Game Preview: Bears at Wolf Pack, 7 p.m.

December 11, 2024

The Hershey Bears make their first visit of the season to Hartford as they get set to take on the Wolf Pack tonight for the first of four total meetings this season. The Bears enter tonight's game riding a three-game winning streak, while the Wolf Pack have dropped five of their last seven games.

Hershey Bears (17-5-3-0) at Hartford Wolf Pack (10-9-2-1)
Dec. 11, 2024 | 7 p.m. | XL Center
Referees: Austin O'Rourke (19), Samuel Heidemann (60)
Linespersons: Kevin Briganti (39), Stephen Drain (2)

Broadcast Information 
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, and Bears media specialist Jesse Liebman on the call
TELEVISION: Antenna TV (WPMT FOX 43.2, Xfinity Ch. 247 and 1178, Verizon FiOS Ch. 463, Blue Ridge Ephrata Ch. 91, and Blue Ridge Newberry/Duncannon Ch. 88), Monumental Sports Network (Washington, D.C. market)
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 6:30 p.m.; Television coverage starts at 7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:
Hershey hosted the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday, building a 1-0 lead early in the first period but seeing the Phantoms score twice to go ahead 2-1. Mike Vecchione's power-play goal at 15:38 leveled the score, and in the second period Luke Philp and Ethen Frank scored to put Hershey ahead 4-2. Lehigh Valley answered with two late goals, but Frank scored his second of the night with just over three minutes remaining in regulation to give the Bears a 5-4 win. Hartford has been idle since Saturday, a 6-2 home loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Penguins raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first anchored by a pair of power-play goals from Valtteri Puustinen, and while Hartford responded in the second with goals from Bryce McConnell-Barker and Jake Leschyshyn, Vasily Ponomarev capped a hat trick in the third to end the Wolf Pack's two-game winning streak.

ROAD TRIP RUMBLE:
With a 10-0-2-0 road record this season, Hershey continues to rewrite its own record book for both the longest road point streak from the start of the season and overall road point streak, and will have the opportunity to add to its impressive run tonight. The Bears have already surpassed the previous franchise record for best road point streak to begin the season (2006-07, 8-0-0-1), and broke their record for best overall road point streak with last Wednesday's 6-1 win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; the 2005-06 Bears went 6-0-2-2 over 10 road games from Oct. 29 at Toronto - Dec. 9 at Binghamton. The AHL's single-season record for longest road point streak is held by the Milwaukee Admirals, which went 10-0-4-2 over their final 16 games in the 2010-11 season. Hershey is 55-17-5-7 (.726) as a road club since Todd Nelson took over as bench boss prior to the 2022-23 season.

FEARSOME FRANK:
Ethen Frank's pair of goals on Sunday has pushed the forward into sole possession of first in the AHL goal-scoring race, with 18. Hershey has posted a 10-2-1-0 record this season in games when Frank lights the lamp, and his four game-winning tallies are also tied for the league lead. Frank's 78 goals in the regular season since his first career strike on April 15, 2022 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are the most of any AHL skater.

BOGDAN BREAKOUT:
Bears forward Bogdan Trineyev has found the net three times in his last four games. In Sunday's game against Lehigh Valley, the forward netted a shorthanded goal, Hershey's first of the season, bringing his career shorthanded totals to four goals, which leads the Bears dating back to the 2023-24 campaign. Hershey has posted a record of 5-1-0-0 this season when Trineyev finds the net.

SHEPARD STONEWALLING HARTFORD:
Goaltender Hunter Shepard has enjoyed a dominant stretch of play against Hartford. After suffering a loss in his first career outing against the Wolf Pack - a 3-1 loss on March 5, 2022 - the netminder has since gone a combined 12-0-0 against Hartford in the regular season and playoffs, allowing only 15 goals and posting a .952 save percentage.

RIVALRY RENEWED:
Tonight's game marks the 89th regular-season meeting between Hershey and Hartford since the New York Rangers affiliate relocated to Connecticut in 1997, and the first time the clubs have met since Hershey completed a three-game sweep of the Wolf Pack in the 2024 Atlantic Division Finals. The Bears own a lifetime record of 47-30-2-3-6 in the regular season against the Wolf Pack/Whale franchise, and a 25-11-2-2-4 record on the road. In the past two seasons under Todd Nelson, Hershey has owned a 7-3-0-0 record against Hartford; the Bears won both of its road matches against the Wolf Pack last season.

WOLF PACK AT-A-GLANCE:
Hartford checks into tonight's game tied with Lehigh Valley for sixth place in the Atlantic Division and has won its last three games. The Wolf Pack are in their first season under Grant Potulny as head coach after the former Bear was named to the post on June 27. Hartford is led in scoring by Alex Belzile and Benoit-Olivier Groulx, who have both posted 21 points off of eight goals and 13 assists.

BEARS BITES:
Mike Sgarbossa is tied for the league lead with 19 assists and has nine helpers over his last six games. The club is 7-0-0-0 this season when he records a multi-point game...Hershey's power play ranks fourth in the AHL at 22-for-99 (22.2%)...The Bears have scored an average of 3.64 goals per game through 25 contests, the fourth-best mark in the AHL...Hershey leads the Eastern Conference with 12 wins when leading after two periods...The Bears own a league-leading 11 wins in games decided by one goal; last season the club set a franchise record with 24 victories earned by a single goal...Hershey's 9.84 penalty minutes per game are the second fewest in the AHL...Wolf Pack forward Alex Belzile is slated to play in his 400th career AHL game tonight.

ON THIS DATE:
Dec. 11, 1987 - With the score tied 1-1 in the second period, the Bears broke open the game with six goals on their way to a 9-2 throttling of the Maine Mariners. Future AHL Hall-of-Famer Mitch Lamoureux collected five points, including a hat trick, while goaltender Wendell Young stopped 28 of 30 shots in the win at Cumberland County Civic Center.