Monsters comeback falls just short as Bears take Game 1 after 5-4 overtime loss
May 30, 2024The Cleveland Monsters fell to the Hershey Bears 5-4 in overtime on Thursday night at Giant Center. With the loss, the Monsters trail the Eastern Conference Finals best-of-seven series 1-0.
The Bears scored the lone goal of the opening frame from Ethen Frank at 4:24 leaving the Monsters trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes of play. Hunter McKown converted on a power-play opportunity at 3:31 of the second period with helpers from David Jiricek and Stefan Matteau to even the score. Alex Whelan notched a tally at 4:52 assisted by Josh Dunne and Justin Pearson, but Hershey’s Aaron Ness responded with a marker at 6:15 to tie the game 2-2. Chase Priskie scored on the man advantage for the Bears at 17:12 putting the Monsters down 3-2 heading into the final intermission. Hershey’s Hendrix Lapierre scored a power-play goal at 8:43 of the final period, but Trey Fix-Wolansky converted on the man advantage at 18:37 off feeds from Jiricek and Marcus Bjork bringing the game within reach. Jiricek recorded a tying goal with 20 seconds left to play in regulation assisted by Mikael Pyyhtia and Dunne to stun the Hershey crowd and force overtime. The Bears’ Mike Vecchione scored at 7:58 of the extra frame bringing the final score to 5-4.
Cleveland’s Jet Greaves stopped 30 shots in defeat while Hershey’s Hunter Shepard made 21 saves for the win.
The Monsters and Bears drop the puck for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday, June 1, at 7:00 p.m. at Giant Center. Follow the games with full coverage on FOX Sports 1350 ‘The Gambler’, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.
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Scoring:
|
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
OT |
Final |
|
CLE |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
|
HER |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Shots/Special Teams:
|
|
Shots |
PP |
PK |
PIM |
|
CLE |
25 |
2/5 |
5/7 |
14 min / 7 inf |
|
HER |
35 |
2/7 |
3/5 |
10 min / 5 inf |
Goaltenders:
|
|
Goaltender |
Outcome |
Saves |
GA |
Playoff Record |
|
CLE |
Greaves |
L |
30 |
5 |
5-2-0 |
|
HER |
Shepard |
W |
21 |
4 |
7-1-0 |
GAME SHEET – GAME PHOTOS – GAME HIGHLIGHTS*
*Game highlights will appear as soon as possible following video processing.