Almost! Firebirds rally not enough as Hershey wins dramatic Game 3 in overtime

The Coachella Valley Firebirds never believe they are out of a game. The Hershey Bears have a proud tradition of winning. Tuesday's Game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals was a perfect example of both.

The Firebirds scored two goals in the final 5 minutes of the game to stun Hershey and force overtime, but it was the Bears who regrouped and earned the 5-4 overtime win in a game they had to have.

The Firebirds' Cameron Hughes scored with 4:34 to go and then again with 50.1 seconds left to quiet a raucous packed Giant Center crowd of 10,850 fans in Hershey and tie the game 4-4. Hershey then survived an onslaught by the Firebirds in the first 10 minutes of overtime, before winning on a back-handed rebound shot by Riley Sutter at the 6:26 mark.

Instead of a 3-0 stranglehold on the series, the Firebirds have to settle for a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 set for Thursday in Hershey.

"It was a good hockey game. We got to our game a little later than we would've liked, but there are some positives we can take from it," Hughes said. "It could've gone either way. We'll be better the next one. But we don't have to change or do anything crazy. We've been in this position before. We'll look at some film and debrief and get ready for the next one. That's what playoffs are all about."

Firebirds coach Dan Bylsma said he felt like the first 10 minutes of overtime were the best 10 minutes of the game for his team, but they just couldn't get a shot past Hunter Shepard.

The Firebirds' Ryker Evans almost ended it. He ripped a shot in overtime that clanged off the corner of the goal that would've completed Coachella Valley's unlikely comeback, but it agonizingly hit both the post and the crossbar and ricocheted out. It was one of several chances Coachella Valley had in the overtime period. They outshot the Bears 37-30 in the game despite being outshot 12-5 in that lopsided second period.

"There are highs and lows in any seven-game series," Bylsma said. "It was a hard-fought battle and we did a great job of clawing back in it. I really thought we might finish it off early in the overtime. We had some chances to put it away, but it didn't happen for us and now we've had the highs and now we have to deal with the emotional lows of the playoffs and reset and get ready for Game 4."

While a full house saw the game in Pennsylvania, about 800 Firebirds fans packed the ballroom at Spotlight 29 Casino to root on the home team and watch the game on the big screen. They were roaring when Hughes tied the game with 50.1 seconds left as smoke machines fired celebratory blasts into the air.

But in the end the Firebirds faithful had to file out after a tough loss and a guarantee that the series will at least be extended to Game 5 on Saturday, also in Hershey.

Game 3 looked starkly different than the previous two contests in the desert which the Firebirds controlled recording a pair of lopsided wins.

After a pair of shutouts, the Bears finally scored their first goal 133 minutes into the Calder Cup Finals when Ethen Frank netted a power-play goal, the first blemish for Joey Daccord this series. That seemed to settle down the Bears as they played their best hockey of the series after that.

Hershey used a strong second period to open up a 3-1 lead heading into the third period, but the Firebirds didn't go away quietly.

First, with about 13 minutes left in the game, a pinpoint one-timer by Carsen Twarynski off a pretty feed from Shane Wright made the score 3-2, but the pep in the Firebirds' step only lasted 48 seconds.

That's when Hershey's Garrett Pilon made them pay with a perfect shot past Daccord to allow the Bears to regain a two-goal lead at 4-2 and squelch any momentum the Firebirds may have had. That is until Hughes wrestled the momentum back.

First Hughes knocked home a rebound with 4:34 to go to cut the lead to 4-3, but he wasn't done with the drama.

As time ticked away, the Firebirds pulled Daccord in favor of an extra attacker and the time-honored strategy worked. With a 6-on-5 advantage, they controlled the puck and got it to Kole Lind on the edge of the goal to Shepard's right. Lind spun and flicked a nifty backhand pass through the crease to Hughes who fended off a Bears defender and slammed it into the net for the tying goal with 50.1 seconds left.

Hughes' tying goal deflated the sellout crowd in Hershey and ignited the ballroom crowd at Coachella. But alas, it only extended the game.

"In the playoffs, you take goals whenever you can get it, I just would've liked to get the win," Hughes said. "They have a good crowd as do we. It was just a good playoff hockey game."

Both teams did well on the power play as the Firebirds scored twice with the man advantage and also the 6-on-5 situation at the end. Hershey also scored twice in four power-play tries after going 0-for-6 in the first two games.

The Firebirds' first goal was a power-play goal by Brogan Rafferty who ripped one from just inside the blue line past Shepard late in the first period to tie the game at 1.

It was the Firebirds' fourth overtime playoff game and they are now 2-2 in those contests. The Firebirds beat Calgary twice in overtime and lost an overtime game to Colorado in the second round. Hershey is 2-0 in playoff overtime games.

The goals

1-0 Bears: Finally, after 133 minutes in the series, Hershey gets one past Joey Daccord. It was a power play tally by Ethen Frank who ripped one just over the leg pad over Daccord through traffic.

1-1 tie: The Firebirds scored a power-play goal of their own. Brogan Rafferty found some open space to measure one up from center ice and scorched it through traffic just inside the left post before Hunter Shepard even saw it.

2-1 Bears: A quick score for the Bears in the second washed away the bad taste of the late goal they allowed to Rafferty. It was a pretty two-on-one rush with a goal by Joe Snively capitalizing in the end with a nice deke on Daccord.

3-1 Bears: Another power-play goal late in the period as Sam Anas whistled one past Daccord that went through so clean it hit the back bar inside the net and popped out. The official waved off the goal at first, but replay showed that it was indeed a goal and Hershey had its first two-goal lead of the Calder Cup.

3-2: A pretty goal by the Firebirds got them right back in the game. Shane Wright threaded a pretty pass to Carsen Twarynski who zipped one past Shepard to tighten the game still with 13 minutes left, but ...

4-2 Bears: Only 48 seconds later, the Bears scored again to regain a two-goal lead. After the Firebirds failed to clear the puck a few times, Garrett Pilon made them pay with a pretty shot past Daccord.

4-3: With 4:34 to go in the game, Cameron Hughes hammered home a rebound during a power-play surge by the Firebirds to cut the lead back to one.

4-4 tie: With 50.1 seconds left, it's Hughes again with a game-tying dagger on a 6-on-5 situation. The Firebirds had pulled Joey Daccord and had the man advantage. Kole Lind got the puck on the right side of the goalie and flicked a nifty pass to the other post where Hughes was to slam it in from point blank.

5-4 Bears (OT): Hershey wins it with 6:26 left in the first overtime. A loose puck in front of Daccord on a rebound was backhanded deftly into the net by Riley Sutter.

Desert Sun Player of the Game

Cameron Hughes: After scoring his first goal of the postseason in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals, Hughes scored two more goals in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, both in the final five minutes. He also had an assist, his 19th of the postseason.

Calder Cup Finals: What comes next?

The series resumes Thursday in Pennsylvania for Game 4 at 4 p.m. PT. Here's the rest of the schedule:

Game 4: Thu., June 15 – Coachella Valley at Hershey, 4 p.m. Pacific

Game 5: Sat., June 17 – Coachella Valley at Hershey, 4 p.m. Pacific

Game 6: Mon., June 19 – Hershey at Coachella Valley, 7 p.m. Pacific *

Game 7: Wed., June 21 – Hershey at Coachella Valley, 7 p.m. Pacific *

*if necessary

Shad Powers is a sports columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Calder Cup Finals: Hershey Bears edge Coachella Valley Firebirds in Game 3