The crowd was filled with Hurricanes and Checkers fans in equal measure at Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena last night to watch the AHL prospects stage a shocking third period comeback to defeat the two-time Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears. While many were speechless, except for a loud chorus WOOHOOS!, there were a few who managed to pen some words and get the players to share their thoughts. Here ya go:
- The Checkers' Official recap: WHAT A COMEBACK! CHECKERS WIN 5-3 CHECKERS SCORE FIVE STRAIGHT IN THRILLING COMEBACK TO WIN 5-3. Nick Dodge scores winner for second straight game; Checkers lead series 3-2 including stats. Gamesheet
- Checkers vs. Hershey Bears 04.22.2011 - LTD's set on Flickr
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The Cardiac Checkers strike: Checkers 5, Bears 3; Checkers up 3-2 in series - Canes Country The Cardiac Checkers score five unanswered to beat Hershey 5-3, go up 3-2 in their series.
- Dodge Makes Unlikely Contribution - Paul Branecky In the postseason, big contributions tend to come from unlikely sources.
- Amazing comeback puts Checkers up 3-2 in series with Bears - David Lee, Red & Black Hockey It would have been easy for the team to give up. Down 3-0 late in the second, they could have folded up the tents and mailed it in for the rest of the game. But they didn't.
- Checkers Score 5 Straight In Comeback Over Hershey - WSOC Charlotte After falling behind 3-0 midway through the second period, the Charlotte Checkers scored five unanswered goals and shocked the Hershey Bears, 5-3, to take a 3-2 lead in the East Division Semifinals
After the jump, stories from Hershey and what happens next, if the Checkers hold on to take the series.
Hershey's Perspective
- LATE ADD: Bears on the brink of elimination - Lebanon Daily News Hershey coughed up a 3-0 lead and now trails Charlotte 3-2 in the East Division Semifinal Series.
- Charlotte Checkers shock Hershey Bears in Game 5 win | Tim Leone, PennLive.com Buried in a three-goal hole Friday night at Time Warner Cable Arena, the Charlotte Checkers used an immaculate deflection to fuel a stunning comeback in Game 5 of the East Division semifinals.
- Sweetest Hockey on Earth: Third Period Effort Earns Checkers 5-3 Win vs Bears The story of this series against the Charlotte Checkers has been offense. Both teams are incredibly offensively talented and the score usually shows that. Tonight was no exception.
- Morning after: Hershey Bears face elimination in Game 6 | PennLive.com "I'm definitely going to make sure everybody understands that Hershey doesn't give up," Oskar Osala said. "At home in the playoffs, they are not an easy team to beat. It's going to be a new game on Sunday.
Game 6 will be at 5pm Sunday afternoon in Hershey. If the Checkers succeed in their efforts to win one of the next 2 games taking the best-of-7 series, they would advance to play the winner of the other East Division semi-final between the Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Penguins. The top-ranked Pens dropped the first 2 games, but have since won 3 in a row, in Norfolk, to take the series home to Pennsylvania with a 3-2 series lead.
During the regular season, the Checkers were 1-6-1 vs the Penguins and 7-3-2 vs the Admirals.