Bears' Fourth Line Powers Club to 3-1 Win Over Americans

January 28, 2026

The Hershey Bears' (19-14-5-2) fourth line of Dalton Smith, Grant Cruikshank, and Justin Nachbaur all factored on the scoresheet to help the club earn a 3-1 victory over the Rochester Americans (20-15-4-2) on Wednesday night at Blue Cross Arena.

The win pushed Hershey's season-high point streak to 11 games (5-0-4-2), their longest since a franchise-record 17-game point streak in 2018-19, and making Hershey one of three teams in the American Hockey League this season to achieve a point streak of 11 games or more (Grand Rapids, 19 and 12; San Jose, 11). 

Hershey's record in the season series with Rochester is now 2-0-0-0, and the Bears have now won their last six battles with the Americans dating back to Dec. 29, 2023, including their last three matches at Blue Cross Arena. The two clubs will next meet on Friday at Rochester.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Grant Cruikshank gave Hershey a 1-0 lead with his league-leading fourth shorthanded goal of the season at 9:59 of the first period, as the forward broke in on Devon Levi and tallied his seventh of the season. Jon McDonald and Matt Strome earned the assists on the goal. Cruikshank is the first Bear to record four shorthanded goals in a single season since Chris Bourque collected five in the 2011-12 campaign.
• Cruikshank's goal also served as Hershey's league-leading eighth shorthanded marker of the season, and the club's first of the campaign on the road.
• Justin Nachbaur put the Bears up 2-0 just 24 seconds into the middle stanza when he batted the puck over the shoulder of Levi for his second of the season, with Dalton Smith and McDonald collecting the assists.
• For Smith, the game marked his first back at Blue Cross Arena since departing the Americans organization - where he had played a career-high 157 games in four seasons - following the 2020-21 campaign. The veteran forward had played the following three seasons in the Western Conference with the Colorado Eagles before joining the Bears last season, and had not dressed in Hershey's game at Rochester on Nov. 23, 2024. Smith's assist on Nachbaur's goal marked his first point of the season.
• McDonald's two assists marked his first AHL multi-assist game and the second multi-point game of his AHL career.
• After Anton Wahlberg scored Rochester's only goal of the evening at 6:55 of the second period, Henrik Rybinksi added an insurance marker for Hershey with his fifth of the season at 1:14 of the third period from Brett Leason and Louie Belpedio.
• Clay Stevenson earned his 11th win of the season and his 56th career victory in net for Hershey with 27 saves - including 12 in the third period - moving him past Philipp Grubauer and into a tie with Peter Budaj for 16th in wins by a goaltender in club history.
• Defenseman Phip Waugh made his Bears debut, while forward Ryan Hofer played his first game with the club since Oct. 12.
• The game was Hershey's first game decided in regulation since a 3-2 win vs. Cleveland on Jan. 10, ending a franchise-record streak for games decided past regulation. The Bears went 1-0-4-2 over seven games from Jan. 11 vs. Cleveland - Jan. 24 at Lehigh Valley, tying an American Hockey League record.

SHOTS: HER 22, ROC 28

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 27-for-28; ROC - Devon Levi, 19-for-22

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-2; ROC - 0-for-3

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on what led to the team getting tonight's win:
"Well, getting that shorty helped right off the bat. They're a pretty good team, they've got a good power play and they play with speed. But I thought our goaltender was good, and when we got caught in our own end I thought we did a good job of keeping them to the outside."

King on the performance of the team's fourth line:
"It's great - it makes the other guys push to play just as hard. I thought they did an outstanding job for us tonight - it's good to see them get rewarded for it. And they get rewarded by more ice time, and then put in situations, d-zone face-offs and what have you." 

King on what is contributing to Grant Cruikshank's success this season:
"I think the big thing with him is he's playing a 200-foot game. He does a great job on the PK, he blocks shots, he's just a smart player like that. When we block a shot, he knows when to take off, and that's what happened." 

Grant Cruikshank on his league-leading fourth shorthanded goal of the season:
"It happened quick. I think they rimmed it. Stromer made a great counter-pinch and I think it was fumbling around there, and I felt like we were going to get a hold of it, and sure enough J-Mac just whacked it to me. Kind of a lucky bounce right to his stick, and then year, finished it from there."

Cruikshank on how much of a relief it was to get a win tonight, particularly in regulation:
"It was huge. It was kind of getting to the point where it was really frustrating. We were getting points, but obviously losing a few of those in overtime or a shootout is not what you want. So to get the full two points here was great and we had a couple of days off, so I felt like everyone was pretty fresh and it felt like a pretty good 60-minute effort."

Cruikshank on building on this win heading into Friday's rematch with Rochester:
"I think we just have to do the same thing. We're aware of the mistakes we've been making in those games where we've either given up leads late or second periods haven't been our best. It was just a matter of staying simple and not trying to force plays that cause turnovers, and those end up in the back of our net. So just keeping it simple, working hard, and competing - I think those are the biggest things."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Rochester Americans on Friday, Jan. 30, at 7:05 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena. The Bears 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.