Bears Bested by Marlies, 7-3

December 21, 2024

The Hershey Bears (18-8-3-0) saw a 3-3 tie in the third period unravel as the Toronto Marlies (15-5-2-3) finished the frame with five goals as Hershey fell by a 7-3 final on Saturday night at GIANT Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Brad Hunt opened the scoring early in the second period with his third of the season, beating Artur Akhtyamov with a shot from the point at 1:01 to give the Bears a 1-0 lead, with assists to Spencer Smallman and Luke Philp
• Ethan Bear exited the game on the ensuing shift with an apparent lower-body injury following a collision with Toronto forward Alex Nylander and the end boards in the Hershey zone. Bear returned to the bench later in the period, but after testing the injury was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
• Riley Sutter deflected Aaron Ness' shot from the left point at 13:16 for his third goal of the season to give the Bears a 2-1 lead. Ness' assist was the 148th of his Hershey career, moving him into a tie with Mike Mahoney for fifth in franchise history among defensemen.
• After the Bears fell behind 3-2 in the third, Bogdan Trineyev scored his eighth goal of the season when he one-timed Vincent Iorio's pass along the blue line at 4:56 to tie the game 3-3.
• Toronto's Cedric Pare led the way with four points (1g, 3a), while Kyle Clifford (2g, 1a) and Joseph Blandisi (1g, 2a) recorded three-point nights.
• Hershey was without Henrik Rybinski (recalled to Washington earlier in the day) along with four skaters listed unavailable due to injury: Jake Massie (lower-body), Alex Limoges (upper-body), Pierrick Dube (lower-body), and Mike Sgarbossa (upper-body).
• The Bears finished their regular-season series with Toronto with an 0-1-1-0 record; 

SHOTS: HER 27, TOR 27

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 20-for-26; TOR - Artur Akhtyamov, 24-for-27

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-2; TOR - 0-for-3

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on what led to Saturday's loss:
"I think the first 45 minutes of the game we were right there. We tied it up to make it 3-3 and then it was a good hockey game until all of a sudden they scored their fourth goal and then we just really lost our way. And, you know, you can't give up seven goals like that in your home building. But I thought the guys were giving us what they had, but then we fell apart in the end."

Nelson on the injury to Ethan Bear:
"He tried to come back and then got re-evaluated in the second intermission and we pulled him. With injuries when it rains it pours, he's probably not going to play tomorrow. But that gives a chance for guys to step up."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday, Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. at GIANT Center for Berks Holiday Ham Shoot Night. All fans in attendance are welcome postgame to take part in the Berks Holiday Ham Shoot on the ice. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.