Calder Cup Game 4 live: Hershey Bears 3, Firebirds 2 (final)

The Calder Cup Finals is now a best-of-three series.

The Hersey Bears scored twice in the second period to beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds 3-2 in a pivotal Game 4 of the AHL Calder Cup Finals from the Giant Center in Pennsylvania. The series is now tied 2-2. Game 5 will be Saturday in Hershey before Game 6 returns to Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert on Monday.

The Firebirds' Jesper Froden had a tremendous individual effort to score around the net with 12:59 to play in the third period and trim the Hershey lead to 3-2.

Hershey broke a 1-1 tie with two goals in the second period to jump ahead 3-1. Three minutes into the second period, Mike Vecchione scored his second goal of the night to give Hershey a 2-1 lead in Game 4 of the series. Hershey extended its advantage to 3-1 with 5:36 to go when Ethen Frank scored his second goal of the series.

Hershey scored the opening goal for the second consecutive game when Mike Vecchione collected a goal at the 15:33 mark of the first period on a power play. It was his first point in nine games.

With 7:19 remaining, Austin Poganski evened the score with a Firebirds power play goal.

After being shut out in the first two games of the series, a blind, backhanded whack at a bouncing puck in overtime was enough to get the Hershey Bears past the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Tuesday and back in the Calder Cup Finals series.

The Bears escaped with a 5-4 overtime win in Game 3 to tighten the series. The Firebirds still hold a 2-1 lead and showed in Tuesday's game that it's going to take an extended effort to beat them in this series.

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

As we lead up to tonight's pivotal Game 4, keep coming back for the latest news, notes and nuggets of the day:

Calder Cup Finals: Third period

The Firebirds Jesper Froden had a tremendous individual effort to score around the net with 12:59 to play and trim the Hershey lead to 3-2.

Calder Cup Finals: Second period

Three minutes into the second period, Mike Vecchione scored his second goal of the night to give Hershey a 2-1 lead in Game 4 of the series.

Hershey extended its advantage to 3-1 with 5:36 to go when Ethen Frank scored his second goal of the series.

While the Firebirds outshot Hershey 12-11 in the second period, they failed to convert on three power play opportunities.

Calder Cup Finals: First period

Hershey scored the opening goal for the second consecutive game when Mike Vecchione collected a goal at the 15:33 mark on a power play. It was his first point in nine games.

With 7:19 remaining, Austin Poganski evened the score with a Firebirds power play goal. Shane Wright had the assist.

Hershey outshot the Firebirds 10-4.

Calder Cup Finals: Hughes turning it up

Cameron Hughes, the 26-year-old forward from Edmonton, Alberta, did not score a single goal over the Firebirds' first 20 postseason games. Now, suddenly, he's on a tear.

Hughes has scored three goals over the last two games, which means that he leads all Coachella Valley players in goals during the Calder Cup Finals. Imagine going so long without a goal and then turning it on at the biggest moment of the season.

Hughes has somewhat of a flare for coming up big in these moments. After all, he scored the first goal ever inside Acrisure Arena when the $500 million facility opened last December.

Hughes scored a goal in Game 2 of this series -- which was his first since April 12 -- then scored two in Game 3 in Hershey. Now, with a head-turning, two-game scoring streak, it'll be interesting to see if Hughes can make it a three-game streak Thursday in Game 4.

Calder Cup Finals: Four is the magic number

Tuesday's 5-4 overtime loss marked the first time this postseason that the Firebirds have scored four goals and lost. They were previously 12-0 when they scored at least four goals.

So, while the Firebirds have won several games this postseason when they didn't score four goals, reaching that number on the scoreboard has proven to be a pretty effective way to win games for this squad.

One positive thing is that Coachella Valley has reached that number in each of the first three games of the Calder Cup Finals.

Calder Cup Finals: 13 years (and more) in the making

Hershey's victory in Game 3 was the club's first win in the Calder Cup Finals since June 14, 2010. That night, the Bears upended the Texas Stars in Game 6 to claim the Calder Cup title in front of 11,002 fans.

Tuesday's game was also a historic first, marking the first Calder Cup Finals game to reach overtime at Giant Center in the sixth championship series the building has hosted since it opened in 2002. Riley Sutter gave Hershey its first overtime win in the Finals since Alexandre Giroux scored in Game 5 of the 2010 series at Texas on June 11, 2010, and the win was Hershey's first Finals victory in overtime on home ice since Mike McHugh scored in Game 2 versus Hamilton on June 7, 1997 at Hersheypark Arena.

Calder Cup Finals: Frosting and Firebirds

Local La Quinta bakery Tiffany's Sweet Spot has been in the Firebirds' spirit all year and features some Calder Cup-specific cookies right now celebrating the team's championship round matchup with the Hershey Bears.

The frosted cookies have messages on them like "Let's Go Firebirds" but also some creative ones like a Bear with the red "Ghostbusters" no line through it, or one that looks like a brick wall that says "Joey" on it referring to the impenetrable force that is Firebirds goalie Joey Daccord. There also may or may not be one that looks like the poop emoji with the word "Bears" on it.

If you want to try one, Tiffany's Sweet Spot is at 78590 CA-111 in La Quinta near the Stater Brothers.

Calder Cup Finals: Have you tried the watch party?

While the Firebirds are locking horns with the Bears (Yes, I know neither birds nor bears have horns) in Hershey, Firebirds fans can convene at Spotlight 29 Casino to watch the game on three big screens in the ballroom for free.

Here are some of the things that happen at the watch party that you might not know about and might give you that extra boost to attend:

• Fuego is on hand, whooping it up and throwing T-shirts all over the place during intermissions.

• There is a free face-painting booth, and free popcorn.

• All attendees get a free raffle ticket for some great prizes. On Tuesday, they gave away a hockey stick autographed by Kole Lind, a puck autographed by Max McCormick and flight vouchers for Alaska Airlines.

• There are traditional concession stands and merchandise-purchasing opportunities.

• The Firebirds TV crew of Gino LaMont and Grant Fuhr are broadcasting live from the watch party during intermissions.

Calder Cup Finals: NHL-TV steps up

It was announced Wednesday that all remaining Calder Cup Finals games will air on the NHL Network, a product of the Stanley Cup Finals ending Tuesday night with a Las Vegas Golden Knights win.

Bears play-by-play broadcaster Zack Fisch will have the call, joined by Todd Sadowski and Andrew Kalista of Fox 43 WPMT-TV. The games will also stream on AHLTV. In addition, the games will be heard on NHL Network Radio (SiriusXM 91).

Locally, Saturday's Game 5 will also air on KESQ, channel 3.

Calder Cup Finals: What comes next?

Both teams are now in Pennsylvania for Game 5 at 4 p.m. PT on Saturday. Here's the rest of the schedule:

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

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

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

*if necessary

Follow along throughout Game 4 for in-game updates and nuggets from the sports staff at The Desert Sun.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: AHL Calder Cup Finals Game 4 live updates: Firebirds vs. Hershey Bears