Bears Fall 2-1 in Final Regular-Season Meeting with Islanders

April 18, 2026

The Hershey Bears (31-31-6-3) dropped their final regular-season meeting with the Bridgeport Islanders (34-30-3-5) by a 2-1 score on Saturday night at GIANT Center.

As a result of tonight's loss, along with the Springfield Thunderbirds' win over Hartford, the Bears are now situated in sixth place in the Atlantic Division; Hershey can still move as high as fifth in the division with a win tomorrow in its season finale against the Rochester Americans. The Bears will ultimately face either Bridgeport or Charlotte to open the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, but they will not begin their Atlantic Division First Round series at home.

The game marked the conclusion of the season series with Bridgeport; Hershey went 2-3-0-1 against the Islanders for the 2025-26 campaign. The contest also marked the final regular-season meeting between Hershey and the Islanders/Sound Tigers franchise; the Bears owned a lifetime record of 78-37-3-5-11 against the Connecticut team which is relocating to Hamilton, Ontario for the following season.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• After Adam Beckman gave the Islanders an initial 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the second period, Henrik Rybinski tied the game for the Bears with a power-play goal at 9:16 for his 10th of the season  from Corey Schueneman and Brett Leason at 9:16.
• Calle Odelius scored the game-winner for Bridgeport with 2:46 remaining in regulation.
• Bears captain Aaron Ness made his return to the lineup for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury on Feb. 7 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that required surgery; the defenseman missed 26 games while recovering; Ness' return marked his 37th game of the season and his 465th regular-season contest as a Bear, placing him 19th in franchise history.
• Former Bears netminder Semyon Varlamov started for Bridgeport while loaned to the Islanders on a conditioning stint, making his first game appearance in Hershey since starting for the Bears versus the Connecticut Whale on Nov. 21, 2010.

SHOTS: HER 29, BRI 23

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 21-for-23; BRI - Semyon Varlamov, 28-for-29

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

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on the team's blue line getting bolstered with the return of Aaron Ness after an extended absence and Louie Belpedio after missing Wednesday's game at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton:
"It's good to see Nesser back in, getting his feet wet again - obviously a little rusty after a while - but it was nice to see that veteran leadership back there, and it helps a lot. Obviously [Stevenson] played outstanding again. Their goalie played well too, but I thought [David Gucciardi] had a solid game for us in that. So there's some good things out of it, but the bad thing is if the playoffs started today and that was the best I got from my top [forward] line, then we're in a lot of trouble."

King on needing to re-energize players who may have underperformed tonight as Hershey heads into the final game of the season attempting to earn the highest seeding possible:
"That's the problem. Right now I shouldn't have to go in there and energize these guys. They should be energized enough by themselves. I know they're young and that, but they got to learn. It's game 72 tomorrow - I shouldn't have to go in there with my pom-poms and cheer these guys on - they have to figure that out. And if they do, great. If they don't, then some of them may not have long careers."

King on testing Semyon Varlamov:
"We talked about it before the game, put pucks on him from everywhere, shoot the pucks from everywhere. We had a chances, opportunities in the slot, and we're looking to dish it. So, you know, we'll address it and we'll keep pounding it in their head. But I mean, he made some saves at the end there. We tested him at times, but we could have tested him more."

Aaron Ness on returning to the lineup after an extended absence:
"The hard thing is we're trying to win games, especially this time of year, that's the most important thing. I felt I was a little clunky, personally I didn't love my game, I hold myself to a high standard, and I think everyone does, and I think we know it, and that's why this one hurts a little bit."

Ness on the team preparing to start the playoffs on the road while its opponents and dates remain to-be-determined:
"It's the playoffs. We'll turn the page with whoever we play and whenever we play; that doesn't matter. But I just think for me - and I'm sure Kinger said the same thing - it's all about elevating at the right time and playing good hockey at the right time, and we still have one more game to do that and hit the ground running when we start the playoffs. I've said the most important thing - you've seen teams get hot and go on runs - obviously a few things we have to clean up, I think everyone can be better, like I said, I think we all know that, we'll bring it tomorrow, and see where we play and when and go from there."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears conclude the 2025-26 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Rochester Americans on Sunday, April 19 at 3 p.m. at GIANT Center for Fan Appreciation Night, featuring a variety of prizes for fans and the team's Jersey Off Our Backs postgame ceremony. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.