Bears Rally in Third for 2-1 Win Over Wolf Pack

April 6, 2025

Ryan Chesley scored in his pro debut and Ivan Miroshnichenko netted the game-winner as the Hershey Bears (42-18-6-1) rallied from a 1-0 deficit with a pair of goals in the third period to earn a 2-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack (27-31-7-2) on Sunday evening at GIANT Center to complete a perfect 3-0-0-0 weekend, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

The victory reduced the Bears' Magic Number to clinch the Atlantic Division title to six points.

Hershey's record against Hartford improved to 2-2-0-0. While Hartford won the regular-season series due to the overtime point earned in last night's 3-2 Bears win, Hershey's regulation victory today eliminated Hartford from playoff contention. 

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• The Bears took the ice wearing specialty jerseys promoting autism awareness, inspired by designs from Senior Division art students at Milton Hershey School in collaboration with Vista Autism Services and the Autism Society Greater Harrisburg Area.
• Washington Capitals prospect Ryan Chesley made his pro debut for Hershey. The defenseman knotted the score at 1-1 at 3:24 of the third period with his first pro goal, becoming the second Bear this weekend to achieve the feat after David Gucciardi did so the previous night.
• Ivan Miroshnichenko gave the Bears a 2-1 lead at 4:59 of the third period to hit the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career and join Ethen Frank (recalled since Jan. 10 to Washington) for the team goal-scoring lead this season.
• Hartford dressed forward Sullivan Mack and New York Rangers-contracted goaltender Callum Tung for their pro debuts.
• Hershey was limited to a season-low two shots on goal for a single period after being outshot 6-2 in the opening frame, and was held to a season-low shot total of 16 (also previously occurred on Nov. 3 vs. Charlotte, Dec. 29 vs. Charlotte, and Feb. 8 vs. Syracuse).
• Hershey's win marked its sixth comeback victory when trailing after two periods this season and second at home.
• The weekend sweep by the Bears was the second 3-0-0-0 weekend for Hershey this season after previously achieving the feat in late October (Oct. 25 at Providence, 2-1; Oct. 26 at Springfield, 6-2; Oct. 27 at Providence).
• Hershey's victory was the club's 25th win of the season in a game decided by one goal (25-7-6-1), surpassing the previous franchise mark established last season (24-2-0-5). The team record for most one-goal decisions in a single season is 45, set in 2011-12 (20-13-4-8).

SHOTS: HER 16, HFD 24

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 23-for-24; HFD - Callum Tung, 14-for-16

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

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on how the team turned things around in the third period to get the win:
"I just told the guys in between the second and third that there's the light at the end of the tunnel [with] this three-in-three. We made a few adjustments, I said, 'Do you have enough energy to do this?' And the guys said 'Yeah,' I said, 'Well, empty the gas tank. Everything you've got.' And Chesley scores that goal and gets the crowd into it a bit and gets our bench lively. And then from there we just got the go-ahead goal and then we just hung on. But it was a gutsy effort. The first two periods we could only generate eight shots or whatever it was. I didn't know if we'd have enough gas in the tank. That was [Hartford's] second game of the weekend, our third. But we found a way to get it done. Mud was a stud in net again, so it was a great weekend to get all six points in a three and three for sure."

Nelson on the play of Clay Stevenson, and in particular a multi-save sequence without his stick in the second period:
"He played two strong games, and we got a great game from [Garin Bjorklund] last night. If those guys don't perform like they did, I don't think we get the six points [...] Any time the goalie makes a big save for you or multiple saves, in that case it lifts the bench up and after that we had a bit of a flurry in the O-zone. Stuff like that sparks you up, and we gave up some point-blankers and I think it kind of woke us up a bit."

Nelson on what he liked from Ryan Chesley's play:
"I liked it a lot. Both these kids (Chesley and David Gucciardi) come in and they score their first pro goals, but he was good tonight. We had him out there the final 30 seconds of the game. That's so much confidence he gave us throughout the game, he moved the puck well, he skates extremely well, very mobile, and I thought he played a really good game."

Nelson on the team's ability to grind out tight wins this season as the postseason approaches:
"I'm feeling pretty good about it. It looked like it wasn't going to happen tonight and then all of a sudden Chesley scores that goal, and then we got some life and we got the job done. It's important that we go through these games to get ready for the playoffs and it shows a lot of character and grit."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday, April 11 at 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. Hershey returns home to host the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Fairview Golf Course Back-to-Back Calder Cup Champions Golf Chip Giveaway (first 4,000 fans in attendance) and Berks Dollar Dog Night. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.