CEDAR PARK, Texas – Whatever the sport, teams struggle, no fight, for home ice advantage in the playoffs. The Hershey Bears and Texas Stars did that all season in the AHL with the Bears gaining the ice advantage in the Calder Cup Finals.
Well, so much for all of that fight in the regular season and playoff races leading to the Finals. The Bears needed overtime to win game five in their series with the Stars and leave Texas with a 3-2 series lead.
Hershey winger Alexandre Giroux scored the game-winning goal at 13:38 of overtime, lifting the Bears to a 2-1 victory over Texas. Giroux found a rebound in front of the Texas net and slipped a shot past Matt Climie for the win.
Climie stopped 41 of 43 Hershey shots on the night in the loss.
Forward Aaron Gagnon notched the only Stars goal in Texas’ fifth loss at home this postseason. Bears winger Francois Bouchard scored the only regulation goal for Hershey and goalie Michal Neuvirth made 35 saves in the win.
Texas will travel to Hershey for Game 6 on Monday, June 14th at 6:00 PM.
Texas opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 8:03 of the first period. Dan Jancevski ripped a slapshot from the left point, and Aaron Gagnon redirected the puck from the Hershey crease past goalie Neuvirth for the 1-0 Stars lead. Maxime Fortunus added an assist on Gagnon’s eighth goal of the postseason.
The Bears tied the game 1-1 at 11:12 of the second period, just seconds after the Stars killed off a power play. Francois Bouchard scored his fifth goal of the playoffs from the slot, beating Texas goalie Matt Climie on the stickside. Chris Bourque set up Bouchard with a pass from the left-wing circle.
Neither team scored for the rest of regulation, forcing the extra session.
The real question now is whether the Bears want to return home? Neither team has won at home and the Stars should be encouraged to be heading back to the ice where they won the opening two games of this series. The Texas Stars will host a Watch Party for Game 6 inside the bowl of Cedar Park Center. The game will be broadcast on the four-sided HD video board above center ice and the audio of the radio broadcast will be played. Fans may sit in the Club Section and receive in-seat service for food and beverages. Admittance and parking to the event are free. The parking lot and doors at Cedar Park Center will open at 5:00 PM with the game starting at 6:00 PM. Cedar Park Center is running food and drink specials for the watch party.
Contact Lou.Lafrado@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.