Limoges Lifts Bears to 3-2 OT Win Over Wolf Pack

April 5, 2025

Alex Limoges struck 1:01 into overtime as the Hershey Bears (41-18-6-1) battled to a 3-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack (27-30-7-2) on Saturday night at GIANT Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

Hershey's record against Hartford improved to 1-2-0-0. The Bears and Wolf Pack conclude their regular-season series tomorrow at 5 p.m. at GIANT Center.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Hershey had outshot the Wolf Pack 10-1 to open the first period before Hartford's Casey Fitzgerald scored on the second shot of the contest for the visitors at 10:39.
• Luke Philp leveled the score at 1-1 for Hershey minutes later by banging home a Bogdan Trineyev rebound at 12:08. The goal marked the third straight consecutive game with Philp in the lineup for the Bears that featured a goal by Philp.
• Washington Capitals prospect David Gucciardi made his pro debut for Hershey, putting the Bears ahead 2-1 on his second shot of the evening at 17:31 from Matt Strome and Vincent Iorio. Gucciardi is the first Bear to score for Hershey in his pro debut since Alex Alexeyev on Oct. 5, 2019 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
• Garin Bjorklund made his Bears home debut after previously seeing action on March 26 at Bridgeport.
• With the goaltender pulled for an extra attacker, Hartford tied the game at 18:34 on a deflection goal by Dylan Roobroeck for his 16th tally of the season, and his third goal versus the Bears this year. 
• Hershey outshot Hartford 3-0 in overtime, and Alex Limoges scored the winner at 1:10, giving him his 16th goal of the season and his second overtime-winner of the year. The club improved to 9-6 in the overtime frame, and Hershey's nine wins in overtime lead the AHL.
• Hershey's victory was the club's 24th win of the season in a game decided by one goal (24-7-6-1), matching the franchise mark established last season (24-2-0-5). The team record for most one-goal decisions in a single season is 45, set in 2011-12 (20-13-4-8).

SHOTS: HER 34, HFD 25

GOALTENDING: HER - Garin Bjorklund, 23-for-25; HFD - Dylan Garand, 31-for-34

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-8; HFD - 0-for-5

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on the win:
"I thought it was a good win. Obviously, our power play, I'd have liked to score a couple goals - didn't happen. I thought both goaltenders played well and the goal that beat Garin [Bjorklund] at the end ricocheted off a couple people into the net. That's a tough break, but our guys stuck with it. We got it done in overtime, we got a big two points because teams that are chasing us, Providence and Wilkes, they lost tonight. So we gained some ground on them, but we have to keep on moving along because Charlotte's playing pretty good hockey right now."

Nelson on the infusion of youth and play of Bjorklund and Gucciardi:
"Both guys played well. Garin played well in his first game on the road and he followed up with a nice effort tonight. Looks very confident in there, very composed. And then as for Gucc, he goes out there, his first game, fit right in, scores a big goal for us, he was strong in the corners. He's a pretty mobile guy and he made some great break breakout passes, so a very good first game for him."

David Gucciardi describing his first pro game:
"The first few shifts there were definitely some nerves, never played in this league. So I think that's natural and I felt like I settled in pretty nicely, got comfortable, the guys were helping me if I did make a mistake they were telling me what I did, how to do it better and yeah, there's a ton of leaders on the team, guys who have been through it and have played a long time in the AHL or pro hockey, so I'm lucky for them and they were helping me kind of throughout the game."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday, April 6, at 5 p.m. at GIANT Center for Autism Awareness Night. The evening will feature the Bears players wearing specialty Autism Awareness jerseys which will be auctioned off post-game. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.