Bears Hang on for 4-2 Win Over Penguins

March 13, 2026

The Hershey Bears (27-23-6-2) used a three-goal second period to stake the club to a 4-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (36-15-5-2) on Friday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.

The victory marked the first road win of the season against the Penguins and Hershey's overall record against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season improved to 2-5-1-1 with the win; the Bears and Penguins will conclude the season series on April 15 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The win also reduced Hershey's Magic Number to clinch a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs to 21.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• The Bears took a 3-0 lead in the second period with a trio of goals in a span of five minutes and 37 seconds, as Andrew Cristall (6:01), Sonny Milano (10:32), and Ryan Chesley (11:38) all tallied for Hershey, with Cristall earning the primary assist on Chesley's goal, and Brett Leason collecting a pair of assists.
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton responded in the third period with goals from Aidan McDonough (2:35) and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (8:43) to close the gap, but Bogdan Trineyev sealed the contest for the Bears with an empty-net goal at 18:46.
• Cristall, Milano, and Trineyev each finished the night with a goal and an assist; Chesley's goal stood up as the game-winner, his third game-deciding goal of the season and the most by a Bears rookie defenseman since Cameron Schilling tallied four during the 2012-13 season.

SHOTS: HER 24, WBS 32

GOALTENDING: HER - Mitch Gibson, 30-for-32; WBS - Sergei Murashov, 20-for-23

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

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on tonight's one:
"It was nice to see us get a lead like that, especially on a good team like that. But that's a good hockey team, so you can't drop your guard, and they pressured us, they tilted the ice, and you can see what they can do, but we weathered the storm, but we'll take the two points and get out of here and go home."

King on how critical Mitch Gibson's play was and settling in tonight:
"Nothing to take away from his game - he played awesome - but it's maybe that soft one that goes in that we tightened up when we see that, like 'oh, here we go again,' but he stood his ground and hung in there for us and he did a great job."

King on Wyatt Bongiovanni's versatility at both wing and center:
"Yeah, he can play both, and I needed him tonight to play some center with us, and it's worked out good. He goes to the gray areas - we didn't have that and needed some more forwards that'll go to the net, and block shots for us - which he did at the end - a couple of huge blocked shots there for us. He'll settle in, he'll get comfortable with us, with the guys, with the coaching staff, but so far thumbs up for him."

King on the Bears in the final stretch of the season attempting to stay above the several teams behind them:
"This weekend's a big one for us. You lose a few, it can go the other way, and the other team gets hot, and the next thing you know, you're in seventh place. We've just got to keep ourselves above that line and see if we can hold that, but there's going to be some ups and downs with these games left, and teams are going to be coming after us."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they 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.