Bears Rock Cleveland with Commanding Second Period in 6-2 Victory, Leads Series 3-0

Through two and half games, including overtime, the Bears and Monsters have been pretty even.  A bounce of the puck here or there and this series could have entered the Buckeye state even at a game a piece, or even 2-0 Monsters rather than the reality of a 2-0 Bears advantage.

The vision of an even series disappeared like a legendary lake monster into the depths within the final three minutes of the second period as Hershey tallied three goals for a 5-2 lead.

After the game Head Coach Todd Nelson commended his team’s attitude with the way they took to the ice.

“All in all a good hockey game, our special teams were good tonight, physical game out there, great atmosphere and the guys played a business-like road game”

After giving up a 2-0 lead once again (more on that later), Hershey tilted the ice back in its favor and they did with a vengeance.

Captain Dylan McIlrath broke up a play and found Ivan Miroshnichenko who hurried the puck to Alex Limoges (3).  The former Penn State captain beat Jet Greaves to give Hershey a 3-2 lead.

“That was huge,” said Nelson. “They were pressing, and we were not doing a good job defensively in our own end.”

“They don’t give up, and we knew that,” said Limoges. “Talking on the bench, (we said) we needed one before the end of the period … big goal and sense of relief.”

Before the celebratory tweets could even be sent and “Bears, Bears, Bears” chants could settle the roar would be felt again, a minute and nine seconds later. 

This time it was Miroshnichenko who stickhandled the puck and hung on to the puck to go five hole on Greaves for his sixth of the playoffs.  The handle by Miro displayed a beautiful sense of maturity from the 20-year-old.

Finally, in the closing seconds of the period with the Bears on, Joe Snively sniped his first goal of the playoffs to complete the three-goal outburst in a span of 2:18.

“It seems like every night we have someone new stepping up with a big goal” added Hendrix Lappierre when asked about the second period burst.

A goalie change for the third did nothing to spark Cleveland as Sheppard shut the door and Henrik Rybinski added an empty netter in the final five to wrap the 6-2 game up for good.

Bears Power Play Unit Finds it Groove

Joe Snively’s power play goal wasn’t the first with the extra man on this night, in fact it was their third.  In even better news, the line of five forwards struck twice on this night.  

In the first period Cleveland continued its trend of being sloppy with their sticks as they took a four minute high stick trip to the box. 

Hershey converted this power play with a Chase Priskie blast from the point to take the early 1-0 lead. The goal extended Priskie’s playoff point streak to seven games (3g, 5a) up to that point.

Leading 1-0 after the first twenty minutes, the Bears jumped on the Monsters in the second via the power play once again. This time it was the top unit as Hendrix Lapierre flew a sensational feed across the ice from one dot to the other where Ethen Frank one timed it home for a 2-0 lead. The goal was Frank’s eighth of the postseason and extended his current goal scoring streak to six games (6g).

“You gotta find a way to get your special teams going,” said Lapierre after the game.  “Our PK did a great job and our power play did as well.”

Following Frank’s celebration, Cleveland, with their season hanging in the balance, pressed hard.  A minute and ten seconds later the Monsters answered to make 2-1. 

“I try to tell myself to make an impact on the game no matter what,” Frank said after the game. “When the opportunity comes to bear down and make the best of it.”

For the next five minutes Cleveland controlled the pace and forced Hershey into a penalty.  The Monsters proceeded to convert their extra man chance into the equalizer to make it 2-2 at 12:17.

From that point on this game was all Chocolate and White with their three goal explosion.

Bears Nation could rejoice that this blown two goal lead didn’t necessitate overtime or even ten minutes of nerve-racking hockey.  

Injury Notes:

Pierrick Dube took a puck to the face and later came back with a face shield and mixed it up a bit before exiting after the second period.  This could be based more on the score of the game being 5-2.

Defenseman Aaron Ness also exited the contest early.  Ness, known for his toughness, plays through almost everything.  For him to exit a playoff game, this is something to pay attention to.

After the game Nelson said that everybody would be evaluated and the team will find out tomorrow.

Before the game Head Coach Todd Nelson said that fellow blueliner Lucas Johansen would miss significant time after he left game two early after a collision along the boards at Giant Center.

Logan Day made his return to the lineup.