Hershey Plants Flag in Desert, Chill Firebirds in Game 5 to Take Series Lead
Heading West to the desert, some may have had doubt about the Hershey Bears. They were injured. Their head coach said they “got away with one” in reference to the Game 2 win. The doubt creeped further about a Game 3 loss, in which for the majority of the game, they didn’t compete.
A dramatic Game 5 victory on the back of hard fought Game 4 win sees them one win away from back-to-back championships.
Jimmy Huntington starred in the win as he scored with 1.3 seconds on the clock to tie the game at the end of the first period and put on an encore performance late in the third with 3:15 left for the game winner giving Hershey the lead that they closed out.
Asked after the game about his line’s energy and his in particular, he said with a smile ““I want to win for those guys. I came to Hershey to win a championship.”
The second line of Alex Limoges, who was fantastic all night, Pierrick Dube and Huntington created opportunity after opportunity. This was after the top line carried the load the game before. Before the game Todd Nelson said he wanted a balanced attack. What Nelson wants, Nelson gets from his guys.
“He finds a way to talk to us and you know get a little click going on. He talked to us this morning and said ‘hey we need more from you guys,'” said Huntington
Both Huntington and Limoges emphasized that the job is not done and there is one more to go.
The chance to win the game took place for two reasons. First and foremost, Hunter Shepard stood tall again as Coachella threw everything but the kitchen sink at him in the second. Second, Hardy Haman Aktell tied the game with an ear hole snipe from just inside the blue line.
“Last year I shot a lot of pucks right there, so I had a good feeling that it went in a good spot,” Haman Aktell said. “I saw a lot of net after I shot it and I saw it go in so just a nice feeling.”
How It Happened
The start of the game I felt was pretty even. Coachella Valley had more chances and shots on net, but I felt Hershey had better opportunities, but just failed to connect on passes.
The Firebirds got the important jump when Kole Lind put home a rebound after a flick on net with the puck by Connor Carrick who held it in after a poke check by Hendrix Lapierre.
As the period moved, so too did the Bears. The first and third lines continued to put pressure on Coachella Valley. With under 10 seconds left in the first, it was the second line of Alex Limoges, Pierrick Dube, and Jimmy Huntington who sent everyone to the break tied.
Hershey found the answer at perfect time. In the neutral zone, Limo fed Dube with speed down the far side as he took it wide and threaded one to Huntington who put in on net from up close and it trickled behind to square this game with 1.3 seconds left.
It was dead silence in The Bird Barn.
That however didn’t last long, as Cameron Hughes fired up the building with a quality chance just 0:42 into the second 20, as Shepard stood tall.
Coachella Valley kept coming like General Patton’s breakout in Normandy. One shift after another. Yet Shepard never relented. He went post to post, flashed the leather, and covered up tricky ones in front.
Hershey’s first shot of the period came at the 9:50 from Henrik Rybinski. After that, the Firebirds were back on the assault. When the second was all over, the shots were 15-4 for CV. Speaking after the game Nelson said, “when we broke down, Shep was there for us.”
The important stat: 1-1 on the scoreboard. Side note, Hershey did close with three shots to end the period.
On shot 25, Shepard’s wall fell. A turnover was caused by Hughes as he intercepted a Dylan McIlrath clearing attempt, and he fed it across to Ryan Winterton for the go ahead goal at 4:33.
As the towels waved and smoke blew, the Firebirds faithful brought the energy.
Now it was time for the Bears to sharpen their teeth. If a Bear stepped on the ice, their body sent a Firebird into the glass. On media row, one Firebirds press man said “here comes the forecheck.” Make no mistake, the game changed. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when Hershey would find the back of the net.
As Hershey moved up the ice, Hardy Haman Aktell calmly skated the puck through the neutral zone, then into the zone. A quick snap under the crossbar from just inside the blue line caught Driedger sleeping and just like that, Hershey silenced the crowd at 2-2 with just over 12 minutes left. “I saw I had a little ice to work with… I saw I had a lane to shoot it and it was nice to see it go in.”
From then on, the second line stole the show as Huntington netted the game winner putting the bears on the brink of history.
As for that flag:
