Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 1: Hershey Bears 4, Worcester Sharks 1 (Hershey leads 1-0) (4/24/15)

Box Score


#2 Hershey (46-22-5-3) vs. #7 Worcester (41-29-4-2)
DCU Center: Worcester, MA
Goalies: Copley (17-4-3, 2.17) vs. Dell (15-8-2, 2.06)


1st Period
Scoring
19:46- WOR Goal (PPG): Haley (1), Goodrow & Tarasov


Penalties
2:37- HER Penalty: L. O'Brien for Hooking (2:00)
16:36- HER Penalty: Stephenson for Hooking (2:00)
18:20- HER Penalty: Mitchell for Hooking (2:00)


2nd Period
Scoring
18:31- HER Goal: Carrick (1), Stephenson & L. O'Brien


Penalties
1:29- HER Penalty: Carrick for Tripping (2:00)
8:56- WOR Penalty: Stollery for Tripping (2:00)


3rd Period
Scoring
17:39- HER Goal (PPG): Schmidt (1)
19:03- HER Goal (PPG): Galiev (1), Schilling & Kennedy
19:30- HER Goal (PPG) (EN): Brown (1), Gazley & Newbury


Penalties
17:17- WOR Penalty: Langlois for Checking from Behind (Major) (5:00)
17:17- WOR Penalty: Langlois Game Misconduct for Checking from Behind (10:00)


Shots
HER: 5-10-9=24
WOR: 14-17-11=42


Recap


The way this game was going, it looked like it was going to overtime with the performance of Pheonix Copley and the play becoming more even than the beginning of the game. The Sharks, specifically Jeremy Langlois, might come to regret that penalty that led the Bears to the Game 1 victory. In the 1st, if it wasn't for Copley, the Bears would have been trailing by much more. The shots became too much by the end of the period, and the Sharks scored on the power play with 14 seconds left in the period. Michael Haley got his 1st of the playoffs, from Barclay Goodrow & Dylan DeMelo. After the 1st, the Sharks had the 14-5 shot advantage.


In the 2nd, the Bears' play got stronger, but Worcester continued to have the most pressure. Copley would stand strong in net, and keep the Bears to within a goal. The Bears would finally get on the board with 1:29 left in the period. Connor Carrick scored his 1st of the playoffs, from Chandler Stephenson & Liam O'Brien. After the 2nd, the Sharks would have the 31-15 shot advantage. In the 3rd, the play was much more even. Each team had a good number of chances, and it looked like it would head to overtime. In an ironic twist, the least penalized team in the regular season would get a penalty that would come to haunt them.


Worcester's Jeremy Langlois was charged with a major and a game misconduct for checking from behind. 22 seconds into that power play, the Bears would take the lead. Nate Schmidt scored his 1st of the playoffs, from Casey Wellman & Jakub Vrana. At the 19:03 mark, the Bears would score once again on that power play to make it 3-1. Stanislav Galiev got his 1st of the playoffs, from Cameron Schilling & Chris Conner. With 30 seconds left, the Bears would get their 3rd power play goal (an empty-netter) to finish the scoring at 4-1. Chris Brown scored his 1st of the playoffs, from Dustin Gazley & Kris Newbury. Pheonix Copley finished with a great 41-save performance (Hershey finished with 24 shots).


Game 2: Tomorrow in Worcester, 7:00