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AHL Hershey Bears

Atlantic Division Semifinals Game 1 Preview: Bears at Checkers, 7 p.m.

April 28, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


(Hershey, PA) - The Hershey Bears open the 2023 playoffs, presented by Penn State Health, as they take the ice for Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals against the Charlotte Checkers tonight at Bojangles Coliseum.

#2 Hershey Bears (44-19-5-4) at #3 Charlotte Checkers (39-25-5-3)

April 28, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Atlantic Division Semifinals - Game 1 | Bojangles Coliseum

Referees: Casey Terreri (#75), Morgan MacPhee (#43)

Linespersons: Dan Kovachik (#72), Brandon Grillo (#79)

Broadcast Information

Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch on the call

RADIO: WFVY-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, SportsRadio 98.9-FM & WOYK 1350-AM (joined in progress), Capitals Radio Network

WATCH LIVE: AHLTV

LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream, Caps Radio

Radio pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:

The Bears concluded the 2022-23 regular season on April 15 in a 6-4 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Bobby Nardella opened the scoring at 8:17 of the first period, but Bobby Brink tied the game less than a minute later at 8:42. Ethen Frank put Hershey up 2-1 at 4:08 of the second period on a deflection shot, but Brendan Furry evened the score at 4:44. Frank netted his second of the contest at 7:38 and wired a shot off the crossbar, and Louie Belpedio answered at 12:29. Nardella broke the 3-3 tie at 5:59 of the third period after a video review showed his shot had briefly rolled into the net off the back of Samuel Ersson. Frank then capped his first career hat trick at 15:59 during a 2-on-1 rush with Mason Morelli. The Phantoms trimmed Hershey's lead with a goal from Olle Lycksell at 17:30, but Shane Gersich restored the two-goal lead with an empty-net tally at 18:17. Hunter Shepard went 20-for-24 to pick up his 20th victory of the season. The Checkers won Game 3 of the Atlantic Division First Round in a 6-0 blowout of the Phantoms on April 21 to advance to face the Bears. After a scoreless first period, the Checkers collected goals from five different scorers in a span of 14:04 during the second frame, and Connor Bunnaman netted a shorthanded tally midway through the third, while Jean-Francois Berube stopped all 31 shots he faced to clinch the series for Charlotte.

WAITING IS OVER:

With a first-round bye, the Bears have had over a week to prepare for their eventual opponent in the Atlantic Division Semifinals. By virtue of Charlotte winning its best-of-three opening round series with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Bears were locked into facing the Checkers as the highest-seeded team to advance out of the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Charlotte trailed the Phantoms after losing Game 1 of the series, but rallied with a 5-4 win in double overtime in Game 2, and then blanked Lehigh Valley 6-0 in the decisive Game 3.

HEAD-TO-HEAD FACTS:

The Bears played the Checkers a total of eight times in the regular season, posting a 3-3-1-1 record. Mike Vecchione led Hershey in scoring against Charlotte with nine points (4g, 5a) in seven games, while Riley Nash paced Charlotte with 11 points (4g, 7a) over eight contests. Zach Fucale recorded each of Hershey's three wins, while Mack Guzda also logged three victories for Charlotte. The Bears split a pair of home games with Charlotte earlier this month in the final two weeks of the regular season; Hendrix Lapierre recorded three goals on April 8 for his first pro hat trick. Both teams' power play units operated at roughly 25 percent efficiency - Hershey went 8-for-32, while Charlotte was 7-for-27. The Bears have previously faced Charlotte twice in postseason competition; Charlotte won the 2019 Atlantic Division Finals in a four-game sweep, and took the 2011 East Division Semifinals 4-2; current Checkers forwards Riley Nash and Zac Dalpe were both rookies during the latter series.

FIRST TASTE OF POSTSEASON ACTION FOR SEVERAL EXPERIENCED BEARS:

In addition to several rookies on the roster, a handful of Bears players could also make their AHL playoff debuts during this series. Forwards Riley Sutter (158 regular season games played) and Matt Strome (125 regular season games played) have yet to appear in a Calder Cup Playoffs match, while on the back end, defender Jake Massie is still looking for his first AHL postseason appearance after suiting up in 99 regular season games over the three of the last four seasons with Hershey and Springfield. Goaltenders Hunter Shepard and Zach Fucale are also set to see their first action in the Calder Cup Playoffs; Fucale, however, does have 17 games of ECHL playoff action under his belt, while Shepard notably backstopped the South Carolina Stingrays to the 2021 Kelly Cup Finals.

BEARS BITES:

Aaron Ness is the Bears' active leader for playoff games with Hershey, with 36; he notably led the entire Calder Cup Playoffs with 12 assists during Hershey's run to the championship round against Cleveland in 2016...Ethen Frank tied for first in the regular season with six insurance goals, and tied for seventh in the overall goal-scoring race with 30...Gabriel Carlsson tied for 13th in the AHL in the regular season in plus/minus (and tied for eighth among all defensemen) with a +22...Hendrix Lapierre tied for third in the AHL in the regular season with eight first goals.

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