Bears Hold on for 3-2 Victory Over Checkers

The Hershey Bears (1-1-0-0) picked up a 3-2 win to earn a split of their opening weekend series with the Charlotte Checkers (1-1-0-0) on Sunday afternoon at GIANT Center.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Eriks Mateiko gave Hershey a 1-0 lead with his first of the season at 10:29 of the first period.
• Petr Sikora netted his first career AHL goal at 19:43 to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.
• After John Beecher scored at 8:35 of the third period to spoil Hershey’s shutout bid, Josh Dunne netted his second of the season at 10:21 to give the Bears a 3-1 lead with the eventual game-winning goal.
• Andrew Cristall assisted on both of Hershey’s goals in the first period. The second-year forward finished the weekend against Charlotte with three assists in two games.
• Garin Bjorklund made his first start of the season for Hershey, making his first career appearance versus the Checkers, opposite Charlotte’s Tyler Muszelik, who was making his pro debut. Bjorklund made 27 saves to get his first win of the season and his first for Hershey since Feb. 27, 2026 at Rockford.

SHOTS ON GOAL: HER – 23; CLT – 29

GOALTENDING: HER – Garin Bjorklund, 27-for-29; CLT – Tyler Muszelik, 20-for-23

POWER PLAY: HER – 0-for-6; CLT – 1-for-3

The Bears continue a seven-game homestand to begin the 2026-27 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Texas Stars for the first time in their regular-season history as Hershey celebrates B-E-A-R-Sapalooza Country Night on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. The first 6,000 fans in attendance will receive a straw cowboy hat, courtesy of Pepsi. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game via Ticketmaster.