Bears Close Homestand with 4-1 Win Over Islanders

December 20, 2025

The Hershey Bears (14-10-1-0) came away with a 4-1 win against the Bridgeport Islanders (11-13-1-1) on Saturday night at GIANT Center.

Hershey concluded its franchise-record nine-game homestand that began Nov. 26 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a record of 4-5-0-0. Following tonight's game, the Bears have played more home games (17, 8-8-1-0) than any other American Hockey League club in the current season. Hershey's average attendance of 9,249 ranks third in the circuit.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Grant Cruikshank opened the scoring for Hershey at 2:27 of the first period with his fourth of the season, knocking in a Cam Allen rebound past Henrik Tikkanen. Corey Schueneman added the secondary helper.
• Hershey widened its lead to 2-0 at 3:28 of the second period when Graeme Clarke buried his sixth of the season from Louie Belpedio and Jon McDonald.
• Andrew Cristall extended his point streak to eight games (1g, 9a) dating back to Nov. 29 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with his fourth of the season at 18:22 from Ilya Protas and Belpedio to make it 3-0.
• Ilya Protas scored a highlight-reel goal at 13:31 of the third period, walking around a Bridgeport defender, and tucking the puck past Bridgeport goaltender Henrik Tikkanen's pad while falling to make it 4-0. The goal was Protas' team-leading 12th of the season and was assisted by Corey Schueneman.
• Bridgeport broke goaltender Mitch Gibson's bid for a second straight shutout with a power-play goal from Joey Larson at 15:15 of the third period.  
• Spencer Smallman made his return to the lineup after missing the previous eight games with an upper-body injury.
• Zac Funk made his season debut for Hershey and played in his first AHL game since Jan. 25, 2025 after sustaining a lower-body injury while playing with the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays on Feb. 21, 2025 vs. Greenville.
• Mitch Gibson made his second consecutive start for Hershey after earning the win last Saturday against Charlotte, and made 22 saves to see his record this season improve to 3-0-0. Since making his AHL debut with Hershey in the 2023-24 season, Gibson has improved his AHL record to 6-0-0, becoming the first goaltender in team history to begin their Bears tenure with six consecutive wins. Gibson's shutout streak ended at 132:30 of time without surrendering a goal dating back to his Dec. 7 win vs. Lehigh Valley.
• The Bears wore jerseys of the various teams of the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League during pregame warm-ups.

SHOTS: HER 28, BRI 23

GOALTENDING: HER - Mitch Gibson, 22-for-23; BRI - Henrik Tikkanen, 24-for-28

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-2; BRI - 1-for-5

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on what stood out:
"Well, what stood out to me is we did a good job on our special teams again, but our goalie stood out again. But I liked our three periods. We didn't stray. We got hemmed in a little bit, but we didn't stray from what we wanted to do. And as I've told them all year, if you stick to what we're supposed to do, good things can happen. And it did."

King on the highlight-reel goal by Ilya Protas:
"He's had a couple like that this year, but we don't want him to score like that anymore because we might lose him. But yeah, he's going to be a special player. I like how [Washington is] patient with him. It's not like, 'Oh, he scored two goals, let's call him up right away.' And they're doing it the right way with this kid, and if they stick with him, he's going to be a special player."

King on having a fast start after having a week between games to prepare for this weekend:
"Well, if I told them if you didn't start quick enough, I would have you home two days earlier on your Christmas break. No, I'm kidding. It was just the way the week went for practice. We came in, we had a couple days of skills, hard day, we had a day off, and then we came back and practiced hard for two days and just got it in their heads that we have to come out and against this team and especially tomorrow, [Wilkes-Barre/Scranton], we have to come out with good pace. And we did and we stuck with it for three periods."

Ilya Protas on what he noticed was working for the team:
"I feel like [we tried to play a] simple game, 200-foot, tried to keep it simple, and we were connected in all three zones, and we had success because of it."

Mitch Gibson on forming an effective goaltending trio with Clay Stevenson and Garin Bjorklund since his recall from the ECHL:
"I saw it last year in South Carolina with the Stingrays. We had myself, Seth Eisele, and Garin Bjorklund, who's up here as well. It really helps if we're all friends, which we are. We hang out outside of the rink. We're all about the same age, we've seen each other - Clay and I used to battle each other in college and we've known each other for a long time, in development camps with the Caps and whatnot. That really helps in terms of supporting each other. This isn't a 'I've got to get mine over yours,' this is a 'We're all in it together,' and they've been great the past couple of weeks that I've been here. In practice we just like to push each other - if one guy makes a save, the next two are in line to make the next one, so I think the competitive aspect is there."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 3:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. Hershey returns home to host the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday, Dec. 28, at 5 p.m. at GIANT Center for Mascot Mania and Belco Kids Night. The first 3,000 kids 14-and-under will receive a pair of Coco earmuffs, courtesy of Belco. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.