Bears Drop 4-1 Decision to Islanders

April 1, 2026

The Hershey Bears (28-28-6-3) fell to the Bridgeport Islanders (29-28-3-5) by a 4-1 score on Wednesday morning at Total Mortgage Arena.

The defeat to Bridgeport allowed the Islanders (66 points, seven games remaining) to jump the Bears (65 points, seven games remaining) for fourth place in the Atlantic Division standings. Hershey is now 2-2-0-1 against Bridgeport in the season series, with the final game between the clubs slated for Saturday, April 18 in Hershey.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Following a scoreless first period, Sonny Milano gave Hershey an initial 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 10:42 of the second frame for his fifth of the season, with Ilya Protas and Bogdan Trineyev collecting assists.
• Protas' assist on Milano's goal extended his point streak to eight games (5g, 6a). The 19-year-old rookie has had three separate point streaks of seven or more games this season, and his 56 points (27g, 29a) currently ranks first among all rookies in the American Hockey League.
• Cam Thiesing leveled the score at 1-1 at 11:56 and Liam Foudy put Bridgeport up 2-1 at 12:43.
• Although the Bears outshot Bridgeport 15-2 in the third period, with the two shots against representing a season-low for an opponent in an individual period, the Islanders found the net on both shots, with Adam Beckman and Daylan Kuefler adding to the hosts' lead; Bridgeport's 22 shots for the game tied Hershey's season-low for shots against in a contest.
• Forward Alex Gaffney made his professional debut for the Bears.
• Hershey's Magic Number to secure a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs remains at 11.
• The game marked Hershey's final regular-season game against the Islanders franchise, which is relocating to Hamilton, Ontario for the 2026-27 season. The Bears finished with a lifetime road record of 33-24-2-3-5 in 67 matches against Bridgeport at Total Mortgage Arena.

SHOTS: HER 32, BRI 22

GOALTENDING: HER - Mitch Gibson, 18-for-22; BRI - Henrik Tikkanen, 31-for-32

POWER PLAY: HER - 1-for-4; BRI - 1-for-2

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on what led to today's result:
"I liked our start of the game; we had a nice power-play goal, we had momentum, and then...again, it's our mistakes, it's a simple mistake that's got nothing to do with skill level. It's correctable, but we seem to keep making those mistakes in these high-pressure games."

King on what he liked out of the team's performance:
"I liked our desperation. We were desperate, we made a little quick change in terms of pressuring more, and they did that very well. We just could not find a goal behind [Tikkanen] and get a puck behind this guy. He made some saves, the puck was laying there and we just couldn't get it by him. The positive is when we put our minds to it, we can out-play teams, but we've got to do that every night."

King on how the group has grasped the significance of the team's matchups of the final weeks of the regular season:
"I hope they can. That's what being a pro is. You've got to notice these things, and then we miss an opportunity - it doesn't kill us, it doesn't put us out of the playoffs, but we need to get some points somehow, and we need to find a way to do that, so hopefully they understand that. I told them earlier that the last eight games we play is going to be the toughest hockey we'll play in a long time, and then when we get into the playoffs, that's going to be even tougher. Hopefully they take stock of it, but we're going to take a look at some video and see where they need to clean things up. It's not much, but it's just the mental lapses we have for a shift or two where the puck winds up in the back of our net."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday, April 3 at 7:05 p.m. at MassMutual Center. Hershey returns home to host the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Racing Night and Toyota License Plate Night, featuring a Bears license plate giveaway to the first 6,000 fans in attendance, courtesy of Toyota. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.