Hello from the Queen City, Charlotte, North Carolina. It is good to be in town with the Bears in town to kick off their Atlantic Division Finals matchup against the Charlotte Checkers.

Both teams are coming off surviving going the full five games with their Atlantic Division Semifinals opponents. Hershey came back from 2-1 down against Lehigh Valley to move on, while Charlotte survived blowing a 2-0 series lead to take game five against Providence.

In the end, this would be a battle of the special teams. Head Coach Todd Nelson told me at morning skate that the coaching staff had made some adjustments to the power play again based on the Checkers personnel. He said they put guys in to keep up with the Checkers and they stay responsible, don’t get beat and don’t puck watch after a shot.

Hershey did get some returnees in Clay Stevenson and Ethan Bear from the recently eliminated Washington Capitals. Stevenson would backup Hunter Shepard, who would get the start again, while Ethan Bear would stay scratched.

Hershey would see Mike Sgarbossa and Nicky Leivermann return to the lineup, with Brad Hunt and Andrew Perrot getting scratched for those two.

First Period

It is well known that the Charlotte Checkers are one of the best first period teams in the entire American Hockey League. For the most part that showed tonight. Charlotte had the Bears on their back heels for much of the period by doing what the Checkers do best- forecheck hard and cause havoc by doing so.

That isn’t to say it was a perfect period from Charlotte. They too had their struggles and the Bears did a good job at limiting shots on goal for having spent so much of the time in their own zone this period. They would even successfully kill off a penalty.

However, a strong faceoff win from the Checkers put the Bears off balance and it looked like Vinny Iorio may have misread his assignment off the draw. That put the Bears into positional chaos that Charlotte was able to capitalize on. Sandis Vilmanis shot a relatively weak shot from the point, but it was an accurate one and with Shepard screened in front, the puck snuck under his pad and gave the Checkers a 1-0 lead.

The Bears would hold on through the remainder of the period, but would be down in the shot counter 7-3, showcasing the dominance the Checkers had in the first.

Second Period

Hershey would come out stronger in the first. However, momentum didn’t change until 6:30 minutes into the second.

To be clear, on what was a hot and humid 88 degree day in Charlotte (with similar weather conditions tomorrow), the ice was bad. It was hot inside the arena and by both the second and third periods there we very obvious spots on the ice, mainly down the middle, where the ice was not well set. Both teams had to play on it and it caused trouble for both. The biggest ice related mishap worked in favor for Hershey though.

A fumble by the Charlotte defensemen where the puck slid off his stick as he was trying to break out, allowed Bogdan Trineyev in all alone to get his fourth of the playoffs. Bogey leads the Bears in goals so far this playoffs, a testament to his growth offensively this season.

The Bears would continue to heap pressure on Charlotte and it would pay off again just under 7 minutes later. Great zone time from the Vecchione-Sgarbossa-Philp line, along with some excellent keeps by Aaron Ness and Vinny Iorio on the back end, saw Hershey break through. It would be Mike Vecchione in front, as he buried the puck into a wide open net to finish off the beautiful passing play started by Sgarbossa to make it 2-1 Bears.

Chase Priskie would take a penalty, albeit a necessary one to stop a Checker winger from having a chance at a wide open goal himself, with under six minutes left in the period that would change the face of the game.

Charlotte would score on the proceeding power play via Mike Benning, who’s laser of a wrist shot went top corner, glover side on Shepard to tie the game up at two. That’s where the score would stay headed into the third.

Third Period

The third would be a true back and forth affair. Both teams, potentially because of the questionable ice that had only gotten more questionable in the third, flubbed excellent chances in front that kept the game tied.

But Hershey had a golden opportunity. They had the better of the chance in the period thus far, when Justin Sourdif of the Checkers took a high sticking penalty with just over eight minutes left in the game. The Bears even started the man advantage well, with a Pierrick Dube shot barely getting saved by the skate blade of Kahkonen.

The puck would ricochet around the boards though, past all three main Bears forwards and get on the stick of Charlotte’s MVP John Leonard. Leonard would then do it all himself, weaving in between his own teammate, Chase Priskie and Ivan Miroshnichenko, who had truly done an excellent job back checking, before putting home a perfectly placed wristed to score shorthanded and put the Checkers up 3-2.

This shorthanded goal is the fourth the Bears have given up these playoffs alone. This one was admittedly much more of an amazing personal effort from John Leonard than the “shot self in foot” ones that killed Hershey against Lehigh Valley.

The facts are the facts though. In games they do not allow a shorthanded goal these playoffs the Bears are 3-0. When they do, they are 0-3. They have been the difference maker and the Bears power play units, particularly the top unit, need to be more aware of the danger.

That shorthanded goal would be the dagger as Hershey fell 3-2 to go down 1-0 in the series.

Postgame Quotables

“As the game went on we just got smarter, playing the right way. But they still came hard, they still had a lot of ozone time, because that’s the way they play. They’re a tough team to play against.” – Head Coach Todd Nelson on the Bears improvement from the first period to the end of the game.

“Obviously on the power play there [in the third period], really good chance on our end. Then just you know, a great play by Leonard to cut and get it upstairs. That was a really tough one to swallow.” – Mike Vecchione on the shorthanded goal given up by the Bears tonight.

“We got to trust it, trust each other and make plays from there.” – Aaron Ness on if the poor ice conditions caused any in game adjustments for the Bears.

“We have to use our feet to our advantage. We’ve got a very good, mobile defensive core that are very good at breaking pucks out and using our feet to our advantage. So, keep doing that and good things will happen.” – Nicky Leivermann on how the Bears D-core is dealing with the Checkers forecheck.