It looked pretty good for the Bears at the start of Game Six of the Atlantic Divison Finals. Two first-period goals put the Bears up 2-0 after one period. However, the next forty minutes would be a different story.
Madison Bowey celebrates his game winning overtime goal against Providence in game five of the Atlantic Divison Finals Sunday afternoon in Providence (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
The Hershey Bears faced a big challenge in Game 5 against the Providence Bruins Sunday afternoon. With a tied series, the Bears had the opportunity to come home with a lead or a deficit. They did just that thanks to another overtime win at Dunkin’ Donuts Center by a 3-2 final score.
The Hershey Bears lost Game 4 in Providence by a final score of 2-1. The game took a turn for the worse for Hershey when Pheonix Copley went down with a lower-body injury during Providence’s second goal at the end of the second period, and Hershey never recovered in the third.
Chris Bourque celebrates his GWOTG against Providence Friday Thursday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in the Atlantic Divison Finals (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
Pheonix Copley has been a big story for the Hershey Bears this season. He was brought in at the trade deadline to give the team a chance to win games, and if that wasn’t evident at any point this season, it was on Thursday night. The Bears won Game 3 in Providence behind 39 saves from Copley and two goals from Chris Bourque propelled the Bears to a 2-1 victory over the Bruins in the second overtime in as many games. Hershey leads the series two games to one.
Stan Galiev celebrates with Travis Boyd and teammates after Boyd’s overtime winning goal against Providence Sunday night at Giant Center. (All photos: Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
Troy Mann said in his postgame interview following the Hershey Bears’ 3-1 loss in Game 1 that it wasn’t how much your power play scores, but when they score. That turned out to be the turning point of Game 2, as Christian Djoos scored in the late moments of a power play with 2:30 on the clock in the third period to tie the game at two apiece. Travis Boyd completed the comeback less than six minutes into overtime, and the Bears took the second game of their series with the Providence Bruins by a final score of 3-2.
“We faced adversity many times this year, and we gotta go in and win a hockey game. Obviously, it’s not ideal what’s happened here the last couple days, but we’ve had success in [Lehigh Valley] the last three games…so we certainly can go win tomorrow.” Those were the words of Troy Mann following last night’s loss to the Phantoms at Giant Center, and the Bears responded by gutting out a 3-2 win on Sunday evening. Hershey advances to the second round where they will have home ice advantage against the Providence Bruins.
The Hershey Bears were unable to close out their series with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday night, as the Phantoms took the game in overtime on Chris Conner’s breakaway goal. Hershey rematches the Phantoms with another chance to close things out on Saturday.
The game was similar to the first in the series, as both teams played a tight-checking game. Hershey had its best start of the series, energized by the loud crowd at Giant Center.
Chris Bourque celebrates his game winning goal with less than a minute left in the third period to beat Lehigh Valley in game two of the Atlantic Division semi-finals (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
The Hershey Bears erased a 4-2 deficit in the third period, and Chris Bourque’s game winning goal with 33 seconds on the clock got Hershey a 5-4 victory in Lehigh Valley on Saturday night. Hershey takes a two-games-to-none series lead, with the chance to eliminate the Phantoms on Wednesday night at Giant Center.
Stan Galiev and Ryan Bourque celebrate with Nathan Walker after Walker’s OTGWG to give Hershey the win in game one of the Atlantic Division semi-finals. (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
It took 67 minutes and 38 seconds, but the Hershey Bears were able to break a scoreless tie in overtime to take a 1-0 win in Game One of their first-round series in Lehigh Valley Friday night. Nathan Walker scored on a rebound of a Tyler Lewington shot to get Hershey the win in the extra session.
The Hershey Bears wrapped up their regular season schedule on Saturday night at Giant Center with a 3-0 win over the Providence Bruins and locked in a first round playoff series with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms beginning on Friday.
The Bears had inserted different players into the lineup after playing with the same lineup during its road trip. Tonight’s game saw Dustin Gazley play his third game of the season, Mattias Backman on the blue line, and forward Christian Thomas see their first games since that stretch. Vitek Vanecek also made his first start since March 18 after Pheonix Copley started ten straight games.