Amid the waves of speed and pressure, Hershey goalie Justin Peters (22 saves) halted a pair of Lake Erie breakaways eight minutes apart.
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Hershey scored the first goal of the series 15:42 into the opening period as Chris Bourque feathered a pass to Jakub Vrana, who snapped a shot past Forsberg for his eighth goal of the playoffs.
The 23-year-old Swede thwarted Hershey’s juggernaut of an offense by stopping 25 shots in a 4-1 victory over the Bears at the Giant Center.
8 minutes into the period a slapshot by Connor Carrick, tipped in by Nylander, finally put the Marlies on the board.
Ultimately, Toronto’s inability to keep the offence humming conspired to a surprisingly quick exit against a fast, hard-checking Bears team.
Sunday’s game began as a flawless first period for the Bears, played on less-than-ideal ice conditions on a steamy afternoon. Zaar, surely grateful for Peters’ generosity, responded by zipping a shot along the ice that beat Peters low glove side and tied it at 1. Bibeau stopped all 18 shots he faced in net. Curling around the cage from left to right, Vogelhuber blindly fired on net, where a briefly relaxed Peters couldn’t stiffen in time to halt an airborne puck.
Lake Erie goaltender Anton Forsberg, who took over for Joonas Korpisalo late in a second-round win over Grand Rapids, had 26 saves to win his fifth consecutive playoff start. Less than two minutes later, Lake Erie’s Markus Hannikainen then perfectly deflected a left-point blast from the mid-slot to cement the win.
The Bears almost took a 2-0 lead but Forsberg made a great save on defenseman Aaron Ness who had drifted to the deep slot.
Game 2 is Friday night.
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Hershey’s lead then almost doubled when Aaron Ness took aim on a one-timer from the same spot, only to watch Forsberg slide back across in time for a body save.
