecek for an extra attacker with the hopes of tying the game but Poturalski found Saarela for the empty netter to seal the 3-1 victory. It was Saarela’s second goal of the game after tying it in the second period.
Vanecek finished his night stopping 20 of the 22 shots he faced. Parker Milner was the game’s backup over Ilya Samsonov but perhaps it was just to give one of the top prospects the night off.
The two teams return to action tonight for Game 4 in Hershey. The Bears now on the brink of elimination and need a win to keep their season alive. Puck drop from Giant Center is at 7 p.m.