After becoming AHL regular season champions and tying the AHL record for most wins in a 72-game schedule last night, the Bears had their five-game winning streak snapped in their final road game of the season.
The Bears lost 4-1 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, marking just their 13th regulation loss this season. The game was the first of back-to-back matchups between the teams and the second game of a weekened three-in-three. The Baby Penguins came into the matchup on a six game wining streak.
The Bears’ lone goal of the evening came from defenseman Hardy Häman Aktell. Clay Stevenson started in net and had 26 saves during the game.
The Pens got on the board first with forward Avery Hayes beating Stevenson over the shoulder and bardown. It’s his fourth goal in three games.
The Beears’ didn’t get on the board until midway through the second period. Häman Aktell attempted to feed the puck from the left circle to Matt Strome in front, where the puck hit off Pens defender Isaac Belliveau (playing in his AHL debut) and into the net.
The goal was Häman Aktell’s first since the second game of the season on October 15th against the Cleveland Monsters. He has nine points this season and points in back-to-back games.
The game would go downhill for Hershey from there. The Pens took their lead back just four minutes later with a wrister from Jansen Harkens in front of the net.
The Penguins continued their hot streak in the third, twice including once on the power play. The 4-1 victory extended the Pens’ win streak to seven.
The Bears are still in the running to make some serious history in their next three games. One more victory or any form will give the Bears 52 wins, the most in the AHL’s history of the 72 game format. If Hershey gets four of the remaining six points possible, the team will best their franchise record of overall points percentage (.769). If they get five of those six, the Bears will break the 1992-23 record for best point percentage in AHL history (.775).
The Bears and Penguins will rematch Sunday night at 5pm in Hershey.
Here were the lines:
Below is the Bears’ press release:
BEARS FALL 4-1 TO PENGUINS IN FINAL ROAD GAME OF SEASON
Hershey concludes weekend set at home tomorrow against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
(Wilkes-Barre Township, PA – April 13, 2024) – The Hershey Bears (51-13-0-5) saw a five-game win streak snapped in a 4-1 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (38-22-8-1) on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.
With the loss, the Bears concluded the 36-game road portion of their 2023-24 regular-season schedule with a record of 24-7-0-5. Hershey’s final road points percentage of .736 finishes as a new franchise record, eclipsing the previous mark of .675 set by the 2006-07 team (40 road games, 25-11-2-2).
The Penguins opened the scoring midway through the first period as Avery Stevenson beat Clay Stevenson.
Hardy Häman Aktell leveled the score at 7:05 of the second period when he beat Ludovic Waeber for his second goal of the season. Ryan Hofer and Riley Sutter earned assists on the goal.
Jansen Harkins put the Penguins ahead for good at 11:37, and Corey Andonovski’s power-play goal at 4:42 of the third and Sam Poulin’s strike at 17:16 gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton additional insurance markers.
Shots finished 30-23 in favor of the Penguins. Stevenson went 26-for-30 in the defeat for Hershey; Waeber earned the win for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 22-for-23 effort. The Bears went 0-for-4 on the power play; the Penguins went 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
