Roarless: Four-Goal Second Period Sinks Bears for Second Consecutive Loss

It was a Jekyll and Hyde game for the Hershey Bears. Despite a good opening 20 minutes for the
locals, the final 40 minutes spelled trouble for the AHL’s best team as they fell 5-1 to the
Cleveland Monsters on Saturday Night. The series shifts to Pennsylvania with Hershey holding a
3-2 series lead.

This marks the first time this season that the Bears lost consecutive games in regulation.
The Chocolate and White opened the scoring for the fourth time this series with some good
offensive zone work. Defenseman Hardy Haman Aktell crashed down from the point to keep
critical possession. After winning a board battle, Haman Aktell found Logan Day at the point –
who wristed one blocker side on goaltender Jet Greaves at 12:11 of the first period for his first
goal of the playoffs.

It was a second period to forget for the Bears – one where they surrendered an uncharacteristic
four goals in nearly 14 minutes.

Cleveland would regain level ground just 2:48 in after hemming the Bears in their own end. Alex
Whelan registered his fifth goal of the playoffs following a mad scramble in the crease.
After Joe Snively took a high-sticking penalty, Josh Dunne put the Monsters up 2-1 just 21
seconds later with his sixth goal of the playoffs at 9:35 of the middle stanza. Defenseman Denton
Mateychuk fluttered a shot that ricocheted off of the end wall and over the net. Dunne batted the
puck out of mid-air and past Shepard.

Just 2:14 later, Monsters captain Brendan Gaunce scored his first goal of the postseason after
finding some open space by the faceoff circle to the right of Shepard. Mikael Pyyhtia fed Gaunce
from below the goal line, where Gaunce corralled the puck from skate to stick to beat Shepard
blocker side.

Gaunce notched his second goal of the game at 16:29 on a brief odd-man rush chance. Steffan
Matteau stripped Day of the puck in the neutral zone, leading to Gaunce’s counterattack and goal
low glove side on Shepard.

“We beat ourselves,” said Nelson. “We’re up 1-0 and all of a sudden, they score. The power-play
goal they scored went off the back boards over top of the net. How many times do you see that
happen? That was a bit of a break for them. We just beat ourselves. A couple of plays coming up
the walls when guys are told not to come up the walls. They chose to, and they did a good job of
picking off the pass and going in transition. Give credit to them. Their goalie played really well
tonight.”

“We weren’t connected,” said forward Riley Sutter. “They were doing a good job of breaking the
puck out. If we had one guy, we needed two…I don’t really remember the last time we lost two
in a row. Obviously it’s frustrating, so we’re going to use this for motivation going into the next
game.”

“I thought we had a good start, so we had a really positive intermission knowing that we needed
to keep the pedal down,” said captain Dylan McIlrath. “Unfortunately, they get a couple of goals
– a couple of uncharacteristic turnovers or mistakes by us – and they capitalize. It’s frustrating,
but we’re in a series…The fourth win is the hardest to get. They’re playing with nothing to lose.
Their season is on the line, and they’re giving everything they have. Give them credit. They
played really well.”

“I just think we have to battle harder,” said Day. “Just get back to simple hockey. Don’t try to
beat people one-on-one. Do what we do best and get pucks in and go to work…Give them credit,
too. It’s a good environment (in Cleveland). They’re a good team. We know how to play. If we
do that, then we’ll be fine.”

Nelson pulled Shepard out of the game in favor of backup netminder Clay Stevenson – who
made his Calder Cup Playoff debut. It was a fairly low-event third period with Cleveland’s
emphasis shifting to defending, but the home team generated a goal nonetheless. Dunne slid a
puck low to the ice past Stevenson for his second of the night and seventh of the playoffs at
15:58 in regulation.

“Puck battles have to be won,” added Nelson. “That’s working in the trenches, and we have to do
a better job at that. The offense will take care of itself. If we work hard and win puck battles, we
won’t play as much in our own end. We had a lot of offensive zone time tonight, but we just
couldn’t finish.”

The Bears will now turn their attention to home ice where they aim to close this series out. Game
six is Monday, June 10. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.