Bears Complete Weekend Sweep of Wolves with 5-2 Win

March 16, 2025

The Hershey Bears (37-15-5-1) clinched a berth in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 4-2 win over the Chicago Wolves (30-25-3-0) on Sunday afternoon at Allstate Arena, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

Spencer Smallman and Pierrick Dube each contributed a goal and two assists to pace the offense, as Hershey completed its regular-season series against Chicago with a 3-0-1-0 record (winning both games at Chicago) and improved to a lifetime 6-0-1-1-0 mark against the Wolves.

The Bears improved to 4-0-0-1 during their franchise-record 10-game road trip, and are 5-0-0-1 in their last six road games.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• After falling behind 1-0 in the first period the Bears tied the game on a goal by defenseman Nicky Leviermann at the 16:47 mark. Spencer Smallman earned the first of his three points with an assist on the strike.
• Hershey exploded for three goals in the second period, with Pierrick Dube putting Hershey ahead 2-1 at 2:56 with his 15th of the season, and assisting on Grant Cruikshank's (11:47) and Smallman's (15:34) tallies. Smallman also assisted on Cruikshank's goal, which stood up as the game-winner.
• Chase Priskie collected a pair of assists for his fourth multi-point game in his last five contests (1g, 8a) and his seventh multi-point outing overall for the season.
• Matt Strome added an empty-netter in the third to extend his point streak to three games (1g, 2a).

SHOTS: HER 26, CHI 27

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 25-for-27; CHI - Ruslan Khazheyev, 21-for-25

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-3; CHI - 1-for-2

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson's on how Hershey came away with the win today:
"In the first period we once again gave up some odd-man rushes but our goaltending was there to make the saves for us. They got one on us, but we just stuck with it and we were able to get one back in the first period. In the second we scored three goals, and that was pretty much the game right there."

Nelson on the contributions of young defensemen Jon McDonald yesterday and Nicky Leivermann today:
"They've been solid - they're getting better every game they play; there's some offense out of Nicky and obviously Jon's a really agile skater and really good defensively, but they're just getting more confidence as the season goes on."

Nelson on the three-point afternoons from Smallman and Dube:
"It was good to see Spencer finally get rewarded for all of his hard work. He's been working his tail off and he's just been doing all of the little things right, and it paid off for him tonight. And Dube, he's a goal-scorer, so he's able to find the back of the net and also has some creativity around the net."

Nelson on the status of Ethan Bear exiting the game late in the third period:
"I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping it's short-term. It's a lower body injury. He kind of went into the boards funny, so we'll see how [the injury] reacts tomorrow once he wakes up."

Nelson on the Bears securing its playoff berth:
"It's always good to clinch a playoff spot, but now we're working towards trying to stay at the top of our division so we can get that bye and don't have to play that first round."

Spencer Smallman on the team's play today:
"The boys came out pretty good off the start, and we gave ourselves a good cushion. Thought we let off the gas a little bit [in the third], but we'll build on that going forward. I think we played fast, doing a good job supporting each other. This weekend was key on the walls; we were winning the walls and finding the middle for odd-man rushes, so I think if we can keep that going moving forward we should be pretty good."

Smallman on clinching a playoff spot:
"It feels great. That's a long way from our goal, but it's nice to check off the list."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they face the Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday, March 19, at 7:05 p.m. at MassMutual Center. Hershey returns home to host the Utica Comets on Sunday, March 30, at 5 p.m. at GIANT Center for Hall of Fame Night and Toyota Postcard Night. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.