Game Preview: Bears at Islanders, 3 p.m.

January 15, 2024

The Hershey Bears take on the Bridgeport Islanders on Monday afternoon, in a televised matchup on FOX43. Today's matchup features the first-place Bears (58 points) against the last-place Islanders (24 points).

Hershey Bears (29-7-0-1) at Bridgeport Islanders (10-21-4-0)
January 15, 2024 | 3 p.m. | Game 38 | Total Mortgage Arena
Referees: Jonathan Daniels (25), Jack Young (24)
Linespersons: Dylan Lewis (18), Antoine Bujold-Roux (20)

Broadcast Information 
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch and FOX43 sports director Todd Sadowski on the call
TELEVISION: FOX43
RADIO: WFVY-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, Capitals Radio
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream, Caps Radio 24/7
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 2:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears picked up a point on Saturday in a 4-3 shootout loss at Lehigh Valley. Hershey built a 3-2 lead in the first period thanks to goals from Henrik Rybinski, Garrett Roe, and Ethen Frank, but Ronnie Attard scored the tying goal for the Phantoms midway through the third period, and Jon-Randall Avon netted the only tally in the fourth round of the shootout to give Lehigh Valley the win. Bridgeport is coming off a 2-0 shutout loss at Providence on Sunday, in which the game was scoreless until the midway point of the third period, when the Bruins' Luke Toporowski scored, and Anthony Richard sealed the game with an empty-netter in the final minute. Jakub Skarek went 38-for-39 for the Islanders despite the loss.

FRANK HITS 100TH PRO GAME:
Bears forward Ethen Frank is slated to play in his 100th professional regular-season game today, all with Hershey. Since making his pro debut with the Bears on April 13, 2022 at Lehigh Valley, the winger has collected 79 points (46g, 33a), earned an NHL contract with the Washington Capitals, and has been named an AHL All-Star in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024. Since his first full campaign with Hershey in the 2022-23 campaign, his 45 goals in that span are tied for the third-most in the AHL with Providence's Anthony Richard, and trail only Springfield's Adam Gaudette (50) and Chicago's Rocco Grimaldi (53). Frank's eight power-play goals this season are tied for second in the AHL.

A BRIDGE NOT TOO FAR:
Hershey is 4-0-0-0 this season against Bridgeport and has outscored the Islanders 15-7. The Bears have not played the Islanders in almost two months; the last meeting was a 4-0 win at Total Mortgage Arena on Nov. 18. Mike Sgarbossa leads the Bears with six points (1g, 5a) against Bridgeport this season, while Samuel Asselin and Ruslan Iskhakov have paced the Islanders against Hershey with identical three-point (1g, 2a) stat-lines.

BEARS ON MLK DAY:
The Bears are playing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for only the second time in franchise history, and the first time since Jan. 21, 2019, coincidentally also against the then-named Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In that game, current Bears Mike Sgarbossa and Aaron Ness teamed up for Hershey's third goal of the game, a power-play marker at the nine-minute mark of the second period.

BEARS BITES:
Ethen Frank and Mike Sgarbossa lead the Bears with nine multi-point games each, and Hershey is 9-0-0-0 when either player records a multi-point game...Hershey is 22-1-0-1 when scoring first this season...Mike Sgarbossa is fifth in league scoring with 34 points (7g, 27a). His 27 assists are tied for second in the AHL...Henrik Rybinski has three goals in his last three games...Hershey's current record for fastest 30-win season is 41 games, set by the 2009-10 team (30-9-0-2)...Clay Stevenson leads the AHL in rookie goalie wins (13), goals-against average (1.79), save percentage (.934), and shutouts (5).

ON THIS DATE:
Jan. 15, 1944 - The Bears celebrated a 4-1 triumph over the Buffalo Bisons at Hershey Sports Arena. The victory caps a remarkable 16-game stretch with at least a point earned on home ice to start the season, as Hershey went 13-0-3 to begin the season at the Sports Arena.