COACHELLA VALLEY, CA - JUN 10, 2023: The Coachella Valley Firebirds vs. Hershey Bears at Acrisure Arena / Calder Cup Finals - Game 2 (Photo by Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds)
Riley Sutter tucked a loose puck over the blocker of Joey Daccord to rescue the Hershey Bears in game three of the American Hockey League's Calder Cup Finals, 5-4 in overtime over the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Tuesday night at Giant Center.
The Firebirds, with Daccord halting any kind of Bears offensive production through two games, had their series lead trimmed to 2-1 as they recovered from a 3-1 deficit in the third period on back-to-back-goals by Cameron Hughes. He scored both goals in a span of 3:43, including an extra attacker goal with 51 seconds left in regulation.
Kraken first round draft pick Shane Wright had an assist on an outnumbered attack with Carsen Twarynski, at 6:33 of the third period which sliced Hershey's lead to 3-2. Ethen Frank, Joe Snively, and Sam Anas built a 3-1 lead for the Bears around Brogan Rafferty's first period goal with 1:21 left for Coachella Valley.
Garrett Pilon scored for Hershey with 12:39 left in regulation for a 4-2 lead, before Hughes spearheaded the comeback.
Hunter Shepard's 33 stops were good enough for the win while Daccord yielded five goals on 30 shots, after shutting out Hershey in the first two games of the series.
Game four will be in Hershey, 4pm PT (950 AM KJR) on Thursday.