The Hershey Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, as they look to complete a weekend sweep over the Charlotte Checkers at Bojangles Coliseum.
Hershey Bears (18-14-3-0) at Charlotte Checkers (21-12-3-0)
Jan. 18, 2026 | 4 p.m. | Bojangles Coliseum
Referees: Morgan MacPhee (43), Kyle Bauman (59)
Linespersons: Jake Rennert (10), Quinn Schafer (22)
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, former Bears captain Garrett Mitchell, and FOX43 sports director Todd Sadowski on the call
TELEVISION: FOX43
RADIO: WFVY-100.1-FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN LIVE: Froggy Valley 100.1-FM Stream, Fox Sports 1460-AM Stream
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 3:30 p.m.; TV coverage starts at 4 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears rallied from a 3-1 deficit entering the third period to score a 4-3 overtime victory versus the Charlotte Checkers last night at Bojangles Coliseum. Louie Belpedio, Bogdan Trineyev, and Ryan Chesley scored in regulation for Hershey, and Andrew Cristall provided the winner on the power play in overtime to snap Hershey's four-game losing streak on the road. Goaltender Clay Stevenson improved to 7-1-0 in his career at Charlotte with 29 saves in the victory.
PICKING UP THE POINTS:
Hershey's overtime win last night extended the club's point streak to six games (4-0-2-0). Hershey has not lost in regulation since the calendar flipped to 2026. Only the Bakersfield Condors (7-0-1-0) and the Tucson Roadrunners (7-0-2-0) have longer active point streaks than Hershey.
BELPEDIO BREAKS THE ICE:
Hershey defenseman Louie Belpedio started the scoring last night for Hershey, tallying his sixth goal of the campaign, a mark that leads the club's defenders. For Belpedio, it was the fourth time this season he's scored the opening goal of a game. His four first goals lead all AHL defenseman, and he's one of just 16 players in the league to score the game's opening goal four or more times. Former Bear Jayson Megna of the Colorado Eagles leads the league with seven first goals. As for Belpedio, he enters tonight with three goals over his past five games, and he's hit the 20-point plateau for the sixth time in his AHL career.
COUNT ON CRISTALL:
Forward Andrew Cristall was the overtime hero last night, and with a goal and an assist in the victory, he recorded his second straight and eighth overall multi-point game of the season. Through 35 games, Cristall leads Hershey in scoring, and his 23 assists are tied for the most in the AHL among rookies, while his 30 points are second among first-year players. He is the first Hershey rookie to score 30 points since Hendrix Lapierre struck for 30 points (15g, 15a) in 60 games and Ethen Frank tallied 49 points (30g, 19a) in 57 games during the 2022-23 campaign.
WORKING OVERTIME:
Each of Hershey's past three games have been decided in overtime, with the Bears dropping contests to Cleveland and Hartford before prevailing last night in Charlotte. Hershey did have three straight games go beyond regulation last season from Nov. 20-23, 2024, but one of those games was decided in a shootout. Remarkably, the last time Hershey saw three consecutive games decided in the overtime period was from Dec. 3-9, 2006. Hershey fell in a 2-1 decision to the Worcester Sharks at GIANT Center on Dec. 3, claimed an overtime win at Norfolk on Dec. 6 thanks to a Jonas Johansson goal, then scored another overtime victory over the Norfolk Admirals courtesy of Eric Fehr's game-winner on Dec. 9 at GIANT Center.
BEARS BITES:
Bogdan Trineyev enters today's game with a four-game point streak (2g, 2a)...Hershey is 5-0-0-0 when defenseman Ryan Chesley scores this season...Blueliner Corey Schueneman has four assists over his past five games for Hershey...With two helpers last night, forward Alex Suzdalev recorded the first multi-point game of his AHL career...Courtesy of last night's win, Hershey is now 4-12-0-0 when trailing after two periods. Only the Toronto Marlies and Ontario Reign (5) have more comeback wins when trailing after 40 minutes...Hershey has scored a goal in the first period in each of its last six games, a season high...Hershey is 10-3-3-0 in games decided by one goal.
ON THIS DATE IN BEARS HISTORY:
Jan. 18, 1992 - Center Al Conroy capped a hat trick by scoring the game-tying and game-winning goals in the final 58 seconds of regulation against Baltimore goaltender Olaf Kolzig as the Bears shocked the Skipjacks 6-5 in front of 8,017 at Hersheypark Arena.
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