Bears Take 3-2 Loss to Checkers in Series Opener

May 16, 2025

The Hershey Bears (3-3) opened their Atlantic Division Finals series with a 3-2 loss against the Charlotte Checkers (4-2) on Friday night at Bojangles Coliseum. Charlotte leads the best-of-five series 1-0.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Sandis Vilmanis scored the only goal of the first period for Charlotte at 8:23, as the Bears were outshot by the Checkers 7-3.
• Hershey rebounded with a pair of goals in the second period as Bogdan Trineyev pounced on a Charlotte turnover for an unassisted tally at 6:40 to tie the score at 1-1 with his fourth of the playoffs. Mike Vecchione gave Hershey a 2-1 lead at 13:06 on passes from Vincent Iorio and Mike Sgarbossa.
• Michael Benning leveled the score for the Checkers at 2-2 with a power-play goal at 15:50.
• John Leonard netted the game-deciding goal in the third period with an unassisted shorthanded tally at 11:58, marking the fourth shorthanded goal allowed by Hershey during the current postseason.
• Hershey captain Aaron Ness skated in his 68th career playoff game with the Bears to tie Howie Yanosik for fourth in club history.

SHOTS: HER 19, CLT 24

GOALTENDING: HER - Hunter Shepard, 21-for-24; CLT - Kaapo Kahkonen, 17-for-19

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-2; CLT - 1-for-3

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on if there were any surprises with the outcome of tonight's series opener:
"There were no surprises tonight. I expected [Charlotte] to come out like they did in the first period. We just had to weather this storm a bit and I thought we got stronger as the game went on. In the third period, we were coming, and all of a sudden we get a power play opportunity. They scored a shorthanded goal and it breaks our back. So the difference in the game was special teams, they scored a power-play goal and they got a shorthanded goal. That's the difference in the game."

Nelson on adjustments made from the first period through the remainder of the game to counter Charlotte:
"Yeah, I think so. We might tweak it a bit [going forward]. I like the way the guys executed the game plan. We're playing against a good hockey team. Anytime you allow a power-play goal against and then give up a shorty, it's not going to be well for you. But they're a good hockey team. You can't do it against a good hockey team, but the Hershey Bears cannot beat themselves."

Nelson on the play of Bogdan Trineyev, who leads Hershey in the playoffs with four goals:
"I think his scoring touch - he's always been pretty reliable defensively. He's on the [penalty kill] but I think he got rewarded tonight by just putting pressure on the forecheck and scored a goal for us. But just his growth, his confidence - he's growing up, but he's in his second full year [in North America] and he's growing more confident every game he plays."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs when Hershey faces the Charlotte Checkers in Game 2 of the Atlantic Division Finals on Saturday, May 17, at 7 p.m. at Bojangles Coliseum. The series resumes in Hershey with Game 3 on Wednesday, May 21 at GIANT Center. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.