Wolf Pack beat Hershey Bears 5-4 in OT

Former Hershey Bears Joey Crabb (14) and Chris Bourque (17), shown here in Game 5, combined for 18 points for Hartford in the series. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

(Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com)

HARTFORD, Conn. - Boosted by the reassignments of Andre Burakovsky and Nate Schmidt and the return of injured Stan Galiev, the Hershey Bears brought reinforcements into Game 6 Friday night at XL Center.

But they still had no answers for the Hartford Wolf Pack line of Chris Bourque, Marek Hrivik and Joey Crabb.

Led by Hrivik's hat trick, that trio combined for four goals and eight points in a 6-3 Hartford win that ended Hershey's season.

"

They're a good line," Bears captain Steve Oleksy said. "They're going to make plays. Unfortunately, it seemed like every chance they get, it found the back of the net. A line like that, when they start playing with confidence they're dangerous."

Hartford won the best-of-seven series 4-2 and advanced to play the Manchester Monarchs in the Eastern Conference finals.

"

Obviously, it's not ending the way we want," Bears head coach Troy Mann said. "They were the better team over the course of the six-game series. I thought they deserved it."

Burakovsky, reassigned by the Washington Capitals Friday, gave Hershey a quick 1-0 lead 1:24 into the game with his first AHL playoff shot.

"

Obviously, it was nice to score," Burakovsky said. "It wasn't really enough."

Indeed, it was a temporary high as Hartford continued to assert a distinct edge in play that began in the second period of Game 5.

Hrivik scored midway through the first to tie it 1-1 and early in the second to make it 2-1. A Dustin Gazley shorthander tied it 2-2 for Hershey at 5:39 of the second before the Wolf Pack broke it open on scores by Mike Kostka and Crabb (shorthanded).

Schmidt scored unassisted at 12:44 of the third to draw Hershey within 4-3. But Carl Klingberg answered quickly at 14:14 and Hrivik sealed it with an empty-netter.

"

I don't think there's a guy in that locker room that doesn't think the season came to an end quicker than we thought it was going to," Oleksy said. "That's hockey. That's a good team and they played well.

"

We played well, too. Unfortunately, we didn't get a couple bounces. If that's the case, I think we're talking about something else."

Hershey led 3-1 after the first period in pivotal Game 5. After that, things unraveled for the Bears, who were outscored a collective 10-4 the rest of the series.

Former Bears Bourque (3-8-11) and Crabb (4-3-7) combined for 18 points in the series.

"

It just didn't matter what line we played out there [against them]," Mann said.

"

Their guys rose to the occasion and were excellent throughout the series."

Mann said season-ending exit interviews and physicals will begin Sunday.

"

It's not what we were hoping for," Burakovsky said. "It's not how we wanted the season to end. Hartford came out real good. It's a really good team with a lot of skill, really good players. Obviously, it's tough to beat them."

Hershey 1 1 1 - 3

Hartford 1 3 2 - 6



1st Period-1, Hershey, Burakovsky 1 (Conner, Schilling), 1:24. 2, Hartford, Hrivik 1 (Skjei, C. Bourque), 9:02. Penalties-Mueller Hfd (elbowing), 18:08.



2nd Period-3, Hartford, Hrivik 2 (C. Bourque), 1:26. 4, Hershey, Gazley 2 (Newbury, Schilling), 5:39 (SH). 5, Hartford, Kostka 1 (Lindberg, Crabb), 9:00. 6, Hartford, Crabb 4 (Lindberg), 16:37 (SH). Penalties-Wellman Her (holding), 5:27; Mitchell Her (roughing), 11:02; served by Kristo Hfd (bench minor - interference from bench), 15:25.



3rd Period-7, Hershey, Schmidt 4 12:44. 8, Hartford, Klingberg 2 (Haggerty, McIlrath), 14:14. 9, Hartford, Hrivik 3 (C. Bourque, Hughes), 19:24 (EN). Penalties-Mitchell Her (interference), 0:53; Crabb Hfd (interference), 1:50.



Shots on Goal-Hershey 7-11-8-26. Hartford 16-11-10-37.

Power Play Opportunities-Hershey 0 / 3; Hartford 0 / 3.

Goalies-Hershey, Grubauer 2-4-0 (36 shots-31 saves). Hartford, Danis 7-3-0 (26 shots-23 saves).

A-4,129

Referees-Garrett Rank (48), Terry Koharski (10).

Linesmen-Shandor Alphonso (52), Luke Galvin (2).