Bears Get Another Point in 4-3 OT Loss to Senators

January 24, 2025

The Hershey Bears (25-11-5-0) built 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the first period but the Belleville Senators (16-13-1-4) rallied to tie the game in regulation, and Stephen Halliday scored in sudden death to deal Hershey a 4-3 overtime defeat on Friday night at CAA Arena, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

The club moved to 6-1-2-0 since the start of 2025, and the point earned extended Hershey's current road point streak to 3-0-2-0 dating back to Dec. 13. The Bears' series with the Senators is now 1-0-1-0, with the two clubs set to face each other again Saturday; Hershey's current road point streak against Belleville is now at seven games (5-0-2-0) dating back to the the 2017-18 season, when the Senators relocated to Belleville from Binghamton.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Matt Strome opened the scoring with his first of the season at 5:48, then assisted on Nicky Leivermann's first career AHL goal at 13:38 to put Hershey ahead 2-0.
• Mike Vecchione made it 3-1 at 18:41 with his 10th of the season from Garrett Roe and Ethan Bear.
• Belleville replaced starting netminder Mark Sinclair with Michael Simpson to start the second period after Sinclair yielded three goals on nine shots in the opening frame.
• Veteran forward Sam Gagner (1,043 NHL games) made his Senators debut, assisting on Angus Crookshank's game-tying power-play goal at 16:31 of the second period to force overtime.
• Stephen Halliday scored the winning goal for Belleville at 1:40 of overtime off a 2-on-1 rush.

SHOTS: HER 27, BEL 27

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 23-for-27; BEL - Mark Sinclair, 6-for-9; Michael Simpson [W], 18-for-18

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-3; BEL - 1-for-3

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on how the team fared with several players missing from the lineup:
"You know, the [players added to the lineup] played alright. When we're depleted like this though, we need bigger efforts from some of our key players, all-in-all. It wasn't necessarily a bad game, but I thought Belleville played a pretty strong game. It's tough when you lose in overtime, but all-in-all, it was a pretty decent game for our team."

Nelson on how the game proceeded after building 2-0 and 3-1 leads:
"I think when we're up 3-1 and then we allowed that goal late in the first period - and once again, both goals are very preventable - just getting beat, you know? And then in the second period they got a nice power-play goal and all of a sudden it's tied, and in the third period it was going back and forth both ways. It could have been anybody's game tonight."

Nelson on messaging to the locker room:
"The guys are a bit disappointed, but I told them to take five or 10 minutes with this loss and then they've got to refocus and go get a bite to eat, get some good sleep, and we're back at it tomorrow night."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they conclude the weekend against the Belleville Senators on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at CAA Arena. Hershey returns home to host the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Sam Adams Tap Takeover Night. Select brews will be on tap for fans 21-and-over at the TRULY portable location, including the new Sam Adams American Light. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.