Leason Helps Bears Salvage Point in 4-3 OT Loss to Phantoms

January 24, 2026

Brett Leason scored a critical goal in the final minute of regulation to tie the game and force overtime for the Hershey Bears (18-14-5-2), extending the club's overtime and point streaks, but Hershey ultimately fell to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (20-16-2-2) by a 4-3 final in sudden death on Saturday night at PPL Center.

By securing the overtime point, the Bears pushed their season-high point streak to 10 games (4-0-4-2), their longest since a franchise-record 17-game point streak in 2018-19, and making Hershey one of five teams in the American Hockey League this season to achieve a point streak of 10 games or more (Grand Rapids, 19 and 12; San Jose, 11; Bakersfield 10; Tucson, 10). The match also marked the seventh consecutive game that Hershey has played past regulation (1-0-5-1), adding to what has already become a franchise mark.

Hershey's record in the season series with Lehigh Valley is now 4-2-1-0. The two clubs will meet again three more times during the 2025-26 campaign.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Ilya Protas tallied the opening goal - and his team-leading 17th of the season - for the second consecutive contest, denting the twine at 8:10 of the first from Bogdan Trineyev and Ivan Miroshnichenko. Protas would later add an assist on Brett Leason's tying score for his team-leading ninth multi-point game of the season. Protas extended his current point streak to seven games (4g, 4a).
• David Gucciardi widened the lead for the visitors to 2-0 with his third of the season at 10:52 from Brett Leason and Henrik Rybinski. The goal came during a stretch of 4-on-4 play after Lehigh Valley's Artem Guryev and Hershey's Dalton Smith were respectively assessed interference and roughing penalties at 9:47.
• The Phantoms responded by taking a 3-2 lead in the second period with a trio of goals in a span of 3:20, as Zayde Wisdom, Karsen Dorwart, and Tucker Robertson scored on three successive shots by the hosts during that stretch, the fastest sequence of three goals allowed by the Bears this season.
• With Garin Bjorklund pulled for an extra attacker, Leason tied the game at 3-3 at 19:42 of the third period with his ninth of the season from Protas and Miroshnichenko.
• Robertson tallied his second goal of the evening at 1:47 of the extra frame to win the game for the Phantoms.
• Both Alex Suzdalev and Gucciardi left the game with upper-body injuries and were ruled out for the remainder of the game.
• Hershey did not have a power play during the game for the third time this season.

SHOTS: HER 28, LV 22

GOALTENDING: HER - Garin Bjorklund, 18-for-22; LV - Carson Bjarnason, 25-for-28

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

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Rochester Americans on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 7:05 p.m. at BlueCross Arena. Hershey's home game against the Charlotte Checkers originally scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 25 has been postponed due to the weather forecast, with a make-up date yet to be determined. The Bears return home to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Women in Sports Night. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.