The Hershey Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, as they return home to GIANT Center for the final two games of the regular season, beginning with tonight's clash with the Bridgeport Islanders in what could be a potential preview of an Atlantic Division First Round matchup for Hershey.
Hershey Bears (31-30-6-3) vs. Bridgeport Islanders (33-30-3-5)
April 18, 2026 | 7 p.m. | GIANT Center
Referees: Morgan MacPhee (43), Austin Rook (26)
Linespersons: Shawn Oliver (66), Anthony Lapointe (58)
TONIGHT'S PROMOTIONS:
Racing Night - Ladies and gentlemen... START. YOUR. ENGINES. It's Racing Night at GIANT Center! Guests can receive two ticket vouchers to the ARCA Menards Series Race on Friday, June 12 by visiting Pocono Raceway's table on the concourse.
Toyota License Plate Night - The first 6,000 fans in attendance will receive a Bears license plate, courtesy of Toyota.
CLICK TO PURCHASE TICKETS VIA TICKETMASTER
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, former Bears captain Garrett Mitchell, and FOX43 sports director Todd Sadowski on the call
TELEVISION: Antenna TV (WPMT FOX 43.2, Xfinity Ch. 247 and 1178, Verizon FiOS Ch. 463, Blue Ridge Ephrata Ch. 91, and Blue Ridge Newberry/Duncannon Ch. 88)
RADIO: WFVY-100.1-FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, SportsRadio 98.9-FM & WOYK 1350-AM, In-arena on 88.9-FM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN LIVE: Froggy Valley 100.1-FM Stream, Fox Sports 1460-AM Stream
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m.; Television coverage starts at 7 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears earned a 5-1 win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday, as Corey Schueneman opened the scoring late in the first period and assisted on an early second-period goal by Ivan Miroshnichenko that ultimately stood up as the game winner. Matt Strome, Alex Suzdalev, and Sam Bitten added goals as Hershey went on to clinch a playoff berth that evening. Bridgeport is coming off a 4-1 defeat last night at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, as the Penguins blitzed the Islanders with three goals in the opening frame. Bridgeport's lone goal came late in the second when Chris Terry dented the twine, and Henrik Tikkanen made 22 saves in the loss for Bridgeport.
HOW HIGH CAN THEY CLIMB?:
Now that Hershey has secured a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, the team will now spend its final two games of the regular season attempting to earn the highest possible seeding for postseason play. As a result of last night's games between Bridgeport at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Springfield at Hartford, the Bears can still finish between fourth and sixth place in the Atlantic Division, with the team entering today in fifth place. The Bears enter tonight's contest with a game in hand on Bridgeport; A regulation win tonight against the Islanders would enable Hershey to pull to within a point of Bridgeport, and at least a point earned on Sunday against the Rochester Americans would move the Bears into a tie with the Islanders for fourth place, in which Hershey would own the secondary tiebreaker of regulation and overtime wins.
ROAD RECAP:
With Wednesday's game at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton concluding the road portion of their 2025-26 season schedule, the Bears wrapped up their road schedule with a total record of 18-15-1-2 (.542), marking the fourth straight season the club finished with a road record above the .500 mark.
PROTAS POWER:
With 64 points (28g, 36a), Ilya Protas enters the weekend with a six-point lead on teammate Andrew Cristall for the club scoring lead, a one-point lead on Bakersfield's Quinn Hutson for the rookie scoring title, and is tied with Henderson's Tanner Laczynski for seventh overall in the American Hockey League scoring race. The 19-year-old center needs just two more goals to become just the sixth player in AHL history to have a 30-goal season before the age of 20.
HOME COOKING:
Should Hershey fail to win either of their remaining two home games, this year's squad would be the first team in Bears history to qualify for the postseason with a sub-.500 record at home, and would only be the second sub-.500 home record in team history, following the 1955-56 Bears (14-15-3, .484), which notably was the season before legendary Bears player, coach, and executive Frank Mathers arrived in Hershey.
