Hershey’s season ends with a 5-2 loss to Charlotte. Megna and Gersich score the only goals for the Bears. Checkers win the series 4-0 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Follow Cory Lyons on Twitter @CoryLyonsAHL for Hershey Bears live updates and news. Photos in this post are brought to you by Just Sports Photography and The Hershey Bears.
The Hershey Bears try to shrug off last night’s game three loss against the Charlotte Checkers to get their first win in the best of seven series at the Giant Center. Charlotte is on the verge of sweeping Hershey with their commanding 3-0 series lead.
Last night, Hershey went into the third period with a 1-1 tie before Charlotte took the lead with just 2 minutes left to play on Stelio Mattheos‘ goal. The Checkers went on to score an empty net goal to defeat the Bears 3-1.
1st Period:
It took until the last five minutes of the first period but Charlotte got on the board first. Morgan Geekie set up a nice pass to Trevor Carrick. With patience, Carrick found Aleksi Saarela back door to give Charlotte the 1-0 lead.
What a play!! pic.twitter.com/GbGyyIyGzf
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) May 8, 2019
1st Period Shots: HER – 5, CHA – 6
1st Period Scoring:
14:25 – HER: Aleksi Saarela(4) ASST: Trevor Carrick(4), Morgan Geekie(4)
2nd Period:
The Checkers started the period on the power play. They did not take long to capitalize. Martian Necas shot the puck to the right of Samsonov and Julien Gauthier tipped the puck into the net. This gave the Checkers a 2-0 lead.
Gauthier gets the redirection in front! 🌧👨🌧👨 pic.twitter.com/oCHT7qGi3Q
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) May 8, 2019
Aleksi Saarela scored his second goal of the evening with a great snipe past Samsonov. The play developed into a 2 on 1 but Saarela decided to shoot the puck. Saarela’s shot went just under the cross bar, leaving Samsonov little chance to save it. This gave Charlotte a 3-0 lead.
Four goals in two games!! pic.twitter.com/bXfoE1zF6M
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) May 9, 2019
2nd Period Shots: HER – 5, CHA – 13
2nd Period Scoring:
:57 – CHA: Julien Gauthier(4) ASST: Martin Necas(2), Bobby Sanguinetti(5)(PP)
14:22 – CHA: Aleksi Saarela(5) ASST: Bobby Sanguinetti(6), Morgan Geekie(5)
3rd Period:
Very early in the third period, Charlotte scored on the power play. The play was started from Martin Necas who tossed the puck over to Julien Gauthier. Gauthier one touch passed the puck over the Tomas Jurco who one timed the puck into the empty net. It was a great play as you can see below. This gave the Checkers a 4-0 lead.
The boys brought it tonight! Jurco's fourth of the playoffs! pic.twitter.com/HO6FVqyH0K
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) May 9, 2019
Hershey finally got on the board when Riley Barber found Jayson Megna alone in front of Alex Nedejikovic. Megna tipped the puck past Nedejikovic and cut the lead to three. 4-1 Charlotte.
Positive vibes until the end #HBH #DefendTheDen #CHAvsHER pic.twitter.com/14c1lkWst5
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) May 9, 2019
Late in the period, Shane Gersich found himself alone when a rebound popped out in front of Nedejikovic. Gersich made no mistake and scored his first goal of the playoffs. Charlotte now led 4-2.
Hershey pulled the goalie with over three minutes left in the third period. Aleksi Saarela took advantage and scored his hat trick goal to lock up the victory and series.
Charlotte defeated Hershey 5-2.
3rd Period Shots: HER – 8, CHA – 4
Overall Shots: HER – 18, CHA – 23
3rd Period Scoring:
3:01 – CHA: Tomas Jurco(4) ASST: Julien Gauthier(1), Martin Necas(3)(PP)
5:37 – HER: Jayson Megna(4) ASST: Riley Barber(3), Garrett Pilon(4)(PP)
14:44 – HER: Shane Gersich(1) ASST: Garrett Pilon(5), Aaron Ness(2)
18:23 – CHA: Aleksi Saarela(6) ASST: Dennis Robertson(2), Andrew Poturalski(8)(EN)
Three Stars:
- CHA – Aleksi Saarela – 3 goals
- CHA – Morgan Geekie – 2 assists
- HER – Jayson Megna – 1 goal
Official Box Score: https://theahl.com/stats/game-summary/1019579
Photos in this post are brought to you by Just Sports Photography and The Hershey Bears.
