Atlantic Division Semifinals Game 3 Preview: Bears vs. Penguins, 7 p.m.

May 5, 2026

The Hershey Bears make their return to GIANT Center for the home portion of their best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, as the clubs take the ice for Game 3 tonight. Hershey leveled the series at a game apiece after last Saturday 2-1 win over the Penguins.

#5 Hershey Bears (3-1) vs. #2 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (1-1)
May 5, 2026 | 7 p.m. | GIANT Center | Series tied, 1-1
Referees: Jack Young (24), Morgan MacPhee (43)
Linespersons: Jud Ritter (34), Scott Allan (63)

Tonight's Promotions:

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Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, former Bears captain Garrett Mitchell, AHL Hall-of-Famer Mitch Lamoureux, 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 evened their series up with a 2-1 win, as Brett Leason netted his first of the season at 16:25 of the first period with Hershey on the man advantage and Bogdan Trineyev extended the lead to 2-0 at 17:11 of the second period. Aidan McDonough scored 1:12 into the third period to spoil Clay Stevenson's shutout bid, but the netminder made 21 stops during the final frame to secure the victory for Hershey.

YOUNG GUNS:
The trio of Andrew Cristall, Ilya Protas, and Bogdan Trineyev lead Hershey in postseason scoring with an identical stat line of two goals and three assists through four games. Cristall enters tonight's game riding a three-game point streak after being held off the scoresheet in Game 1 of the team's first-round series with Bridgeport, while Protas and Trineyev have recorded at least a point in every game of the postseason thus far. Cristall and Protas - both rookies - are the first Bears rookie duo to record at least five points in a single postseason since Hendrix Lapierre (6), Ethen Frank (6), and Vincent Iorio (5) did so during the team's 2023 playoff run.

STELLAR STEVENSON:
Since returning from injury on April 11, Clay Stevenson has posted a combined record in the regular season and playoffs of 6-2-0, a 1.76 goals-against average, a .939 save percentage, and one shutout. Stevenson's 21 saves in the third period of Game 2 is the most made in the final frame of regulation by any goaltender in the current postseason and tied with Hunter Shepard (June 18, 2024 at Coachella Valley, second period) for the most saves in a single playoff period by a Bears goaltender since Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves in the first period of Hershey's Game 2 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Providence on April 28, 2013.

NESS CAN PASS KELLER:
Aaron Ness appeared in his 74th career playoff game with the Bears on Saturday to tie Bears Hall of Famer Ralph Keller for the most postseason appearances by a defenseman - and third overall - in team history; the current Bears captain will pass Keller should he earn a sweater tonight, and will only trail forwards Mike Nyokoluk (103 GP) and Chris Bourque (106 GP) on the overall franchise list. Ness' 18 playoff points (2g, 16a) are tied with Rich Brennan (2g, 16a) for 12th among defensemen in team history; he ranks third in club history behind Chase Priskie (19 points) and Logan Day (21 points) in playoff scoring among American-born defensemen.

POWER PLAY PUMP-UP:
Brett Leason's power-play goal in Game 2 marked the first of the postseason for Hershey with the man advantage after going 0-for-5 through its first three games of the playoffs. The Bears owned a 5-for-17 (29.4%) power play on home ice against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the regular season.

BEARS BITES:
Hershey enters tonight's game with a lifetime record of 72-63 in Game 3s, with a 35-35 mark at home. When a series is tied 1-1, the Bears have gone 33-28 in Game 3...The Bears loaned defenseman Reilly Webb to the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays on Sunday. Webb has appeared in all four games with the Bears while dressing in four games with the Stingrays in their best-of-seven series against the Atlanta Gladiators, including their series-clinching 3-1 Game 6 victory last night at Atlanta, to help South Carolina earn its first playoff series win since 2021...Hershey has a lifetime playoff record of 16-4 at home against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; the team's last loss to the Penguins at home was Game 1 of the 2016 Atlantic Division Finals (4-0 L)...Hershey has posted a 3-0 record in the playoffs when scoring first.

ON THIS DATE IN BEARS HISTORY:
May 5, 1974 - Bears captain Ralph Keller announced that he would retire at the conclusion of Hershey's postseason run. Keller would go out in style three days later, as he was carried off the ice atop his teammates' shoulders following Hershey's Calder Cup-clinching win over the Providence Reds in Game 5 of the Finals in front of a standing-room only crowd of 8,703 at Hersheypark Arena.