KEEP IT 100:
After tallying a power-play goal in the second period on Wednesday, Ivan Miroshnichenko added an assist on Alex Suzdalev's empty-net goal to earn his 100th career point in the American Hockey League, all with the Bears. Since he first suited up with the Chocolate and White in the 2023-24 season, Miroshnichenko has collected 45 goals and 55 assists in 139 games; Miroshnichenko's largest totals against an individual team have come against the Penguins, as the winger has 14 points (9g, 5a) in 25 outings against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and enters tonight's game with 12 points (9g, 3a) in 11 career games against Bridgeport. Miroshnichenko has also posted 17 points (10g, 7a) in an additional 28 playoff contests with the Bears.
BRIDGEPORT BON VOYAGE:
Tonight's meeting with Bridgeport will mark the final regular-season contest against the franchise that began in 2001-02 as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, as the parent New York Islanders will relocate their AHL franchise to Hamilton, Ontario next season. The Bears and Islanders/Sound Tigers have met a total of 133 times, with Hershey sporting a 78-36-3-5-11 record. Hershey has gone 2-2-0-1 against Bridgeport this season, splitting a pair of games at GIANT Center. The two teams have also met twice in the Calder Cup Playoffs, with the Bears winning the 2010 East Division Semifinals 4-1 en route to claiming their 11th Calder Cup championship, and topping Bridgeport 3-2 in the 2019 Atlantic Division Semifinals.
HERSHEY-BRIDGEPORT CONNECTIONS:
50 players have played in at least one game for both Hershey and Bridgeport, with former Bears goaltender Semyon Varlamov becoming the latest after making his Bridgeport debut on Wednesday against Hartford as part of a long-term injured reserve conditioning stint; coincidentally, Varlamov's last AHL appearance came as a member of the Bears against the Wolf Pack (then playing under the Connecticut Whale identity) on Nov. 21, 2010 at GIANT Center in a 4-3 win, in which the 2006 first-round pick of the Washington Capitals made 19 saves. Current Bears captain Aaron Ness spent several seasons in Bridgeport, serving as team captain of the Sound Tigers during the 2014-15 campaign, and Bears assistant coach Brent Thompson was a longtime coach of the Sound Tigers/Islanders, while Pierrick Dubé and Ethan Bear were both on Hershey's roster last season.
FIRST BUT NOT FINAL:
While getting the all-important first goal of the game is often critical in establishing a path to victory, that is not necessarily the case in tonight's matchup. Hershey's 42 first goals (25-10-4-3) are tied with Grand Rapids for the third-most first goals in the league this year, while Bridgeport leads the AHL with 44 first goals (26-13-1-4). Despite both team's tendencies to be the first team to get on the board, maintaining that lead is not necessarily secure; Bridgeport's 18 defeats when scoring first also leads the league, while Hershey's 17 are tied with Calgary for second.
BEARS BITES:
Henrik Rybinski is three points away from his 100th professional point...The Bears recalled defenseman John Fusco from South Carolina yesterday, while goaltender Jesper Vikman was re-assigned to Hershey by the NHL's Washington Capitals...The Washington Capitals re-assigned 2025 second-round draft pick Milton Gästrin to Hershey on Thursday. The Hockey News identified the 18-year-old center as Washington's 10th-ranked prospect in the publication's annual Future Watch issue...Andrew Cristall (19g, 39a) is two points away from 60 points, which along with Ilya Protas would give Hershey its first rookie duo to both reach the 60-point plateau in team history...Bridgeport boasts the best road penalty kill at 86.9% (86-for-99)...Grant Cruikshank needs one more shorthanded goal to tie the Hershey single-season record of six set by Don Seiling in 1973-74.
ON THIS DATE IN BEARS HISTORY:
April 18, 1997 - Hershey opened the 1997 Calder Cup Playoffs with a thriller, as Blair Atcheynum scored on Wade Flaherty 51 seconds into the second overtime to give the Bears a 4-3 win over the Kentucky Thoroughblades in Game 1 of the Mid-Atlantic Division Semifinals in front of 4,701 at Hersheypark Arena. The Thoroughblades had forced overtime after pulling Flaherty for an extra attacker and Steve Guolla tied the game with six seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Doug Friedman, Paul Jerrard, and Pascal Trépanier scored for the Bears, while goalie J-F Labbé made 33 saves, including five in sudden-death.
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