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Hershey Bears close out Rochester to advance to Calder Cup Final

ethan cadeaux
·2 min read

Hershey closes out Rochester, advances to Calder Cup Final originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

The quest for a 12th Calder Cup in Chocolatetown is just four wins away.

Thanks to a second-period goal from Shane Gersich, the Hershey Bears knocked off the Rochester Americans, 1-0, on Friday night to close out the AHL Eastern Conference Finals and advance to the Calder Cup Final. Hershey won the best-of-seven series, 4-2.

“Huge effort from everybody. Unbelievable," Bears forward Aliaksei Protas told Capitals radio broadcaster John Walton after the game. "Now it’s the final battle so we have to be ready."

The Bears are set to appear in a 24th Calder Cup Final, extending their own AHL record. Hershey's last title came in 2010 when future Capitals stalwarts John Carlson, Braden Holtby, Jay Beagle and Karl Alzner were on the team.

Hershey will play the winner of the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Milwaukee Admirals in the Calder Cup Finals. The Firebirds-Admirals series is currently tied, 2-2.

Here were some notes from Game 6...

  • The lone goal of the game came courtesy of Gersich, his first of the postseason. Gersich crashed the net following a shot attempt from Beck Malenstyn and was in the right place to clean up the rebound and send the puck past Rochester netminder Malcolm Subban for the goal

  • Gersich, who replaced Ethen Frank in the lineup for the second time this series, was a black ace for the 2018 Capitals team that won the Stanley Cup. Frank, who scored 30 goals in the regular season, was a healthy scratch on Friday and has yet to find the back of the net in the Calder Cup Playoffs. 

  • Both goaltenders were outstanding on Friday, as Subban and Hunter Shepard combined to stop 42 of 43 shots on net in the contest. Shepard earned his second shutout of the series, blocking all 24 Rochester attempts that came his way

  • The Bears chose the superstitious route following the game, refusing to touch the Richard F. Canning Trophy. Instead, they opted for a team photo behind it.