Bears' Road Point Streak Snapped at 12 Games in 3-0 Loss to Wolf Pack

December 11, 2024

The Hershey Bears (17-6-3-0) suffered their first regulation loss of the season in a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Hartford Wolf Pack (11-9-2-1) in their first meeting of the season on Wednesday night at XL Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

Hartford defender Jake Leschyshyn scored a pair of power-play goals - including the game-winner for the Wolf Pack - while forward Matthew Robertson assisted on all three tallies, and goaltender Dylan Garand made 31 stops to shutout the Bears.

The defeat snapped Hershey's franchise-record road point streak at 12 games (10-0-2-0), eclipsing the club marks for overall road point streak in a single season (10 games, 2005-06; 6-0-2-2; Oct. 29 at Toronto - Dec. 9 at Binghamton) and from the start of an individual campaign (nine games, 2006-07; 8-0-0-1, Oct. 7 at W-B/Scranton - Nov. 15 at Springfield).

The loss was also Hershey's first road loss against Hartford since Oct. 28, 2022 (4-2 L).

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Goaltender Hunter Shepard suffered his first loss against Hartford since his first appearance against the Wolf Pack, ending a combined 12-0-0 run versus Hartford in the regular season and playoffs for the netminder.
• Defenseman Hardy Haman Aktell made his return to the lineup for Hershey after missing the previous seven contests with a lower-body injury.

SHOTS: HER 31, HFD 21

GOALTENDING: HER - Hunter Shepard, 18-for-21; HFD - Dylan Garand, 31-for-31

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

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson when asked to describe the loss:
"We had a pretty good first period, and were going decent in the second, and then Hartford got a power play, and before that we had two power plays and didn't capitalize on them, and they scored a goal that probably shouldn't have gone in. But those things happen. Our bench got a bit deflated and it gave Hartford confidence. And from then on they were the better hockey team."

Nelson on what lessons can be taken from tonight's loss heading into Friday against Syracuse:
"Just attention to detail - I thought we lacked it. We had to make some adjustments with the way Hartford played. And as a coach, you want the guys to execute the game plan so you can see if it works or it does not work. So we had to address that after the second period, but by then it was too late."