Photo via Tori Hartman / The Hershey Bears
The Hershey Bears evened the Calder Cup Finals at two games apiece Thursday with a 3-2 win over Coachella Valley, thanks to a three-point effort from Mike Vecchione.
Vecchione opened the scoring on the power play less than five minutes into the game, corralling a rebound and firing home the shot from his knees.
“You always want to start out strong and that worked well for us,” Hershey head coach Todd Nelson said.
The Bears continued the pressure, but the Firebirds tied the game just past the midway point of the opening period. Hershey had an opportunity to retake the lead late in the period with a 52 second five-on-three, but were unable to score despite some good looks, including hitting the post.
As the opening period ended, Riley Sutter took an ill-timed cross-checking penalty to give Coachella Valley a power play on fresh ice. However, the Bears killed it off and Vecchione scored his second of the game on a beautiful backdoor feed from Logan Day.
“[Nelson] has been harping on the first five minutes of periods are massive,” Ethan Frank said. “We’re just trying to bear down and play Bears hockey. Not get pushed around and stay on our toes. Stay on the forecheck because we think that’s where we succeed.”
While Hershey went up 2-1, their parade to the penalty box continued. The Bears killed off back-to-back penalties, and another penalty in the third, leaving the Firebirds’ power play without a goal.
Coachella Valley head coach Dan Bylsma complimented Hershey’s pressure on the penalty kill as a big reason his team struggled on the man advantage.
After killing off the penalties, Frank scored the eventual game winner on a pinpoint shot over the glove of Daccord, with just over five minutes left in the second period, giving him goals in two straight games.
The Firebirds got one back early in the third period, but the Bears held tight, giving up little zone time to Coachella Valley.
Hershey is now two wins away from winning its 12th Calder Cup Championship. The next game is Saturday in Hershey. Either way, the Calder Cup will be awarded in California in either Game 6 or Game 7.
