The Hershey Bears are one win away from their 13th Calder Cup title. Hershey did the unthinkable on Saturday night at Acrisure Arena by storming back in the third period to take another 3-2 win over the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Jimmy Huntington scored a pair of goals including the game-winner while Hardy Haman Aktell had another clutch goal in the win. Hunter Shepard was tested but made 24 saves. The Bears return home to Giant Center with two chances to finish the job on home ice.
It wasn’t meant to be an easy night for the Chocolate and White. Hershey fell behind in the first period when Kole Lind swatted a rebound past Shepard to go ahead early. The team that has scored the first goal has won three of four games in the series, and it didn’t help that the only time that wasn’t the case was Hershey’s Game One loss. Hershey rose to the challenge late and tied the game with Huntington’s first of the game with three-tenths of a second left in the first. All three players got on the board with the goal, with a particularly nice pass by Alex Limoges to start the rush.
The second period was particularly challenging for the Bears, who had a 15-4 shot disadvantage in the frame. Hershey would bend but not break, with the second period being the first scoreless period in the series. With a 3-2 series lead hanging in the balance of the next 20 minutes, it started poorly with the Firebirds pulling ahead on a goal by Ryan Winterton.
Hershey was suddenly looking for a hero staring down a series deficit. Who else should step up other than Hardy Haman Aktell, who has had a great Calder Cup Finals series? He carried the puck himself into the offensive zone and picked a corner over the shoulder of Chris Driedger. His fifth goal of the playoffs evened the score at two with plenty of time remaining. In five games of the Calder Cup Finals, Haman Aktell has five points (four goals, one assist) including his first career two-goal game at the AHL level.
Overtime loomed. Coachella Valley’s mascot, Fuego, had just mocked Hershey’s roar celebration during a TV timeout. Only a little later, the Bears took the lead for the first time on Huntington’s second goal. Once again, Limoges made a perfect pass to a streaking Huntington, who beat the goaltender with a quick shot from prime real estate. In a return to form, the Bears locked down the remainder of the period with only three shots reaching Shepard. Hershey is one win away from their 13th Calder Cup title with two chances to finish the job at Giant Center.
“In the games we won, the five-on-five stats don’t look good for the Hershey Bears,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson said after the game. “You have to give credit where credit is due. (Coachella Valley) is playing some really good hockey. I know they have a whole other gear, that’s what I expect in Game Six. As for us, there’s no secret weapon we have that exposes anything they do. We got a few bounces with our wins, and we have to be better in Game Six. It’s all going to even out in the end, it always does.”
The job is not done. The fourth game is always the toughest to win. Now, the Bears have a chance to capture the Calder Cup at Giant Center before an anticipated sold-out crowd for the first time since 2010. Prior to that, the Bears last won the Cup at home in 1980, making this just the second time in 44 years that such an opportunity has presented itself. It all goes down on Monday in one of the latest-running series of Calder Cup Playoff hockey.
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