Coachella Valley’s offense scorches Hershey Bears into the desert

Quick hits:
While Coachella Valley quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Hershey would work its way back to a 2-2 tie early in the second. From then on, it was a big barrage on Hunter Shepard, who was eventually called to the bench.

Coachella Valley captain Max McCormick scored a hat trick and the Firebirds Shane Wright skated nearly flawlessly on the night in the win as CV takes a 2-1 series lead.

How it went

It was an ugly start to Game 3 for Hershey and while it got better for a moment, it ended up worse than the actual start for Hershey.

First team of the match Hershey was sent to the penalty area due to an incorrect starting position. That’s right, a wrong setup.

The Firebirds wasted no time as CV captain Max McCormick knocked loose a puck that was behind Hunter Shepard.

McCormick was at it again from close range when Shane Wright slid one over to Max, who was all alone in front of Shepard to take the 2-0 lead.

However, Hershey recovered about two minutes later when Miro and Rybinski had a 2-on-1 break, with Miro sliding one just past a stick and Rybi cutting the puck wide of the Coachella netminder to cut the deficit to 2-1.
At this point the match was fairly even. Shots are a storyline in this series and after twenty minutes it was 10-9 in favor of the home team.

Hershey started the second period with a power play and immediately cashed in. After wasting their first power play opportunity with a game of pass the puck, this time they decided to put the puck on net and something good came of it when Alex Limoges deflected an Ethen Frank shot from the point. The goal was the fourth of the postseason for the Penn State alum.

From then on, this game was all Firebirds. Their offense and puck control were like a screaming trans-am on an open highway. In the second period, CV registered 23 shots. The Bears only six. Hershey only scored 24 that night.

As Shepard tried to stand on his head, the Bears netminder was bombarded with shot after shot after shot. Lleyton Roed, who was in the line-up due to injury, finally broke the tie when he tickled the rope with his first Calder Cup Playoff goal.

Later, Ryan Winterton lifted a puck over Shep as Hershey failed to clear the rubber as we entered the last 20 of these tied at 4-2.

Shane Wright ended any hopes of a Hershey comeback as the Bears tried to find their legs. One of the best players on AHL ice, Wright finished off his three-point night.

That ended Shepard’s night and speaking of three, Max McCormick added his third of the night by clearing an empty net from his own zone.

Coachella Valley is undefeated in their house that rocks. It will be a change for the Bears to get one of the next two, but do it and they have a chance to battle on home ice.

The next chance is Thursday evening in the desert.

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