Bears Open Weekend with 2-1 Win Over Phantoms

April 4, 2025

The Hershey Bears (40-18-6-1) battled to a 2-1 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (33-27-5-2) on Friday night at PPL Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

Hershey's record against Lehigh Valley improved to 5-2-1-0; each team will host one more home game against the other to conclude the season series. The Bears will next face the Phantoms on Saturday, April 12 at 7:05 p.m. at PPL Center.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Luke Philp opened the scoring for Hershey by redirecting a Nicky Leivermann shot from the point at 2:41 of the second period for his seventh of the campaign. Andrew Perrott picked up a secondary helper on the goal.
• Spencer Smallman suited up in his 300th career AHL game (56th with the Bears) and put Hershey in front 2-0 at 9:13 of the frame for his 10th of the season on a redirect of an Ethan Bear shot from the line that was also touched by Ivan Miroshnichenko. Bear's assist extended his point streak to five games (1g, 4a).
• Bears captain Aaron Ness made his return to the lineup for Hershey after missing the previous 13 games with an upper-body injury sustained on March 1 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Ness made a critical block for Hershey late in the contest with the Bears on the penalty kill and the Phantoms with a 6-on-4 advantage.
• Bears head coach Todd Nelson earned his 137th victory with Hershey, passing Don Penniston (1945-50, 332 games coached; 136-146-50) for sole possession of seventh on the club's list for wins by a head coach.

SHOTS: HER 17, LV 33

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 32-for-33; LV - Cal Petersen, 15-for-17

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-0; LV - 0-for-1

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on the win:
"I'm happy with the win. I don't think we played a very strong game, but we found a way to win. [Clay Stevenson] was great in net for us. And like my saying always goes, they all can't be Picassos. The guys found a way to get a nice road win for us."

Nelson on his trust in Clay Stevenson handling a larger workload with Hunter Shepard recalled to Washington:
"I've always trusted him, but he had a tough outing in the last game, and he bounced back. It's just great on him. And we're going to have to rely on him and [Garin Bjorklund] as well, because we won't see Shep for a bit."

Nelson on the versatility that Spencer Smallman brings in light of his play tonight and recent re-signing with the Washington Capitals:
"It doesn't matter if he's playing third line wing or first line center, he's very versatile, he can kill penalties, he provides offense on the power play. He's a pretty complete player and that's why the Caps invested in him."

Nelson on the play of Aaron Ness in his first game back from injury:
"I thought he played a good game. There's always going to be a bit of rust the first game back, right? But just his commitment to the team, the big blocked shot [in the third]; he defended really well tonight. It's good to have him back for sure."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return home to host the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday, April 5, at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Harrisburg International Airport Luggage Tag Giveaway Night. The first 6,000 fans in attendance will receive a luggage tag, courtesy of Harrisburg International Airport. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.