Bears Drop 4-1 Road Decision to Penguins

February 4, 2026

The Hershey Bears (20-16-5-2) were level at 0-0 heading into the third period with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (30-12-2-2), but their opponents erupted for four goals in the final frame to deal Hershey a 4-1 loss on Wednesday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.

Hershey's record against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the season series now stands at 1-5-0-1; the two teams will face each other again this Saturday in Hershey.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Hershey outshot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 17-10 in the first period; Hershey's 17 shots on goal marked a new season-high for the opening frame and matched the season-high for an individual period (Dec. 10 vs. Providence, 3rd).
• The Bears had a two-man advantage early in the second period when Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was assessed penalties at the 38-second and 1:19 marks; Hershey used its timeout, but failed to convert.
• After Aaron Huglen opened the scoring for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 1:39 of the third period, Grant Cruikshank answered for the Bears with an unassisted goal at 4:08 to level the score at 1-1.
• Avery Hayes netted a power-play goal for the Penguins at 7:55 that stood up as the game-winner, and Tanner Howe and Aidan McDonough tacked on insurance markers for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

SHOTS: HER 31, WBS 29

GOALTENDING: HER - Mitch Gibson, 25-for-29; WBS - Sergei Murashov, 30-for-31

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

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on if the team deserved a better fate tonight:
"I think we did. We played hard, we worked hard, but we had a few lapses there and let them off the hook. I just mentioned it to our guys after the game, that to compete with those top teams, especially a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, you have to play three periods pretty much flawlessly. We had a couple lapses in the third and let them have their chances to score and they buried theirs, and we couldn't bury ours."

Bears head coach Derek King on how the team has improved since January and has managed to pick up points:
"We're playing well. We're taking teams, whether we've got the lead or they tie it up and we go to overtime, but we're still in the game, and that's huge for us. 10-15 games into the season, if we were in that position, we probably would have walked out with our heads down. It would've been a 4-1 game because we pulled our goalie, couldn't score, empty-net [goal], empty-net [goal], and it would just suck the life out of us, but our guys are battling, we're staying in the games, we're involved. So, hey, we've got three wins out of 10, but we've got points in all of the other games, so we're confident with them, and we'll just continue to build on what we need to do."

King on how the team matches up against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and what the message will be heading into the All-Star Break and the final stretch of the regular season:
"We know this team. I feel we're good enough to beat them, but we have to be solid for three periods. We can't have lapses or give up a bad goal. We have another chance to go at them again at home [Saturday], and I'm hoping to see our guys respond and play a solid three-period game, and then the message after the game will be to get some rest, because now it's almost like our playoffs are starting early. We have to keep our head above water and squeak into the playoffs."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return home to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.