HEAD TO HEAD
The division rivals faced off eight times during the regular season, with the Checkers earning a 5-3-0-0 record. The matchups were scattered fairly evenly across the schedule - with the two sides clashing in five of the seven months of play - and after the Checkers won each of the first two tilts, the two sides alternated victories for the remaining six games.The contests themselves were mostly tight affairs, with four of the eight contests being decided by a single goal. In fact, there were only two instances in which the matchup was decided by more than two tallies.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
After pushing their way into third place in the division at the end of the season, the Checkers dispatched Lehigh Valley in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs - dropping Game 1 before bouncing back with a thrilling double-overtime win in Game 2 and blowing out the Phantoms in Game 3.On the other side, the Bears have been waiting. Despite narrowly missing out on the Atlantic Division crown - Providence edged them out by a single point on the last day of the season - the Bears earned a bye past the opening round by finishing in second place. When the puck drops on Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Semifinal, it will mark Hershey’s first game since April 15.
WHO TO WATCH
Connor BunnamanBunnaman came up big in round one, tying for the series best with five points (2g, 3a) in three games. That hot streak carried over from the back half of the regular season when he really hit his stride - after posting five points through his first 36 games, Bunnaman racked up 18 over his final 25 to close out the campaign.
Aleksi Heponiemi
One of Charlotte’s alternate captains, Heponiemi was a catalyst for the team’s offensive outburst in round one. The Finnish forward notched five helpers over the three-game set, including a three-assist performance in a critical Game 3. The 24-year-old is in his second Calder Cup Playoff run and now has nine points in 10 postseason games wearing a Charlotte sweater.
Lucas Carlsson
Carlsson closed out a historic season that saw him rewrite the franchise record book with a sxi-game point streak and a run of 27 points over his final 21 games. He continued that strong play into the postseason - his first at the AHL level - by posting four points in the three-game series, including the double-overtime winner in Game 2.
Mike Sgarbossa
Hershey’s leading scorer clocked in at nearly a point per game, logging 58 (21g, 37a) in 60 contests, and ended the regular season on a strong note with 17 points in his final 17 games. The veteran forward - who is making his fifth trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs - has also been a thorn in the side of Charlotte specifically, recording 14 points in 10 games against the Checkers over the last two seasons.
Ethen Frank
Frank was stellar as a rookie for Hershey, finishing the year as one of 10 players across the AHL to hit the 30-goal mark. The 25-year-old missed seven of the Bears’ last eight regular season games, but he marked his return in the final game of the year with his first hat trick.
Hunter Shepard
The Bears went with a tandem approach between the pipes, with Hunter Shepard and Zach Fucale nearly splitting the minutes load - the latter finished with more minutes logged on the year, but the former got the starting nod in nine of the final 14 contests to close out the regular season. Shepard turned in the more impressive numbers of the duo, including a 2.18 goals-against average that ranked second in the AHL.
THE NUMBERS
- Record
- CLT: 39-25-5-3, 86 pts (3rd in Atlantic)
- HER: 44-19-5-4, 97 pts (2nd in Atlantic)
- Goals For Per Game
- CLT: 3.26 (9th)
- HER: 3.01 (21st)
- Goals Against Per Game
- CLT: 3.06 (14th)
- HER: 2.56 (2nd)
- Power Play
- CLT: 21.1% (8th)
- HER: 18.5% (18th)
- Penalty Kill
- CLT: 82.2% (t-8th)
- HER: 81.9% (t-11th)
