Atlantic Division Semifinals Game 4 Preview: Bears vs. Penguins, 7 p.m.

May 7, 2026

The Hershey Bears face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a must-win Game 4 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals tonight at GIANT Center. Hershey faces a 2-1 series deficit in its best-of-five series with its in-state rival after the Penguins earned a 4-3 overtime win on Tuesday night in Game 3.

#5 Hershey Bears (3-2) vs. #2 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (2-1)
May 7, 2026 | 7 p.m. | GIANT Center | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leads, 2-1
Referees: Stephen Hiff (46), Mike Sullivan (47)
Linespersons: Dylan Blujus (57), Devon Gale (97)

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 fell behind 2-0 to the Penguins on Tuesday in Game 3 before reeling off three straight goals, as Ivan Miroshnichenko, Bogdan Trineyev, and Brett Leason each found the back of the net for Hershey to give the home team a 3-2 lead against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but Avery Hayes netted the tying goal for the visitors with less than three minutes in regulation and Rutger McGroarty scored 5:02 into the first overtime to give Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a 4-3 victory and a 2-1 series lead. 

DO-OR-DIE:
Hershey enters tonight's contest facing elimination for the first time in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs. The team has a lifetime win-loss record of 19-11 in the playoffs when facing elimination in the fourth game of a series. The Bears are also 20-16 in Game 4s when trailing a series 2-1; Hershey has a 6-10 series record when trailing 2-1 in a best-of-five, with its last series victory under those conditions coming the previous spring in the 2025 Atlantic Division Semifinals versus Lehigh Valley. Six of the eight previous series between Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have gone the distance and required a decisive winner-take-all game.

LEAS 'EM UP:
Brett Leason's Bears tenure has been broken up over the course of two separate stints with the franchise, and five of his seven career playoff appearances with Hershey have been against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. All three of Leason's career goals in the AHL postseason have come at the expense of the Penguins, including the opening power-play marker in Game 2 last Saturday and the go-ahead goal for Hershey in Game 3 on Tuesday.

KEEPING THE PENGUINS FLIGHTLESS:
If Hershey is to extend the series to a decisive fifth game at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday, the Bears will likely need to contain some of the Penguins' sharpshooters. Rutger McGroarty has skated in 10 career combined regular-season and playoff games at GIANT Center and has generated 14 points (4g, 10a) against Hershey, including Tuesday's game-winner, while Avery Hayes has skated in 12 games at Hershey, producing 10 points (9g, 1a) including the game-tying goal in Game 3, and Ville Koivunen has mustered 12 points (3g, 9a) in eight combined road games vs. the Bears, including two assists on Tuesday.

YOUNG GUNS KEEP FIRING:
The trio of Andrew Cristall (2g, 4a), Ilya Protas (2g, 4a), and Bogdan Trineyev (3g, 3a) lead Hershey in postseason scoring with six points apiece. Cristall enters tonight's game riding a four-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 six points in a single postseason since Hendrix Lapierre and Ethen Frank did so during the team's 2023 playoff run.

BEARS BITES:
Aaron Ness dressed in his 75th playoff game with Hershey in Game 3 to pass Ralph Keller for the most playoff games by a defenseman in franchise history...Ryan Chesley made his postseason debut in Game 3, collecting an assist...The Bears recalled Jalen Luypen from the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays on Wednesday...Hershey has a lifetime playoff record of 16-5 at home against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton...Hershey has posted a 3-0 record in the playoffs when scoring first and an 0-2 record when allowing the first goal.

ON THIS DATE IN BEARS HISTORY:
May 7, 1969 - Hershey ended a 10-year title drought to claim the Calder Cup for the fourth time in club history by defeating the Quebec Aces for the title in a 3-0 Game 5 win in front of 6,425 at Hershey Sports Arena. Goaltender "Long John" Henderson earned his second shutout of the championship round with 27 saves as Don Marcotte buried the Cup-clinching goal (his second game-winner of the finals) in the first period.