Bears Fall to Wolf Pack, 5-2

March 7, 2026

The Hershey Bears (26-22-6-2) saw their three-game road win streak snapped in a 5-2 decision to the Hartford Wolf Pack (22-27-4-2) on Saturday night at PeoplesBank Arena.

Hershey's record against the Wolf Pack this season now stands at 0-1-2-0. The two teams will meet one final time on April 4 at Hartford.

Hershey's Magic Number to clinch a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs remains at 26.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Wyatt Bongiovanni, making his Bears debut, earned the primary assist on Hershey's opening goal by Andrew Cristall at 6:52 of the first period to give Hershey an initial 1-0 lead. The goal was Cristall's 13th of the season and was also assisted by Brett Leason, who extended his assist and point streaks to nine games (3g, 9a).
• The Wolf Pack took a 2-1 lead on the strength of goals by Trey Fix-Wolansky and Casey Terrance before the end of the first, and Terrance added his second of the evening in the middle frame to extend the lead to 3-1 in favor of Hartford. Fix-Wolansky added his second of the evening midway through the third period to put the Wolf Pack up 4-1.
• Grant Cruikshank collected his ninth of the season at 15:14 to pull the Bears back to within a pair of goals before Adam Sýkora sealed the game for Hartford with an empty-net goal at 17:36.

SHOTS: HER 21, HFD 32

GOALTENDING: HER - Garin Bjorklund, 27-for-32; HFD - Dylan Garand, 19-for-21

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-1; HFD - 0-for-4

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on tonight's loss:
"Too many little mistakes - not huge mistakes - just little mistakes. We've talked about how they're a good team, especially at the front. They have some skill, they move the puck well, so if you make that little mistake, they capitalize on it, and they did tonight."

King on the play of new addition of Wyatt Bongiovanni:
"I liked him. He was fine. I think it wasn't fair to him, because we had to bump him up in the lineup. I think he should be our third-line center with Bitten and Strome on his wings. He shouldn't be on our second-line center right now until he gets acclimated to how we'd like him to play. I didn't mind him at all. He's been coached, he's got good habits, and he plays the game the right way. I look forward to having him." 

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Providence Bruins on Sunday, March 8 at 3:05 p.m. at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Hershey returns home to host the Belleville Senators on Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Penn State Health Drawstring Bag Night. All fans in attendance will receive a drawstring bag, courtesy of Penn State Health. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.