Hershey Bears win Game 4 of Calder Cup final and even championship series after first line provides offensive momentum

The Hershey Bears are back in the race for this year’s Calder Cup after rebounding from a poor performance in Game 3 to defeat the Coachella Valley Firebirds 3-2 in Game 4. The win was the first for an away team at Acrisure Arena during this year’s playoffs.

Hershey’s entire first line was involved in the decision. Ethen Frank scored his 10th goal of the postseason, Hendrix Lapierre struck in the second period and Joe Snively found the back of the net in the third period. Hunter Shepard was strong in goal, stopping 22 shots.

Frank gave a scoreless first period some momentum by putting a Chris Driedger puck into the Coachella Valley net with 1:23 left. Hershey held the lead until the first intermission after allowing just four shots on Hunter Shepard.

After a seven-game goal streak at the start of the playoffs, Frank had gone five games without a goal until Thursday night.

Shane Wright slipped in front of the goal and scored the equalizer with a spectacular goal, 10:20 minutes before the end of the second period.

The Bears were back late in the period, however, and attacked once again, as Lapierre scored the second goal of the game from the team’s front row. Frank linked up with Joe Snively to set up the beautiful backdoor goal.

Ryker Evans tied the game just 32 seconds into the third period, another goal allowed by Hershey in the series early in the period.

Snively put the Bears back in the lead with a power play 4:21 minutes into the final period.

Lapierre scored his third point of the game on the play. He is the AHL’s postseason leading scorer with 20 points (6 goals, 14 assists) in 18 games.

Shepard made several incredible saves to keep Hershey in the lead.

The Calder Cup final will definitely return to the Giant Center for Game 6 after the Bears took the win. Hershey and Coachella Valley were also tied with two wins each in last year’s championship series.

The Firebirds managed just one shot in the 40 minutes of regulation time after firing 23 shots in the second period of Game 3 alone.

Aaron Ness, Vincent Iorio, Lucas Johansen and Garrett Roe were all out again. Nicky Leivermann made his AHL playoff debut, playing alongside Dylan McIlrath in the team’s top duo.

Here are Hershey’s lines on the win:

Expected lineup for Game 4! 📝

Follow the broadcast:
📺 @fox43, @MonSportsNet (DC region), @NHLNetwork (Firebird food)
🖥️ https://t.co/HaxQBmLCRZ
📻 @FroggyValley, @foxsports1460am, @WOYK1350, @CapitalsRadio pic.twitter.com/p6MJL31A6O

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) 21 June 2024