Riding a seven game point streak into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Carter Camper made it eight with an assist in the second period and the overtime game winner of a 3-2 victory. The Hershey Bears now take a 2-0 series lead to Ricoh Coliseum for the next three games of the series.
Justin Peters stopped 38 of 40 shots from the Toronto Marlies, while he got very little offensive support through the first 40 minutes of play. Toronto shot 27 times in the first two periods while Hershey only returned seven at Garret Sparks. Sparks finished the game with 20 saves on 23 shots, but ended the first with one save on two shots.
To start, the Marlies pounced on the Bears by displaying their renowned speed. From behind the net, Connor Carrick and Josh Leivo forced the Bears to puck watch while Connor Brown broke in to the slot. Brown sent his seventh goal over the glove of Peters to give the Marlies a 1-0 lead.
On just the Bears’ second shot on goal, Chandler Stephenson put in his first of the playoffs. With speed, Stephenson blew by three standing defenders to draw Sparks out of his crease. From a sharp angle, Stephenson sent the puck across the goal mouth to pierce the netting on the right side.
After a dismal first period, the Bears found their offense on a power play. Chris Bourque passed to Jakub Vrana for a shot from the high left faceoff circle. The puck pinballed off some skates to find its way past Sparks for Hershey’s second power play goal of the series.
After taking a hard collision into the boards late in Game 1, Mark Arcobello returned to the lineup to score the tying goal late in the second period. On a two-on-one with Leivo, Arcobello tipped in the pass behind the sprawling Peters. Video review confirmed the delayed call on the ice of a good goal.
A scoreless, but more evenly played, third period followed, setting up the fourth overtime for Hershey and second for Toronto of these playoffs. The Bears fired 16 shots, eight each, in the third period and overtime before finding the net for their second overtime victory.
Nathan Walker sent a rolling back to Dustin Gazley, who then went to circle the net looking for a shooting lane. After emerging on the right side, Camper was open thanks to Zach Hyman letting him advance forward. Camper’s one-timer blasted off and landed above Sparks’ glove hand, blowing the roof off of GIANT Center at a crowd of 8,879.
With four of the next five games at Ricoh Coliseum, the Bears now go north of the border with a commanding 2-0 series lead.
.@carter_camper (who else?) wins it in overtime for the Hershey Bears who take a 2-0 series lead. #TORvsHERhttps://t.co/ASsnf3Soys
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) May 22, 2016
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