Atlantic Division First Round Game 2 Preview: Bears vs. Islanders, 7 p.m.

April 23, 2026

The Hershey Bears take the ice against the Bridgeport Islanders for Game 2 of the best-of-three Atlantic Division First Round tonight at GIANT Center. Hershey took a 1-0 series lead with a 2-0 victory at Bridgeport on Tuesday in Game 1 of the series and can advance to the best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals with a win tonight.

#5 Hershey Bears (1-0) vs. #4 Bridgeport Islanders (0-1)
April 23, 2026 | 7 p.m. | GIANT Center | Hershey leads series, 1-0
Referees: Jordan Deckard (14), Mathieu Menniti (30)
Linespersons: Brandon Grillo (75), Anthony Lapointe (58)

Tonight's Promotions:

Playoff Rally Towel Giveaway - The first 6,000 fans will receive a playoff rally towel, thanks to Toyota, Ollie's, Western Pest Services, and Eagle Excavating Inc.

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Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, former Bears captain Garrett Mitchell, and FOX43 sports director Todd Sadowski 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)
RADIO: WFVY-100.1-FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, In-arena on 88.9-FM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV on FloHockey 
LISTEN LIVE: Froggy Valley 100.1-FM Stream, Fox Sports 1460-AM Stream
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m.; Television coverage starts at 7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears and Islanders were scoreless through the halfway point of the third period before David Gucciardi joined Henrik Rybinski on an offensive rush and buried his first of the playoffs at 12:31 to give Hershey a 1-0 lead. Ilya Protas later added an empty-net goal in the final seconds of the contest, while Clay Stevenson made 18 saves for his first postseason shutout.

GO FOR TWO:
Hershey seeks to advance to the Atlantic Division Semifinals with a win tonight over the Islanders. When leading a best-of-three series 1-0, the Bears have a record of 8-2 in Game 2. Overall, Hershey has played a total of 14 best-of-three playoff series in its postseason history, owning a series record of 10-4. The Bears own a lifetime 79-62 record in Game 2s, with a 47-22 mark for Game 2s on home ice, and a 48-30 record in Game 2s after already winning the previous game. Hershey's last best-of-three series victory came in 1964, a 2-1 quarterfinal series victory over the Providence Reds.

KING JOINS A PAIR OF LEGENDARY BEARS BENCH BOSSES:
Bears head coach Derek King earned his first playoff win as a head coach on Tuesday, becoming just the third Hershey bench boss to open his Hershey playoff tenure with a shutout victory, joining Don Penniston (3-0 W, March 19, 1946 vs. Pittsburgh Hornets) and Frank Mathers (3-0 W, March 26, 1957 at Cleveland Barons). Both Penniston and Mathers led the Bears to Calder Cup championships in their second seasons behind the bench for Hershey.

ISLANDERS HOPING TO AVOID END OF THE LINE:
A Hershey win tonight would spell the end of the existence of the Bridgeport Islanders, as the parent New York Islanders will relocate their AHL affiliate to Hamilton, Ontario for the 2026-27 season. The franchise originated as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, an independently-owned expansion club for the 2001-02 season, before it was purchased by the New York Islanders in July of 2004. The Sound Tigers were re-branded to the Islanders before the 2021-22 campaign. Hershey previously defeated Bridgeport in the 2010 and 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs, and following Tuesday's Game 1 victory, the Bears have a win-loss record of 8-3 against the Islanders/Sound Tigers; Hershey has a lifetime 4-1 home record against Bridgeport in the postseason. 

BEARS BITES:
In playoff action, Hershey has won its last three games at GIANT Center in which it had a chance to secure a series victory...David Gucciardi was the first Bear to score in his Calder Cup Playoffs debut since Andrew Perrott struck for Hershey in Game 3 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals at Lehigh Valley on May 4, 2025...Hershey loaned forward Kyler Kupka to the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays on Wednesday...Hershey's last home playoff game versus Bridgeport was Game 4 of the 2019 Atlantic Division Semifinals, a 3-2 loss in overtime as Bridgeport's Matt Lorito extended the series to a decisive Game 5...Aaron Ness (71 GP) needs three more playoff games with Hershey to tie Ralph Keller (74 GP) for the most postseason appearances by a defenseman in team history.

ON THIS DATE IN BEARS HISTORY:
April 23, 2019 - The Bears took down the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2-1 in Game 3 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals to take a 2-1 series lead in front of 7,152 at GIANT Center. Liam O'Brien opened the scoring for Hershey midway through the first period, and Ryan Sproul tallied the game-winner at 2:50 of the third period, while Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves.