Bears Claim 50th Win in 3-2 Shootout Victory Over Wild

April 6, 2024

Matt Strome scored the decisive goal in the seventh round of the shootout to lift the Hershey Bears (50-12-0-5) to a 3-2 victory over the Iowa Wild (24-35-4-3) on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena. The triumph marks the fourth time in franchise history that the Chocolate and White have reached the 50-win plateau in the regular season.

With the win, the Bears swept their first-ever season series with the Wild, posting a 4-0-0-0 record against the Central Division club. Hershey reduced its Magic Number for the American Hockey League's Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for first place in the league to three points. Hershey improved to 4-5 in the shootout.

The game also marked Bears head coach Todd Nelson's 700th game as an AHL head coach; in 700 career games with Hershey, Grand Rapids, and Oklahoma City, Nelson owns a record of 403-220-77.

BOX SCORE

Vladislav Firstov opened the scoring for Iowa with a power-play goal that beat Clay Stevenson at 4:17 of the first period.

Hershey responded in kind with a goal on the man advantage when Chase Priskie hammered his eighth of the season past Zane McIntryre from the left circle at 13:05. Lucas Johansen and Pierrick Dube assisted on the goal.

Alex Limoges then gave the Bears their first lead of the night at 18:09 of the second period when he corralled a Logan Day rebound and tapped it past McIntryre for his 23rd of the season. Joe Snively picked up an additional assist.

Gavin Hain leveled the score for the Wild midway through the third period with a goal at 10:48.

Regulation ended with the game still tied 2-2, and the five-minute overtime failed to produce a winner.

Iowa elected to shoot first in the shootout, with Sammy Walker scoring for the hosts and Ethen Frank equalizing for Hershey in the opening round. Over the next five rounds, neither team was able to make any progress. In the seventh round, the Wild sent out Steven Fogarty, but Stevenson turned his attempt aside with a blocker save.

Strome then won it for the Bears when he faked a shot to McIntyre's glove side before quickly snapping his second career shootout-winner past the goaltender's blocker.

Shots finished 28-26 in favor of Hershey. Stevenson went 24-for-26 to earn his 23rd win of the season for Hershey; McIntyre took the shootout loss for Iowa with a 25-for-27 effort. The Bears went 1-for-5 on the power play; the Wild also went 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Bears continue the 2023-24 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return home to GIANT Center against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday, April 12 at 7 p.m. for Fairview Golf Course Logo Chip Night. The first 4,000 fans in attendance will receive a 2023 Calder Cup Champions logo golf chip. The game will also feature a pre-game happy hour featuring a $5 16 oz. select beer, available from doors to puck drop. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.