Photo: Twitter: Rochester American
The Hershey Bears fell to the Rochester Americans, 4-1 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night at the Giant Center in Hershey. With the win, Rochester forces Game 6 on Friday in Rochester.
The Bears again dominated early possession, but once again the Americans would be the first to score in Game 5. They took a 1-0 lead going into the first break.
After a scoreless midfield kick, the Americans extended their lead to 2–0 early in the final frame, but this time the Bears answered less than two minutes later with a power play goal from Alexi Brutas.
Rochester added a powerful goal of their own to restore a two-goal lead and added an empty net goal late to make it 4-1, the final.
Lined up
Hunter Shepard (9-2, 1.91 GAA, . 927 sv%) gets the start between the pipes for the Bears. Malcolm Subban (7-5, 2.82 GAA, .910 sv%) Got the start in goal for the visiting Americans. Bears front lines and defensive pairs:
Mason Morelli – Garrett Bellone – Mike Vecchione
Joe Sinville – Connor MacMichael – Ethyne Frank
Alexi Brotas – Hendrix Lapierre – Sam Anas
Beck Mallenstein – Riley Sutter – Shane Gersh
Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Gabriel Carlson – Dylan McElrath
Jake Massey Lucas Johansen
Hunter Shepard
Zack Focale
scratchesHenrik Borgstrom (ill), Vincent Iorio (injury – day), Mike Sgarbosa (injury), Bobby Nardella, Henrik Rybinski, Matt Strom, Julian Napravnik, Bogdan Treniev, Ludwig Pearson, Drew Krebs, Aleksandr Suzdalev.
The first period
As had been the case in the previous four games of the series, the Bears dominated possession and offensive zone time early on, but once again, were unable to beat Subban. Amerks then scored the first goal of Game 5.
Jiri Kulich (7) He hit the first mark of the game at 4:43 of the initial clip, beating Shepherd with a quick shot from the top of the hole. Joseph Ciccone (3) He has the only help.
Jerry Kulich is unstoppable‼️ pic.twitter.com/0XIAPqNR4U
– x-Rochester American (Ammerks Hockey) May 31, 2023
The Americans picked up the pace after their opening kickoff, and began to dominate with more possession the remainder of the period.
The Bears trail 1-0 after 20. Beck Mallenstein with the highlight of the Bears’ first period. #HBH # the capper pic.twitter.com/Iei7t5FztI
– Capitals Horizons (@jon_m_sorensen) May 31, 2023
The first frame ended with America advancing 1-0. Rochester led in shots, 9-8. The Americs were 0-for-1 on the power play while the Bears didn’t have a man advantage in the first 20 minutes.
The second period
The Bears dominated possession and offensive zone time in the middle frame, but were unable to get past Subban once.
The Bears were given their first power play which eventually became a 4v3 game with just under two minutes to play in the period, but they were unable to make a dent in the leads.
The period concluded with America leading 1-0. The Bears doubled the Amerix in shooting, going 16-8 in the second half and leading 24-17 after 40 minutes of play. Rochester was 0 for 3 and Hershey was 0 for 1 on the power play after two periods.
Third period
The Americs extended their lead to 2–0 early in the third period on a Bears’ endgame turnover. Lukas Rusk (4) He scored the second goal for Americas in the match at 1:22 of the third period.
Lukas Rozek 🚨
Let’s goo‼️ pic.twitter.com/soNyyaVuAT– x-Rochester American (Ammerks Hockey) June 1, 2023
But this time the Bears would answer with just over two minutes on the power play. Alexi Brutas (5) Redirected a Logan Day point shot for the Bears’ first goal at 3:44 of the final frame. Logan day (6) f Joe Snelly (9) He had assistants.
Aliaksei Protas with a nice forward, gets the Bears at the plate. They trail 2-1 early in the third period. #HBH # the capper pic.twitter.com/6xxcEXgsOA
– Capitals Horizons (@jon_m_sorensen) June 1, 2023
Rochester restored their two-goal lead with a powerful goal late in the third period. Michael Merch (6) Amerex sniping for the third target at 13:11. Linus Weisbach (7) and Lawrence Pilot (7) He had assistants.
Captain on the power game 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Bvqh1KtQ8I
– x-Rochester American (Ammerks Hockey) June 1, 2023
Amerex added a late empty net goal to make it the final 4-1.
Carpentry
- AHL Box Points
- Attendance: 10,520
- Hershey took the shots, 33-27.
- Hendrix Lapierre led all Bears in putouts with 4.
- Garrett Bellone and Mike Vecchione were -3’s in the match.
- Rochester was 1-for-4 and Hershey 1-for-2 on the power play.
- Hunter Shepard stops 23 of 26 due to a 0.884 game save percentage.