Hershey’s Sleuth Dominates Hartford’s Pack in Game One of Division Finals
Luke Brown for Chocolate Hockey
After a four game series victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Hershey Bears flipped the script to a new series, focusing their attention on the Hartford Wolf Pack. In game one, the Bears dominated Hartford, winning 6-1 and creating the ultimate momentum as they battle through this Atlantic Division Final series.
It was a slow start to the evening for the Bears and Wolf Pack, with only two shots through the first eight minutes, 40 seconds of play. That was until Chase Priskie got the crowd rolling with his first ever Calder Cup Playoff goal, breaking the slow start and putting Hershey on top to start. It was only the third shot of the game, but it fed into a common trend of Hershey making the most out of shots, often out-shot early in games but still leading. Trailing in shots was not the trend, however, in period one, with Hershey hammering six more shots in the first, and only allowing two more from the Wolf Pack, finishing the first twenty, 8-3.
The goal also came from an impressive trend of non-starter goals, as Priskie is on the second defensive line and the fourth forwards line was on, with two of those forwards providing the assist, Henrik Rybinski and Matt Strome.
“We have four solid lines, every line has their own identity. The fourth line’s been great. I hate calling them the fourth line because if they’re the best line of the day, their the first line.”, said Todd Nelson postgame.
Also in the first, Hartford’s Nikolas Brouillard was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for roughing, and Dylan McIlrath was sent in for tripping with 48 seconds to go in the first, a Hartford power play that bled into the second period.
Into the second, Ethen Frank’s reign of terror continued for AHL defenses, when he scored his fourth goal of the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, leading Hershey and third in the AHL, just behind Milwaukee’s L’Heureux and Texas’ Blümel. Frank distributed a pass, waited for his turn to see the puck again, and fired on impact, hammering one to the top right corner of the goal, giving the Bears some early insurance. The assists came from Hendrix Lapierre and Joe Snively, a first line goal to pair with the fourth line opening score.
Hartford was not shut out in the second, though, as Jake Leschyshyn got a rare breakaway opportunity to go one-on-one against Hunter Shepard, leaving Shepard to guess what Leschyshyn was going to do with the puck. A hush fell over the GIANT Center crowd as Hartford pieced together their first goal of the evening.
Painted on the boards that make up the door of the opposing team’s penalty box, an advertisement for Highmark Health Insurance is displayed. Perhaps Bears Head Coach Todd Nelson used the advertisement as a message to his guys going into the second period, because it was all about the insurance for the Bears in the second, going from a one-goal, 1-0, lead to a three-goal, 4-1 lead as the final period approached.
The third period added two more for the Bears, with Ivan Miroshnichenko and Jimmy Huntington getting in on the action to extend the Hershey lead to 5-1, then 6-1 for the win. The Bears finished the night out-shooting the Wolf Pack 30-14, nearly holding Hartford in single digit shots.
The Bears move on to game two with the series lead, 1-0, and a whole lot of momentum with a day of rest in between. In both playoff meetings between the Bears and Wolf Pack, the game one winner has won the whole series, and in Bears history, the team is 56-19 when winning the first game of a playoff series.
“I think (Hartford) is going to come out super hard. You don’t want to lose like that in the playoffs, and I know they’re a really good team, they beat Providence for a reason,” said Hendrix Lapierre postgame, “We know they’re going to come out hard, we’re going to be ready.”
Hershey takes on Hartford in game two on Saturday at 7 PM.
*** What is a sleuth? A sleuth is a group of three or more bears. The more you know!
