The Hershey Bears welcome the Toronto Marlies to town for their lone visit of the season to GIANT Center tonight.
Hershey Bears (18-7-3-0) vs. Toronto Marlies (14-5-2-3)
Dec. 21, 2024 | 7 p.m. | GIANT Center
Referees: Mike Dietrich (15), Jake Kamrass (3)
Linespersons: Jeremy Faucher (85), Patrick Dapuzzo (57)
Tonight's Promotions:
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racecourse Deck of Cards Night - The first 5,000 fans 21 & over in attendance will receive a back-to-back Calder Cup champions deck of cards, thanks to Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racecourse.
BUY TICKETS NOW VIA TICKETMASTER
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, AHL Hall-of-Famer Mitch Lamoureux, and Jim Jones on the call
RADIO: WFVY-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, SportsRadio 98.9-FM & WOYK 1350-AM, Capitals Radio, In-arena on 88.9 FM
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 opened up their eight-game homestand last Saturday with a 2-1 loss to the Charlotte Checkers, as Brennan Saulnier scored the lone goal for Hershey, deflecting Vincent Iorio's shot from the right point past Chris Driedger at 9:37 of the first period. Oliver Okuliar then tied the game at 18:28 of the frame, and added the game-winner at 4:54 of the third period. The Marlies are coming off a 7-2 loss at Lehigh Valley last night. After a scoreless first period, the Phantoms erupted in the second period with five goals to take a 5-1 lead and chase Marlies netminder Artur Akhtyamov. Olle Lycksell finished the night with three goals for the Phantoms, while Nick Abruzzese and Roni Hirvonen scored for Toronto.
BANGED-UP BEARS:
Four Bears players were listed as unavailable in last Saturday's game due to injury: Pierrick Dube (lower-body), Jake Massie (lower-body), Alex Limoges (upper-body), and Mike Sgarbossa (upper-body). So far this season, Hershey has lost 85 man-games due to injury and illness. For comparison, the club lost 107 man-games due to injury/illness for the entirety of the 2023-24 regular season.
FRANK SHARING FIRST PLACE:
Ethen Frank now shares the lead atop the AHL's goal-scoring leaderboard with Calgary Wranglers forward Rory Kerins after the latter scored his 19th of the season last night in the second period of Calgary's 5-3 win over the Henderson Silver Knights. Frank will look to re-take sole possession of first place tonight as he seeks his first goal against the Marlies; the forward has one assist in four career games against Toronto. Marlies forward Alex Steeves sits in fourth place in goals with 15.
HOLIDAY HOME COOKING:
Saturday's loss to Charlotte marked the start of an eight-game homestand for the Bears, matching a franchise record. The Bears previously played eight consecutive home games from Oct. 19-Nov. 9, 1985, collecting a 7-0-1 record in that stretch of games at Hersheypark Arena; the previous mark for consecutive home games at GIANT Center since the venue opened for the 2002-03 season was seven, which had occurred during the 2004-05, 2015-16, and 2022-23 campaigns. Through 14 games on home ice this season, Hershey has gone 7-6-1-0.
NELSON CLIMBING LEAGUE, CLUB WINS LEADERBOARD:
Bears head coach Todd Nelson's next victory will mark his 425th as an AHL head coach, moving him past John Anderson for sole possession of sixth in league history for wins by a head coach. Nelson worked as an assistant coach on Anderson's staff with the Chicago Wolves, winning the Calder Cup in 2008, and continued as an assistant coach under Anderson in the NHL with the Atlanta Thrashers from 2008-10. Nelson is also two victories away from his 117th with Hershey, which would pass Murray Henderson (1952-56) for sole possession of ninth in club history for wins by a head coach.
TORONTO IN TOWN:
The Bears will welcome the Toronto Marlies on Saturday for their lone visit of the regular season. Hershey dropped a 4-3 overtime loss at Toronto on November 20 and will conclude the season series this weekend on home ice. Hershey has enjoyed a four-game home point streak (2-0-2-0) against the Marlies dating back to the 2018-19 campaign. Toronto (8.58 PIMs per game) and Hershey (9.54 PIMs per game) have respectively recorded the fewest and second-fewest penalty minutes per game of any team.
SHAW TO SPENGLER, RE-UPS WITH MARLIES:
Hockey Canada announced Friday that Marlies captain Logan Shaw was named to Team Canada's roster for the 2024 Spengler Cup. The 32-year-old will be representing his home country for the first time in international competition. The six-team Spengler Cup tournament gets underway in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday, Dec. 26. Toronto also announced it had re-signed Shaw to a two-year AHL contract extension that runs through the 2026-27 season.
BEARS BITES:
Brennan Saulnier is tied for second in the AHL with five fighting majors, and is one of only four skaters to convert on a penalty shot this season, doing so against Toronto's Dennis Hildeby on Nov. 20...Chase Priskie is tied for the league lead among defensemen with five power-play goals. His next assist will mark the 100th of his professional career...Hershey and Toronto are tied for the league lead with seven wins when trailing after the first period...The Bears lead the league in wins decided by one goal with 12.
ON THIS DATE:
Dec. 21, 1957 - Forward Dunc Fisher recorded three goals, including the game-winner, in a back-and-forth 5-4 overtime victory over the Providence Reds in front of 5,406 at Hersheypark Arena. Providence's Eddie Shack initially struck to give the Reds a 1-0 lead, then Len Haley and Bob Solinger put Hershey in front 2-1. Providence jumped ahead 3-2 in the second period on goals by Bruce Carmichael and Ted Hampson. Fisher knotted the game 3-3 with his first of the night before Zellio Toppazzini gave the Reds a 4-3 edge. Fisher left the game for repairs after getting struck in the face by a shot, only to return moments later and tie the game at 4-4 while still bloodied. Fisher capped his hat trick 6:15 into the 10-minute overtime frame for his first three-goal game of the season.
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
3 
4 