2024 Calder Cup Playoffs: Game 1, Cleveland - 4 at Hershey - 5 (OT) 5/30/24

HERSHEY, Pa. - If the opening game of the Eastern Conference Finals is any indication, the Hershey Bears and Cleveland Monsters will have to keep their proverbial foot on the gas until the scoreboard clock reads 0.0.

With a 4-2 lead in the final 2:03 of regulation, the Bears took a penalty - allowing the Monsters to pull their goalie and score on the ensuing power play to draw themselves within a goal when Trey Fix-Wolansky netted his first goal of the postseason with 1:23 left in the third period.

Cleveland then tied the game and forced overtime when David Jiricek (goal, two assists) wheeled the puck around the offensive zone before firing a hard shot from center point past Bears' goaltender Hunter Shepard (21 saves - 25 shots) with 19.1 seconds remaining in regulation.

The Monsters had chances in overtime, but it was Mike Vecchione (goal, assist) playing the role of hero for the home crowd Thursday night - finishing off a 3-on-1 rush 7:58 into overtime to lift the Bears to a 5-4 win and 1-0 series lead.

Ethen Frank, Aaron Ness, Chase Priskie and Hendrix Lapierre (goal, assist) also tallied for the Bears in the win, but full marks to Cleveland for not packing it in down two goals late in the third and getting the game to overtime.

In addition to Jiricek's three-point night, the Monsters also got goals from Hunter McKown, Alex Whelan and Trey Fix-Wolansky in the loss.

Jet Greaves stopped 30 of the 35 shots he faced, albeit in a losing effort.

Cleveland and Hershey will be back at it Saturday night in Game 2.

GAME STORY

Cleveland took an early penalty 1:27 into Game 1, allowing Hershey the first opportunity to grab momentum on their side in front of the home crowd.

The Bears weren't able to capitalize on the ensuing man advantage, but took the 1-0 lead moments later after Joe Snively worked a puck loose along the wall atop the Bears' defensive zone. Snively got the puck to the neutral zone for Lapierre, who spotted Frank blazing down the left wing - sending a crisp pass right onto the tape of Frank in-stride.

Frank did the rest, picking the top corner glove-side on Greaves to give Hershey the early lead 4:27 into the contest.

From there, the Monsters took penalties and as a result were unable to get much of anything going offensively.

Jiricek had a tough first period, taking a double-minor for high-sticking 10:57 into the opening period and another high-sticking minor penalty with 3:40 left before the first intermission.

Luckily for Cleveland, Greaves and the Monsters penalty killers were able to get the job done and prevent Hershey from blowing the game open.

The shots were 13-3 Hershey in the opening period, but the Bears held just a one-goal advantage heading to the middle frame.

The Monsters were opportunistic early in the second period, getting their first power play of the contest after a strange sequence and scrum resulted in a lone penalty assessed to Vecchione.

Cleveland capitalized on the ensuing man advantage, with Steffan Matteau getting the puck to Jiricek in the neutral zone to set up the Monsters' attack.

Jiricek kept a play alive at the left point before getting it down low to McKown for a bad angle shot from near the goal line in the corner that eluded Shepard and evened the game at 1-1 just 3:31 into the period.

The Monsters made it two goals in a span of 1:21 when, two shifts after McKown's goal, Cleveland's fourth line pinched in offensively once again with Josh Dunne turning and firing a hard shot from the right point and Whelan in position at the net-front to pot the rebound goal for his third of the postseason.

Cleveland's lead was short-lived, as Dylan McIlrath fed Vecchione a cross-ice pass entering the offensive zone and Vecchione used a screen of Ness to perfection - getting his shot off and actually catching a piece of Ness's behind on its way past Greaves and into the net - tying the game back up at 2-2 just 1:23 after Whelan's goal.

The two teams settled in to the 2-2 game until the Bears' broke through on a power play late in the period to take a 3-2 lead to the third.

Jimmy Huntington won an offensive zone face-off on the power play to get things set up, and later got control of the puck down low below the right wing circle. He got the puck up top to Garrett Roe, who left one for Priskie who skated the puck to the top of the circle before blasting a slap shot past Greaves with 2:48 left before the second intermission to restore the Bears' one-goal lead.

Despite being out-shot by a 23-8 margin through 40 minutes, Cleveland found themselves in a one-goal game to begin the third.

Similar to the opening two periods, the Monsters were simply having trouble getting in on the attack and getting shots through to Shepard's net.

A Luca Del Bel Belluz holding minor 1:30 into the third put the Monsters shorthanded for the sixth time on the night, and it wasn't until the 6:03 mark of the period that Cleveland managed their first shot of the period.

The Monsters managed to start generating shots and chances, only to take another stick infraction penalty - sending the Bears back to the power play for their seventh man advantage opportunity.

After buzzing for most of the power play, the Bears eventually broke through when Lapierre chased down a loose puck in the netural zone and quickly turned up ice - entering the offensive zone with speed and firing a quick shot past Greaves to restore the Bears' two-goal cushion with 11:17 left in regulation.

Cleveland didn't call it quits there.

