Bears Fall 6-3 to Islanders

March 22, 2026

The Hershey Bears (27-26-6-3) were doubled up 6-3 by the Bridgeport Islanders (26-27-3-5) on Sunday evening at GIANT Center.

Hershey's season series with Bridgeport is now at 2-1-0-1; the two clubs will face each other twice more, with each team hosting the other.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Adam Beckman gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with his first of two goals at 9:14 of the first period.
• Leon Muggli tied the game at 1-1 with his first career American Hockey League goal at 2:37 of the second period. Ilya Protas and Andrew Cristall earned assists on the goal, with Protas' helper extending his point streak to five games (4g, 4a).
• Cam Thiesing put the visitors up 2-1 at 11:16, and Liam Foudy opened Bridgeport's lead up to 3-1 at 12:17. Joey Larson (16:46) and Beckman (19:34) added additional goals to give the Islanders a 5-1 edge by the end of the frame.
• Hershey attempted a comeback in the third period, replacing Garin Bjorklund in net with Mitch Gibson, and receiving goals from Corey Schueneman and Jon McDonald.
• Cristall finished the day with two assists, giving him 50 points (15g, 35a) on the season. Along with Protas (53 points; 26g, 27a), the pair are the first rookie duo for Hershey to record at least 50 points since Riley Barber and Travis Boyd did so during the 2015-16 season.
• Patrick Thomas made his first appearance for the Bears since November, recording a pair of assists for his first multi-point game in the AHL.
• Islanders forward Pierrick Dubé and defenseman Ethan Bear both made their returns to Hershey in visiting colors, with both earning a pair of assists before the end of the second; the duo then teamed up with Dubé feeding Bear for a power-play goal at 12:53 of the third to give Bridgeport a 6-3 lead and close out the scoring.
• Hershey's Magic Number to clinch a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs remained at 18 as a result of the defeat.

SHOTS: HER 25, BRI 26

GOALTENDING: HER - Garin Bjorklund [L], 13-for-18, and Mitch Gibson, 7-for-8; BRI - Henrik Tikkanen, 22-for-25

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-4; BRI - 1-for-3

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on what stood out in tonight's loss:
"Well, I think it was just some sloppiness in our play structure-wise. Again, like the night before, just missed assignments and stuff like that. It just seems when we miss our assignments or don't do what we're supposed to do, it's in the back of our net. Whereas over the course of a season, it doesn't always happen that way. It's like you could lose coverage, but hey, puck jumps over a stick and off we go. So lately it just hasn't been going right for us."

King on the makeup of the team's lines and where the team's offense from the forward group is concentrated:
"I like our top two lines. We're mixing in different guys in the bottom-six, but then you're not scoring much with that bottom-six. They bring energy, they do some good things, but if they're not scoring, then you've got to double shift - double-shift [Protas], double-shift [Rybinski] - lines like that, and you could see it by the second game tonight, they were tired. It's not fair to them, but somehow we've got to find a way to generate some more scoring from other guys."

King on the team's struggles at home:
"I can't put my finger on it. It's great when you walk out onto the bench and you start the game and it's a full house. And I know the fans are frustrated, obviously, with the boos, but it's not a lack of effort. I think it's a lack of staying or sticking with the structure we're having. We start forcing stuff when we're down a goal. We shouldn't. We should just play our game for three periods."

King when asked about the confidence of particular players:
"I guess it's a concern with every coach, whether it's a goalie, a defenseman, or a forward, guys that are struggling or maybe not finding their game. These are important games, so it's magnified, right? But it's not just him, it's other guys that need to find their game. And I can only do so much with the pom-poms and the cheerleading, but we'll keep working at it. This is not a good time to probably have the stretch we are having, but teams will go through it. We've got to find a way to dig our way out of it because we've dug the hole. With these guys, they've been resilient all year. They find a way somehow. It drives you nuts as a coach, but we'll work hard this week in practice and we'll take our show on the road and hopefully get some wins."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they embark on an eight-game stretch away from home, starting when they visit the Syracuse Crunch on Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m. at Upstate Medical University Arena. 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.