The Hershey Bears wrap up a lengthy eight-game homestand that ties a franchise record tonight at GIANT Center as they get set to host their I-78 rivals, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Hershey Bears (21-10-3-0) vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms (15-13-4-1)
Jan. 7, 2025 | 7 p.m. | GIANT Center
Referees: Chris Rumble (65), Adam Tobias (16)
Linespersons: Patrick Dapuzzo (57), Bill Lyons (27)
Tonight's Promotions:
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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 (joined in-progress), 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 have been idle since this past Sunday, when they hosted the Providence Bruins for the GIANT Teddy Bear Toss. After falling behind 1-0 early in the first period, Mike Sgarbossa netted the tying score at 14:45 to ignite an avalanche of sweet cuddly mayhem that resulted in 102,343 stuffed animals collected to establish a new hockey world record. Matt Strome put Hershey ahead at 6:02 of the second period, and the Bears added three more goals including two from Spencer Smallman. The Phantoms visited the Syracuse Crunch last Saturday, building a 2-0 lead in the first period off goals from Alexis Gendron and Helge Grans, but the Crunch rallied and Gabe Fortier tied the game at 2-2 at 19:43 of the third period. Lehigh Valley earned an additional point when Brendan Furry scored at 2:02 of overtime to give the Phantoms a 3-2 win.
ENDING THE HOMESTAND ON A HIGH NOTE:
After a slow start to a franchise record-tying eight-game homestand, the Bears have rebounded after the New Year with consecutive wins on GIANT Center ice against Providence, improving to 3-4-0-0 over their last seven games as the club heads into Tuesday's game against Lehigh Valley. Hershey is 1-1-0-0 on home ice against the Phantoms this season, and 3-1-1-0 overall, winning its last encounter with Lehigh Valley by a 5-4 score on Dec. 8. Over the course of the homestand, Hershey has scored 16 goals, while allowing 17. Since the start of the homestand, Hershey has enjoyed five crowds of over 10,200 fans including four straight, and sits second in overall average league attendance for the season at 9,439.
SENSATIONAL SHEP:
Hunter Shepard leads all Eastern Conference netminders this season with 15 victories, and has posted a 2-2-0 record with a 1.98 goals-against average and .921 save percentage over his last four starts. Shepard enters the week with 70 career wins with Hershey, putting him one away from moving into a three-way tie with Vitek Vanecek and Philippe Sauve for ninth on the franchise's wins list for goaltenders.
FRANKLY SPEAKING:
Bears forward Ethen Frank enters the week atop the team leaderboard with 20 goals, but has relinquished his hold on first place atop the American Hockey League, as Calgary's Rory Kerins now sits in place with 21. As the season enters its second half, Frank looks to become the first Bear to win the Willie Marshall Award for the league's goal-scoring crown since Alexandre Giroux paced the AHL with 50 in 2009-10.
BEARS BITES:
Referee Chris Rumble is the son of former Bear Darren Rumble...Pierrick Dube recorded an assist on Sunday for the 100th point of his AHL career...Mike Sgarbossa is one assist away from his 300th AHL helper, and two games away from his 600th AHL contest...Ethan Bear is a pair of assists away from his 100th pro assist (AHL/NHL)...Chase Priskie's 17 points (6g, 11a) are tied for 14th in league scoring among defensemen...Hershey's road penalty kill ranks third in the league at 38-for-43 (88.4%)...Hershey is 10th in goals per game at 3.21 and allows the fourth-fewest shots per game (26.32)...The Bears are 13-0-1-0 when leading after two periods.
ON THIS DATE:
Jan. 7, 2000 - The Bears exploded for six goals in the first period and lit the lamp eight consecutive times in total against the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on their way to an 8-2 win at the Cincinnati Gardens. Ben Storey opened the scoring with a power-play marker just 1:34 into the contest, and Hershey's offense piled on seven more goals over the following 23 minutes and five seconds. Current Bears assistant coach Nick Bootland earned an assist in the blowout victory, dishing the primary helper on Yuri Babenko's first of two goals, while Serge Aubin led the way with a four-point (1g, 3a) night, and David Aebischer made 30 saves.
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