WORCESTER, MA –The Worcester Sharks (#7 seed in East) opened up the playoffs with a 4-1 loss to the Hershey Bears (#2 seed in East) in front 3,026 fans at the DCU Center on Friday evening in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Game 2 is slated for Saturday, April 25 at the DCU Center at 7pm.
Micheal Haley scored a power play goal for Worcester and Aaron Dell made 20 saves in net. Hershey broke a 1-1 tie late in the third period with three power play goals in the final 2:21 on a major power play. Phoenix Copley made 41 saves in net for Hershey as the Bears got goals from Connor Carrick, Nate Schmidt, Stan Galiev, and Chris Brown for the 4-1 victory.
The Sharks came out buzzing in the opening period as they outshot the Bears 14-5 and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Micheal Haley (1st) found a loose rebound in the Bears crease and fired it home past goaltender Pheonix Copley at 19:46 on the power play for the only strike of the period. Aaron Dell was sharp in net for Worcester with five saves as the Sharks finished the period 1-3 on the power play.
Hershey scored the only goal of the second period as defenseman Connor Carrick (1st) came in late on a rush and fired a quick shot from the left slot after a great feed by Chandler Stephenson at 18:31. Worcester held a 21-15 shot advantage through 40 minutes but the score was tied 1-1 after two periods of play.
After a collision between Steve Oleksy and Jeremy Langlois resulted in a major penalty to Langlois for checking from behind and a game misconduct at 17:39 of the third period, the Bears would break the 1-1 tie. Nate Schmidt (1st) scored the game winner at 17:39 after he kept in a clearing attempt by the Sharks and then cut diagonal to the left circle and snapped a shot that broke off Aaron Dell and into the net to put Hershey up 2-1.
Stan Galiev (1st) added an insurance goal at 19:03 with another power play goal after a goal mouth scramble. Chris Brown (1st) sealed the deal with an empty netter power play goal at 919:30 to give Hershey the 4-1 victory.
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