Bears fall 6-2 to Firebirds in Game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals

June 19, 2024 – American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears news story

(Palm Desert, CA) – Henrik Rybinski and Alex Limoges scored for the Hershey Bears (11-6), but Max McCormick scored three goals for the Coachella Valley Firebirds (12-3) as Hershey fell 6-2 in Game 3 of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals on Tuesday evening at the Acrisure Arena. Coachella Valley now leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

The Firebirds took an early 1-0 lead with the man advantage after Kole Lind’s shot was not fully secured by Hunter Shepard, and McCormick put the puck past the netminder just 2:20 into the game.

McCormick struck again at 6:03 when he parked himself in front of the Hershey net and rammed a centering feed past Shepard to make it 2-0 to Coachella Valley.

Rybinski got Hershey on the board at 8:50 when Mike Vecchione collected a blocked shot in the defensive zone, setting up Ivan Miroshnichenko and Rybinski for a 2-on-1 rush, and as Miroshnichenko turned it left for Rybinski, the forward buried his fifth of the postseason past Chris Driedger.

The Bears tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play strike just 1:29 into the second period, when Limoges redirected Ethen Frank’s shot from the blue line for his fourth of the playoffs. Joe Snively earned a secondary assist.

Lleyton Roed responded at 4:06 to give the Firebirds a 3-2 lead after Ryker Evans’ shot hit the post and Roed knocked him into the cage.

Ryan Winterton restored the two-goal lead for Coachella Valley at the 4:00 mark when the puck rolled through the crease and he lifted it past Shepard.

Shane Wright scored to make it 5-2 at 7:01 of the third period, replacing Hershey Shepard in net with Clay Stevenson.

With Stevenson brought in for an extra skater, McCormick completed his hat trick with an empty net goal at 18:24 to cap the scoring. McCormick’s hat trick marked the first three-goal game by an opponent against the Bears in the Calder Cup Finals since June 2, 2009, when Jason Jaffray accomplished the feat for the Manitoba Moose in Game 2 of the championship series.

Shots finished 42-24 in favor of the Firebirds. Shepard took the loss for Hershey with a 31-for-36 performance, while Stevenson went 5-for-5 in relief; Driedger earned the win for Coachella Valley by going 22-for-24. The Bears went 1-for-2 on the power play; the Firebirds went 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

The Bears continue the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs when they take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds in Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals on Thursday, June 20 at 10:00 PM (ET) at Acrisure Arena. Should a Game 6 be necessary for the best-of-seven series, the Bears will host the Firebirds on Monday, June 24 at 7:00 PM at GIANT Center.

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