The Hershey Bears continue a four-game road trip as they take the ice tonight at Blue Cross Arena to renew the AHL's oldest rivalry with the Rochester Americans.
Hershey Bears (11-4-2-0) at Rochester Americans (8-5-2-0)
Nov. 22, 2024 | 7:05 p.m. | Blue Cross Arena
Referees: Jake Kamrass (3), Chad Ingalls (39)
Linespersons: Tory Carissimo (54), Sam Cucinotta (56)
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch on the call
RADIO: WFVY-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, SportsRadio 98.9-FM & WOYK 1350-AM, Capitals Radio
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream, Caps Radio 24/7
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 6:35 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears opened up a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes in Toronto, but fell in overtime to the Marlies, 4-3, on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Hershey got a power-play goal from Mike Sgarbossa just 1:35 into the game, followed up by a penalty-shot goal from Brennan Saulnier, and a tally from Luke Philp just 1:07 later to give Hershey the sizable lead. The Marlies struck twice in the second period on goals from Zach Solow and Alex Nylander to cut Hershey's lead to one, and in the third period, Nylander tied the game on the power play. In overtime, Nick Abruzzese tallied the winner from Nylander at just :47 to give the Marlies the extra point. The Amerks also had an overtime decision on Wednesday, earning a 2-1 victory at Laval. Lukas Rousek scored the overtime goal and Devon Levi turned aside 26 shots between the pipes.
THE AHL'S OLDEST RIVALRY:
Tonight's game in Rochester will mark the 467th meeting in the regular season between Hershey and Rochester, the most of any opponent the Bears have faced in their history. The Bears own a lifetime record of 219-189-53-3-2 against the Americans. Hershey went 2-0-0-0 last season against the Amerks. The 2024-25 season marks the first year for Michael Leone as head coach of Rochester after being named to the post on June 6, succeeding Seth Appert, who was promoted to an assistant role with the parent Buffalo Sabres.
2023 MEMORIES:
It's been just over 16 months since Hershey and Rochester squared off in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, a series won by Hershey in six games en route to the club's 12th Calder Cup title. Hershey's roster features eight players that skated in that series, including goaltender Hunter Shepard who won all four games in the series and posted a 2.04 goals-against average, and captain Aaron Ness, who struck for one goal in the series. Rochester's roster has seven players who appeared in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals versus Hershey, including Lukas Rousek who collected three goals versus the Bears.
PENALTY SHOT POWER:
No team in the American Hockey League has drawn more penalty shots this season than Hershey with three. Brennan Saulnier's tally on Wednesday pushed Hershey to 1-for-3 on penalty shots this season, and his marker was Hershey's first road penalty shot goal since Christian Thomas scored on Matt O'Conner in a 7-1 win at Binghamton on March 11, 2017. All three penalty shots awarded to Hershey this season have come in the month of November, marking the first time the Bears have had three penalty shots in a month since December 2005. Across the AHL this season, shooters are 3-for-13 (23.1%) on penalty shots.
THOUGHT WE WERE DUNNE:
Rochester's roster features forward Josh Dunne, who skated against Hershey during the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals with the Cleveland Monsters. Dunne played a pivotal role in helping the Monsters push the series the distance, registering a team-best seven points (4g, 3a) in the series, including tallying the winning marker in Cleveland's Game 5 victory. Dunne has collected four points (3g, 1a) in 15 games this season for the Amerks, and he's slated to skate in his 150th career AHL game tonight.
BEARS BITES:
Wednesday was Hershey's first loss of the season on the road, however Hershey has still attained points in each of its road games with a record of 6-0-1-0. The franchise record for longest point streak from the start of a season is nine games (8-0-0-1), set by the 2006-07 club...Defender Ethan Bear is tied for a league best in plus/minus at +13 and enters today with a six-game assist streak in road games...Wednesday was Hershey's first loss when leading after two periods this season (8-0-1-0)...Hershey forward Bogan Trineyev had two goals versus Rochester last season, making him the only player on Hershey's roster with more than one goal in the two-game set with the Amerks. Trineyev has missed Hershey's previous six games with an upper-body injury...Hershey defender Chase Priskie skated with the Americans during the 2022-23 campaign while forward Dalton Smith played four seasons for Rochester from 2017-21 logging 321 penalty minutes...Former Bears forward Vaclav Prospal is back for his second season as an assistant coach for Rochester. Prospal played for the Bears from 1993-96.
ON THIS DATE:
Nov. 22, 1961 - The Bears hosted their first-ever game on Thanksgiving Eve, a 2-1 victory earned in overtime against the Quebec Aces in front of a crowd of 6,077 at Hersheypark Arena. Veteran forward Parker MacDonald, acquired in a swap with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, made his Bears debut by scoring at 4:38 of the first period, then added the game-winner at 5:24 of the overtime period to seal the game for Hershey, while goaltender Bob Perreault was credited with 36 saves. The win gave Hershey its ninth consecutive win on home ice, setting a since-broken club record.
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