Bears Split Series with T-Birds Following 5-1 Loss

October 19, 2025

The Hershey Bears (1-2-1-0) ended the weekend with a 5-1 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds (1-2-0-0) on Sunday evening at GIANT Center, splitting the weekend set with their Atlantic Division opponent. The defeat snapped Hershey's two-game point streak, and additionally ended a 14-game home win streak against Springfield that began on March 13, 2019.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Justin Nachbaur made his season debut for Hershey, dropping the gloves at 3:14 of the first period with former Bears Man of the Year Kale Kessy, who was playing in his first game at GIANT Center since he was traded by Hershey to the Colorado Eagles on March 8, 2023.
• Springfield opened the scoring at 7:06 of the first period when Jakub Stancl beat Clay Stevenson from the slot.
• Hunter Skinner gave the Thunderbirds a 2-0 lead at 19:36 of the period.
• Matt Luff and Dalibor Dvorsky scored in the second period to extend the lead for the visitors to 4-0 before Henrik Rybinski netted his second goal of the season to get the Bears on the board at 15:24. Jon McDonald and Leon Muggli earned assists, with Muggli's helper securing his first career AHL point.
• Nikita Alexandrov assisted on Springfield's second, fourth, and fifth goals, while Luff and Theo Lindstein each contributed a goal and an assist for the Thunderbirds.
• Stancl and Lindstein's goals were their first career AHL tallies. 
• Clay Stevenson made his 75th career appearance in net with Hershey, passing Bob Johnson for 28th in franchise history.

SHOTS: HER 29, SPR 28

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 23-for-28; SPR - Vadim Zherenko, 28-for-29

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-2; SPR - 1-for-3

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on what led to tonight's loss:
"We looked tired, and when you're tired, you start making mental errors and mistakes [with] coverage. We had our opportunities. Can't say we didn't have chances to score on [Zherenko]. He made some big saves. Our goalie played well again - we just left him hanging."

Bears head coach Derek King on the play of Stevenson in starting back-to-back nights:
"We just wanted to see how he'd react to it, and I thought he did a good job with it. No fault to him. He made saves when we needed them. But the goals that went in are just plain mistakes, bad coverage, guys not thinking. And pretty hard for a goalie to stop those ones."

King on leaning on veteran and experienced players heading into next Friday's first road game of the season at Lehigh Valley:
"Well, those guys are key. You just said it - we're going to have to lean on those guys to help with the younger guys, and obviously we're missing [Ethen Frank] and we're missing [Ivan Miroshnichenko], but like I said, they're young, they're going to learn, they're going to make their mistakes, we'll just keep correcting them and helping them become better hockey players."

Bears captain Aaron Ness on the mood in the locker room after tonight's performance:
"After a game like that, no one's very excited or happy with the result. I think there's going to be a lot to be learned for a long time with a younger group. It just is what it is. It's hard to win games in this league, and you have to bring your best. And I think for us, the exciting part is when you've seen us play our best, what we can do and what we're capable of. So I think there's a mix of taking that in and being positive, but also understanding that there has to be a lot of things better for us to win games consistently."

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday, Oct. 24, at 7:05 p.m. at PPL Center. Hershey returns home to host the Phantoms the following night on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Reese's Trick-or-Treat Night. All fans 14-and-under will receive a Trick-or-Treat bag upon entry and have the opportunity to trick-or-treat around the concourse during pre-game and intermissions. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.