Calder Cup conundrum: How do you beat the Hershey Bears in a close game?

How do you beat these Hershey Bears in a close game?

Coachella Valley Firebirds fans will be happy to never see another 3-2 final score the rest of their lives as the Bears, for the third time in the last four Calder Cup Finals games at Acrisure Arena, came away with a gut-wrenching 3-2 win.

The Firebirds led in the third period in two of those losses, including Saturday night's Game 5 and were tied in the third period in the other.

What is it about this Hershey team that makes them so good in close games? That's not a rhetorical question, it's one I asked of Hershey coach Todd Nelson after the game.

"We were like that last year, too. It starts in goal with our goalie," Nelson said. "When Hunter Shepard's on, he's tough to beat. It starts with him, and I just think we feel comfortable in those situations. We don't get rattled because we've played in those situations a lot over the past two years in the playoffs and the regular season."

The numbers against the Firebirds speak for themselves. There have been seven one-goal games between the two teams the past two years and Hershey has won six of them. The Firebirds' Game 1 win this year at Hershey (4-3) is the lone exception.

Like Nelson said, having an unflappable goalie is important, but I think even more so is just a mindset and an expectation that Hershey has in those moments. To beat a championship-caliber team with a long history and legacy of winning, that feeds on itself and it rears its head at the end of close games. No mistakes. No accidents. No missed opportunities.

Let's face it. In the world of the AHL, the Bears are the New York Yankees, the New England Patriots and Alabama football rolled into one. They have the most Calder Cups (12) and the most Calder Cup Finals appearances (25). It takes an uncommon effort, something extra to beat a team that expects to win. In the AHL, Hershey is THAT team.

So far the Firebirds haven't been able to come up with that something extra in the close ones against Hershey.

The Bears thrive in close games and they know that you know they thrive in close games, and that realization adds to the difficulty in beating them in close games. There's a mystique there.

Coach Dan Bylsma, who was behind the bench as the Firebirds coach for the last time at Acrisure Arena on Saturday, said you pretty much have to go into every game against Hershey expecting it to be a one-goal game.

"Obviously they're a good team, they were a good team last year and a good team this year, and they've got some dangerous players," Bylsma said. "And it's going to be a one-goal game, you can't expect it to be any different. We won a one-goal game in Game 1 in that building, and if we win in Game 6 it's going to be a one-goal game. You gotta be ready for that fight and ready for that battle. And we've just gotta come out on the other end."

The Firebirds now must defy the odds. Heading into this season, there had been 22 occasions where the best-of-7 series was tied 2-2, and in 21 of those times, the team that won Game 5 went on to win the Cup. That run includes last season when Hershey won Game 5 1-0 in overtime to take a 3-2 lead into Acrisure Arena. The Firebirds forced a Game 7 but couldn't buck the trend.

To do so this year will be even more difficult. For the Firebirds to become only the second team ever to lose Game 5 to go down 3-2 and rally to win the Calder Cup, they'll need to win two games in a row at Hershey.

Not impossible, but certainly not easy.

That being said, I liked the mentality of the Firebirds players after Saturday's loss. Kole Lind and Cale Fleury were not glum or distraught. They had some fire behind their eyes as they answered questions.

They believe they can win two in a row at Hershey. As Fleury said with a wry smile "we've won two games in a row a lot this year."

And I like that attitude. Don't think of winning two in a row at Hershey as some Mount Everest you have to climb, but something closer to a mole hill. Win two games in a row? We can do that.

So off to Hershey the Firebirds go. Last year, down 3-2, they won Game 6 in convincing fashion 5-2.

Like Bylsma said, though, one of these last two games (the Firebirds hope there are two at least) is going to be a one-goal game. To be the champs you have to beat the champs. And you're going to have to beat the champs at their own game.

And let's face it, the final score will probably be 3-2. Maybe, for once, the Firebirds will have the 3.

Shad Powers is a columnist at The Desert Sun. Have a question about the Firebirds or the Calder Cup Finals. Shoot him a message at shad.powers@desertsun.com.