Bears Blanked by Skarek in 2-0 Loss to Islanders

January 29, 2023

The Hershey Bears (28-9-4-1) saw a season-high eight-game point streak halted in a 2-0 shutout loss to the Bridgeport Islanders (19-17-6-1) on Sunday afternoon at GIANT Center. Bridgeport goaltender Jakub Skarek made 39 saves to silence a Bears offense in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,583.

The defeat was Hershey’s first to Bridgeport this season, and the first regulation loss for the Bears against the Islanders since Nov. 23, 2019, bringing an end to a 13-0-0-1 run.

The game also served as the Bears’ annual GIANT Teddy Bear Toss, which traditionally features fans throwing new teddy bears and other stuffed items onto the ice following the Bears’ first goal, which are then collected and distributed via by over 35 local charities. This was the first instance in the 21-year history of Hershey organizing the Teddy Bear Toss that the Bears failed to score during the game.

BOX SCORE

Arnaud Durandeau scored a power-play goal for Bridgeport at 14:19 of the first period when he buried a rebound past Hunter Shepard.

Durandeau scored again with the man advantage at 3:02 of the second period when he wired a shot into the top corner of the net that snuck past the mask of Shepard to make it 2-0.

The Bears outshot the Islanders 12-5 in the third period, but could not solve Skarek. A stoppage in play with 5.4 seconds left in regulation resulted in fans commencing the GIANT Teddy Bear Toss; the game was ultimately called. The final total of teddy bears and other stuffed animals collected set a new world record of 67,309 plush items.

Shots finished 39-21 in favor of Hershey. Shepard went 19-for-21 for Hershey in only his second regulation loss this season; Skarek was 39-for-39 for the Islanders. The Bears were 0-for-3 on the power play; Bridgeport finished 2-for-3 with the man advantage.

Hershey continues the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, when the Chocolate and White visit the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 7:05 p.m. at PPL Center. The Bears are back on GIANT Center ice when they host Lehigh Valley on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. for Pennsylvania Lottery Night, featuring a coupon offer courtesy of the Pennsylvania Lottery for the first 4,000 fans 18 and over in attendance. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.