HERSHEY — The Hershey Bears opened March with a 6-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday night at Giant Center. Morgan Geekie scored three times for the Checkers, and Keith Kinkaid stopped ...

After moving on by beating the Bruins in Game 5, the Checkers swept AHL heavyweights the Hershey Bears and Laval Rocket to advance to the Calder Cup Final.

The five-on-three goal gave the Checkers a 1-0 lead. Zac Dalpe made it 2-0 Charlotte at the 2:35 mark of the period, scoring on a five-on-four power play from Zach Boychuk and Drayson Bowman.

A record crowd watched the Charlotte Checkers fall to the Abbotsford Canucks in Game 1 of their best-of-seven AHL Calder Cup Finals series at Bojangles Coliseum.

Charlotte, from the Atlantic Division, beat Providence (3 games to 2), Hershey (3 games to 0), and Laval (4 games to 0). The Checkers have won eight straight playoff games.