With their 52nd win on Sunday night, the 2023-24 Hershey Bears cemented their place in history. The victory set the AHL record for the most wins in the 72-game format with two games remaining in the season.
After falling to the Baby Penguins 4-1 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the night before, Hershey returned home for the backend of the back-to-back and flipped the score, defeating WBS 4-1. The Bears 52nd win passes Mitch Love and Matthew Phillips’ Calgary Wranglers team in 2022-23 who won 51 times.
Capturing the wins record was another feather in the cap of Hershey’s already outstanding season. The Bears already clinched the MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s regular season champions, marking the ninth time in team history the Bears paced the AHL and the fourth time winning the trophy overall since its introduction in 1997. The Bears also broke the franchise record for most shutouts in a season, amassing 12 this year between Clay Stevenson (7) and Hunter Shepard (5).
Hershey’s four goal-scorers on the night included Logan Day, Jimmy Huntington, Mike Vecchione, and Matthew Phillips.
Day scored the Bears’ first goal — a power-play tally — in the final seconds of the first period. Day fired a slapshot from the blue line that flew through traffic and past netminder Joel Blomqvist.
After a scoreless second period from the Bears where the Pens tied the game, Hershey erupted with goals in the third, scoring three times.
The first came from Huntington, who took off on a shorthanded breakaway and beat Blomqvist through the five hole.
The Bears found the net again in a 5-on-3 with four minutes left in the period. Joe Snively found Vecchione in open space at the left circle, and Vecchione fired the puck past Blomqvist as the net came off the bearings.
Phillips sealed the sweet chocolate victory for the Bears with an early empty netter with 2:20 left in the game. Phillips tossed the puck from the Bears’ zone towards the Pens empty net, completing the Bears’ fourth goal of the night.
With two more games left in the season, the Bears have even more history in their sights. With four possible points remaining, the Bears need two to make franchise history for best win percentage (.769) and three points to beat the 1992-93 Binghamton Rangers’ record for the best win percentage in AHL history. (.775).
Here were the lines for the matchup:
Dmitry Opisov slipped back into the defensive lineup after captain Dylan McIlrath was called up to the Capitals to replace Nick Jensen, who suffered a scary injury on ice against the Lightning yesterday. Osipov dropped his gloves with Raivis Ansons in the second period.
