Bears Top Amerks, 5-4

January 19, 2025

Jon McDonald recorded his first career AHL goal to break a 3-3 tie as the Hershey Bears (25-11-3-0) held on for a 5-4 win over the Rochester Americans (23-11-3-1) on Sunday evening at GIANT Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

The victory was Hershey's fourth consecutive win, and improved the club to 6-1-0-0 since the start of 2025. The Bears concluded their regular-season series against Rochester with a 2-0-0-0 record, and the club's point streak against the Americans was extended to six games at 5-0-0-1.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• After conceding the first goal of the game to Rochester's Vsevolod Komarov at 4:31 of the first period, Matt Strome tied the score with his third of the season at 15:45, giving the Hershey forward his sixth points (2g, 4a) over his previous six games. 
• After Zachary Metsa gave the Amerks a 2-1 lead at 5:20 of the second period, Chase Priskie scored his team-leading sixth power play goal of the season at 16:52 to tie the game, 2-2. Luke Philp and Garrett Roe assisted on Priskie's seventh goal of the campaign.
• Hershey's Ivan Miroshnichenko scored to make it a 3-2 game at 1:25 of the third period, with McDonald assisting. 
• Rochester's Aleksandr Kisakov's backhand shot at 2:34 snuck past Clay Stevenson and was ultimately upheld as a goal following a video review that required several minutes to tie the game, 3-3.
• McDonald' first AHL tally came at 5:58, and Grant Cruikshank added his fourth goal of the season on an unassisted breakaway at 10:53 to extend Hershey's lead to 5-3. Noah Ostlund cut the lead to one at 16:50 for Rochester with an extra-attacker goal, but Hershey held on for the win.
• Brennan Saulnier assisted on both Strome's and McDonald's goals to give him five points (1g, 4a) over his last four contests. The pair of assists also marked his first multi-assist game in nearly two years and third of his career.
• Clay Stevenson made his fourth consecutive start and earned the win in goal for Hershey with 29 saves to improve his record to 9-4-2 on the season. He has won his past five starts.

SHOTS: HER 30, ROC 33

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 29-for-33; ROC - Michael Houser, 25-for-30

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

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on how the team battled against Rochester:
"I thought we got off to a slow start tonight. They really came at us, they have good skill, good speed. They jumped on us early and we got out the first period and then, you know, we started to come back. In the second period, [we] started to take over the game a bit and from there we just traded punches a bit and [there were] nine goals scored in the game. Right? 5-4. We got some big efforts and big blocks. As the game went on, our team got better."

Nelson on the play of Jon McDonald:
"He's a really good skater. He's a really mobile defender, and offensively he knows when to jump into holes and that's what happened on his goal tonight, where he jumped up in the play and created the odd-man rush. His skating ability, he gives a good first pass, that's what he does well and he keeps his game simple like that."

Jon McDonald on recording his first AHL goal and the reaction from his teammates:
"I mean, Sauns made a great play and I was in the right spot and I got a little lucky [shooting] glove-side. So it was a cool experience, but happy it happened when it happened, and two [standings] points is big. Everybody was thrilled for me; I don't really do too well with the praise, so I was kind of trying to fight it off, but it's such a good group of guys, when everybody gets so excited for you, it's hard not to cheese a little bit."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Laval Rocket on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. at Place Bell. 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.