Bears Suffer 6-1 Defeat to Islanders

November 15, 2024

The Hershey Bears (10-4-1-0) suffered their largest defeat of the season in a 6-1 loss to the Bridgeport Islanders (3-9-1-1) on Friday night at GIANT Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

Bridgeport's Fredrik Karlstrom scored goals in the first and third period to help Bridgeport snap a four-game winless streak, while ending Hershey's four-game win streak.

The contest marked the return of head coach Todd Nelson behind the Hershey bench after being away from the team for the previous three games (3-0-0-0) due to family reasons.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Ethen Frank scored for the second consecutive game, getting Hershey on the board with his 11th of the season at 8:09 of the second period. Frank's 11 goals currently lead the AHL.
• Islanders forward Chris Terry skated in his 1,000th professional game. The Bridgeport alternate captain collected a pair of assists.
• Hershey's record against Bridgeport is now 2-1-0-0.

SHOTS: HER 29, BRI 36

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 30-for-36; BRI - Jakub Skarek, 28-for-29

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-4; BRI - 2-for-7

THEY SAID IT:

"Right from the drop of the puck actually, like we had some chances and then all of a sudden, the first goal against - one forechecker versus two of our defensemen, and they come up with the loose puck and they score, they find a guy all alone in front - that's unacceptable. That's not being ready to play. You know, we talked about it, we've played 10 games here at home, we're 5-4-1 - that's not Hershey Bears hockey. We go on the road, we play five or six games, whatever it is, and we're undefeated on the road. So that tells me it's something going on, like they have to start preparing themselves better. They understand that teams - when they come in here - don't have their way like they did tonight. It's a good slap in the face for everybody. We won the last three games I was away, but still, we played alright, but there was always something missing. I've talked about it all year and we saw what happened tonight and can't fault our goalies, they had to make big saves but we have to help them out too. You know, we get outshot 18-6 in the first period. That's a pretty big red flag, bottom line." - Head coach Todd Nelson on his team's performance

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:05 p.m. at PPL Center to begin a four-game road trip. Hershey returns home to face the Laval Rocket on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Canteen Vending Turkey Shoot Night. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.