The Hershey Bears continue their 10-game road trip with their final visit of the campaign to XL Center, where they will face the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Hershey Bears (38-15-5-1) at Hartford Wolf Pack (25-29-5-2)
March 21, 2025 | 7 p.m. | XL Center
Referees: Stephen Hiff (46), Will Kelly (29)
Linespersons: Brent Colby (7), Matt Heinen (38)
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, and Bears media specialist Jesse Liebman on the call
RADIO: WFVY 100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-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.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears completed their season series with the Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday with a 4-2 win, as Matt Strome and Bogdan Trineyev scored in the second period to build a 2-0 lead. Springfield tied the game shortly after the midway point of the third period with a pair of power-play goals that came 60 seconds apart, but Ethan Bear broke the deadlock at 15:43 and Pierrick Dube added an empty-netter. After losing two straight road games against Central Division opponents, the Wolf Pack picked up a 4-2 victory at Milwaukee on Saturday, as Hartford overcame a 1-0 deficit after the first period with three goals in the second frame to break the game open, as Dylan Roobroeck scored 17 seconds into the middle frame to tie the score and then converted on Hartford's lone opportunity on the power play at 12:55, and Connor Mackey added the eventual game-winner at 17:00.
PLAYOFF PICTURE:
Hershey became the first team in the AHL to secure a berth in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs with its win at Chicago last Sunday; the club's Magic Number to lock up the Atlantic Division title for the second consecutive season is 21 points. Hartford, meanwhile, currently sits in seventh place in the Atlantic Division and nine points behind Springfield for what could become the final available playoff spot in the division and has a Magic Number of 34 points needed to secure a postseason appearance.
ROAD WARRIORS:
The Bears have earned points in seven straight road contests and carry a league-best road record into tonight's game with an .810 road points percentage on the strength of an 19-3-4-0 mark away from GIANT Center. Hershey needs five more wins out of its remaining seven road contests to match the franchise mark for road victories in a season (26, 2009-10) and six out of an available 14 points to guarantee the team can match the club record for road points percentage (.736, 2023-24).
PRISKIE PUSHING PACE:
Bears defenseman Chase Priskie has enjoyed a productive road trip, as the blueliner has recorded at least a point and an assist in each of Hershey's six games since the March 7 contest at Cleveland, and with 10 points (1g, 9a) over that stretch, Priskie has factored into 44% of Hershey's 25 goals scored during the trip. Priskie's 10 points are also the most of any skater in the AHL since March 7. Hershey is 21-4-1-1 this season when Priskie gets on the scoresheet.
DUBE-DO:
Forward Pierrick Dube carries a three-game goal-scoring streak (3g) into tonight's contest, and has found the net in five of Hershey's nine games in the month of March. The Bears have posted a 12-2-1-0 record this season in games when the Lyon, France native finds the net, and Hershey's 12 victories when Dube scores is also a team-high mark tied with Ethan Frank (currently recalled to the Washington Capitals) and Alex Limoges.
CAPITAL GAINS:
With the Washington Capitals officially clinching a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last night, the Capitals have joined the Bears and the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays in securing a postseason appearance, marking the first time since the 2018-19 campaign that all three clubs in the organizational pipeline have clinched a playoff spot, and the 10th overall time since Hershey affiliated with Washington before the 2005-06 campaign (excluding a period of two seasons from 2012-14 when the ECHL affiliate was the Reading Royals and the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, when the Calder Cup Playoffs were not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
HOWLING AT THE WOLF PACK:
Hershey faces the Hartford Wolf Pack three more times this season, starting with tonight's visit to the XL Center. The Bears previously suffered a 3-0 defeat at Hartford on Dec. 11, and Hershey will look to avoid going winless on the road against the Wolf Pack for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign (0-2-0-1).
BEARS BITES:
Hendrix Lapierre is one point away from his 100th pro point... Ethan Bear is tied with Belleville's Jeremy Davies for sixth in defensive scoring with 41 points and is second among all skaters in plus/minus at +31...Hunter Shepard is tied with Providence's Michael DiPietro for the league lead with 22 wins...Matt Strome carries a four-game point streak (2g, 2a) into tonight's game...The Bears own the league's best points percentage (.839) when scoring first...Hershey is tied with Texas for the league lead with eight road wins when trailing after the first period...The Bears are second in the league with 22 wins in games decided by one goal. Hershey's franchise record for wins decided by one goal is 24, set last season (24-2-0-5).
ON THIS DATE:
March 21, 1996 - The Bears announced the signing of a five-year affiliation agreement with the Colorado Avalanche, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup Final later that spring. The announcement was made jointly by Bears president/general manager Jay Feaster and Avalanche general manager Pierrie Lacroix in a press conference at the Hotel Hershey. Success soon followed in the upcoming season, as Hershey claimed its eighth Calder Cup championship in the first season of the new affiliation during the 1996-97 campaign, and several former Bears would take part in Colorado's second Stanley Cup victory in 2000-01. Hershey later extended its affiliation with Colorado an additional four years in October of 2000, before linking up with its current affiliate, the Washington Capitals, in time for the 2005-06 season.
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