PALM DESERT, Calif. (theahl.com) … Jimmy Huntington scored his second goal of the night with 3:15 left in regulation, sending Hershey to a 3-2 win over Coachella Valley and a 3-2 series lead in the 2024 Calder Cup Finals.
The Bears are one win away from their second consecutive championship as they prepare to host Game 6 on Monday night (7 ET, AHLTV).
Huntington’s first goal came with 1.3 seconds left in the opening period to tie the game at 1-1. His second of the game and third of the series gave the Bears their only lead of the contest and lifted them to their second straight one-goal victory at Acrisure Arena.
Hardy Häman Aktell tied the game at 2-2 with 11:34 to play, scoring his fourth goal of the Finals and fifth of the postseason.
Kole Lind and Ryan Winterton provided the scoring for the Firebirds, who were 7-0 at home in the postseason before dropping Games 4 and 5 to Hershey.
Alex Limoges tallied two assists for the Bears, and Hunter Shepard stopped 24 shots in the victory.
NOTES: A capacity crowd of 10,087 was on hand as the AHL established a new record for total attendance in a single postseason at more than 559,000… The Bears have killed off 15 of 16 Firebirds power plays in the series… Coachella Valley has lost back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game skid, Dec. 17-23… Since going to a best-of-seven format in 1944, the Calder Cup Finals have been tied at 2-2 on 22 previous occasions and the team winning Game 5 has won the Cup 21 times.
(Hershey leads series, 3-2)
Game 1 – Fri., June 14 – Coachella Valley 4, HERSHEY 3
Game 2 – Sun., June 16 – HERSHEY 5, Coachella Valley 2
Game 3 – Tue., June 18 – COACHELLA VALLEY 6, Hershey 2
Game 4 – Thu., June 20 – Hershey 3, COACHELLA VALLEY 2
Game 5 – Sat., June 22 – Hershey 3, COACHELLA VALLEY 2
Game 6 – Mon., June 24 – Coachella Valley at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 26 – Coachella Valley at Hershey, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