Down 4-2 with 2:07 left to play and their goalie pulled for an offensive zone face-off, Ness committed a slashing penalty - sending the Monsters to a 6-on-4 power play chance with 2:03 left in regulation.

Fix-Wolansky got a bad angle shot from below the left-wing circle to carom in past Shepard off a feed from Jiricek with 1:23 left - drawing the Monsters within a goal.

Then, with under 30 seconds to go, Jiricek got the puck to the center point and flung one that hit the back of the net with 19.1 left on the Giant Center scoreboard - tying the game at 4-4 and sending Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to overtime.

In the end, it was Vecchione playing the role of hero for Hershey - snapping a 3-on-1 rush to the back of the net to lift the Bears to the Game 1 victory.

Cleveland Monsters Lineup Notes

Jett Greaves led Cleveland onto the ice for warmups Thursday night, getting the start in net for Game 1 after missing Game 3 of the North Division Finals. Malcolm Subban, who backstopped the Monsters to the series-clinching win in Game 3 vs Syracuse last Wednesday, served as the backup goaltender.

Scratches: Pavel Cajan, Corson Cuelemans, Nick Blankenburg, Brendan Gaunce, Zachary Okabe, Samuel Knazko, Jake Christiansen, Cameron Butler, Luca Pinelli, Tyler Angle and Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm

Lines/Pairings:

Owen Sillinger - Luca Del Bel Belluz - James Malatesta Steffan Matteau - Hunter McKown - Trey Fix-Wolansky Mikael Pyyhtia - Jake Gaudet - Roman Ahcan Justin Pearson - Josh Dunne - Alex Whelan

Stanislav Svozil - David Jiricek Jakub Zboril - Cole Clayton Marcus Bjork - Billy Sweezey

Jett Greaves (Backup: Malcolm Subban)

Hershey Bears Lineup Notes

Hunter Shepard got the start in net for Hershey, and Clay Stevenson served as the Bears' backup goaltender.

Defenseman Hardy Haman Atkell missed Thursday's Game 1 with a lower body injury, with Jake Massie entering the lineup in his place.

Forward Riley Sutter made his 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs debut returning from injury.

Forward Ethen Frank, who missed Game 3 of the Atlantic Division Finals against Hartford, also returned to the lineup.

Forwards Matthew Phillips and Matt Strome were scratched to make room up front for Sutter and Frank.

Bears Scratches: Garin Bjorklund, Mitch Gibson, Nicky Leivermann, Hardy Haman Aktell (injured), Matthew Phillips, Tyson Empey, Ryan Hofer, Logan Day (injured), Dmitry Osipov, Andrew Cristall, Kevin O'Neil, Jon McDonald and Matt Strome

Lines/Pairings:

Joe Snively - Hendrix Lapierre - Ethen Frank Alex Limoges - Jimmy Huntington - Pierrick Dube Ivan Miroschnichenko - Garrett Roe - Mike Vecchione Henrik Rybinski - Riley Sutter - Bogdan Trineyev

Aaron Ness - Dylan McIlrath Lucas Johansen - Vincent Iorio Jake Massie - Chase Priskie

Hunter Shepard (Backup: Clay Stevenson)

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

1:27: CLE - (PP) Bjork, minor (holding) 4:24: HER - PPG Frank (6) - Lapierre, Snively 10:57: CLE - (PP) Jiricek, double-minor (high-sticking) 16:20: CLE - (PP) Jiricek, minor (high-sticking)

2nd Period

2:11: HER - (PP) Vecchione, minor (high-sticking) 3:31: CLE - PPG McKown (2) - Jiricek, Matteau 4:52: CLE - Whelan (3) - Dunne, Pearson 6:15: HER - Ness (1) - Vecchione, McIlrath 11:24: HER - (PP) Iorio, minor (tripping) 15:51: CLE - (PP) Svozil, minor (interference) 17:48: HER - PPG Priskie (2) - Roe, Huntington

3rd Period

1:30: CLE - (PP) Del Bel Belluz, minor (holding) 7:02: CLE - (PP) Gaudet, minor (tripping) 8:43: HER - PPG Lapierre (4) - unassisted 9:49: HER - (PP) Rybinski, minor (holding) 11:50: HER - (PP) McIlrath, minor (interference) 17:57: HER - (PP) Ness, minor (slashing) 18:37: CLE - PPG Fix-Wolansky (1) - Jiricek, Bjork 19:40: CLE - Jiricek (2) - Pyyhtia, Dunne

Overtime

7:58: HER - Vecchione (2) - Limoges, Huntington

BOXSCORE

Cleveland  0 - 2 - 2 - 0 = 4 Hershey    1 - 2 - 1 - 1 = 5

Shots

Cleveland  3 - 5 - 13 - 4 = 25 Hershey    13 - 10 - 9 - 3 = 35

Goalies

CLE: Jet Greaves (30 saves - 35 shots) HER: Hunter Shepard (21 saves - 25 shots)

Power Play

CLE: 2-for-5 HER: 2-for-7

Penalty Kill

CLE: 5-for-7 HER: 3-for-5

Post-Game EXTRA!

Video interviews with Cleveland Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber and Hershey Bears forward Mike Vecchione!