Hershey Bears take 3-2 lead in Calder Cup final

(Palm Desert, CA – HersheyBears.com) – Jimmy Huntington scored twice and the Hershey Bears (13-6) overcame a 2-1 deficit in the third period to beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds (12-5) 3-2 in Game 5 of the 2024 Calder Cup Final on Saturday night at Acrisure Arena. The Bears now lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and have a chance to win their 13th Calder Cup with a win in Game 6 on Monday night at the GIANT Center.

With this win, Bears head coach Todd Nelson earned his 69th AHL playoff win, surpassing John Anderson (68) and now sits alone in third place for all-time AHL playoff wins as a head coach. Nelson now trails only John Paddock (77) and Fred “Bun” Cook (75). His 27 playoff wins as Hershey coach are the fourth-most in franchise history, trailing only Frank Mathers (60), John Paddock (30) and Bruce Boudreau (29).

The Firebirds took a 1-0 lead at 10:05 of the first half when Kole Lind pushed a rebound past Hunter Shepard.

With time running out late in the period, the Bears thwarted a Coachella Valley attack and regrouped in the neutral zone, allowing Pierrick Dube to find Huntington, who ran toward the goal. Huntington’s first shot bounced off Chris Driedger’s pads and Huntington put his fourth playoff goal into the net with 1.3 seconds left in the period to tie the game at 1-1. Alex Limoges added a second assist on the goal.

The score remained tied until the end of the second period, but in the third period Coachella Valley took a 2-1 lead at 4:43 of the third period when Cameron Hughes lost the ball and found Ryan Winterton in the slot, who then beat Shepard on the glove side.

The Bears tied the game at 8:26 when Hardy Haman Aktell skated up the left side and shot the puck from the top of the left circle past Driedger’s blocker for his fifth playoff goal. Chase Priskie got the assist on the goal.

Huntington scored the winning goal at 16:45 after a break from the defensive zone when Logan Day passed the puck to Limoges, who brought it into the offensive zone and found Huntington at the left point. Huntington then fired it over the shoulder of Driedger for his second goal of the night.

The shots ended 26-20 in favor of the Firebirds. Shepard earned the win for Hershey with a 24-of-26 effort, his 27th playoff win for Hershey, tying him with Nick Damore for third in franchise history. Driedger earned the loss for Coachella Valley with 17-of-20. The Bears took the lead on 0-of-3 power plays; the Firebirds took the lead on 0-of-2 power plays.

The Bears will advance to the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs when they host the Coachella Valley Firebirds in Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals on Monday, June 24 at 7 p.m. at the GIANT Center.