PROVIDENCE, R.I — Hershey Bears forward Chris Bourque scored twice on the power-play, including in overtime, to give the Hershey Bears a win they earned the hard way. Hershey won 2-1, with Pheonix Copley making 39 saves on 40 shots.
“He’s been our best player since we got him at the trade deadline,” Bourque said. Copley was acquired as part of the Kevin Shattenkirk trade with the St. Louis Blues. “We definitely wouldn’t be here without him.”
The Hershey Bears now sit 2-1 in the Atlantic Division Finals of the Calder Cup Playoffs with the Providence Bruins, with game four coming tomorrow from the Dunkin Donuts Center.
“I still think there’s another level for us to play, but we’re winning games, that’s all that matters,” Bourque said.
For the eight consecutive first period, Zane McIntyre did not allow a first period goal. It helped that he only faced two shots. McIntyre made 13 saves on 15 shots.
Chris Casto opened the scoring with his first of the playoffs. With the Bears disjointed in the defensive zone, Tommy Cross slid the puck over to Casto at the right point. He took two strides in and fired to the left of Copley. The puck glanced off the inside of the post before sending the crowd to their feet.
After the goal, Providence held Hershey to limited chances the rest of the period. Bourque described it as the team weathering the storm until they could get an opportunity to tie it.
It was this kind of night for the Bears in generating offense at five-on-five: Stanislav Galiev flipped a puck high for Ryan Bourque on a breakout in the middle of the second period. The puck bounced off the ice and backward, drawing the Bears offside.
Riley Barber started the third with speed to draw a hooking penalty promptly to start the third period. Providence could not clear the puck during the power play, and left Chris Bourque wide open at the left post for his third of the playoffs.
“Last game, we got the monkey off our back,” Bourque said.
After a big penalty kill from Aaron Ness and the crew late in the final period, time ran out on regulation. For the second game in a row, overtime was needed to find a winner.
Bourque needed just a few seconds on the power play in overtime to snap home the winner. The Bears outshot the Bruins in none of the four periods tonight.
“I just shot as hard as I could to the top corner, hoping to kind of catch him sleeping and I did,” Bourque said.
Bourque played his 129th career Calder Cup Playoff game tonight, the second all-time in AHL history.
How sweet is that! 🙌 #HBH #HERvsPRO pic.twitter.com/CMKQAdA4DZ
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) May 12, 2017
