The Hershey Bears took a difficult 4-1 loss against the Charlotte Checkers in their final game of the regular season. With 111 points through their 72 game season, the Bears will finish with a .771 points percentage.
The Bears narrowly missed out on breaking records with the regulation loss, as the team was just one point away from holding the highest point percentage in AHL history. A win or overtime loss against the Checkers would have been enough for the Bears to surpass the 1992-93 Binghamton Rangers’ .775 point percentage. The Bears did set a new franchise record for best points percentage, beating the 2009-10 Hershey Team’s .769 points percentage.
Bears’ netminder Hunter Shepard, who started against Charlotte and made 27 saves, also missed out on putting his own name in the record books. Also with just one more point, Shepard would have surpassed Corey Hirsh’s .853 win percentage with the Rangers in 1992-93 for the best single season win percentage by a goalie in AHL history.
After Charlotte started the game off hot by scoring two goals in the first six minutes, Hershey was unable to find the net until they pulled Shepard in the final minutes of the game.
Joe Snively scored the Bears’ lone goal with 1:19 left. Snively fired a one timer from the right side, which flew through the screens in front of the net and past goaltender Spencer Knight. The goal was Snively’s 14th of the season and cut Charlotte’s lead to 2-1.
The Checkers would put a quick stop to the Bears’ late push for victory, scoring two empty net goals in the final minute to take a 4-1 victory.
The Bears’ stellar season finishing as the AHL Regular Season Champions clinched the team home ice advantage throughout the entire playoffs and a first round bye, giving the team plenty of time to reset for their matchup in the Atlantic Division semifinals.
Here was the Bears’ lineup for their final regular season game:
Below is the full Bears’ press release:
BEARS CLOSE REGULAR SEASON WITH 4-1 LOSS TO CHECKERS
Hershey finishes 86th regular season with franchise-record .771 points percentage
(Hershey, PA – April 20, 2024) – The Hershey Bears (53-14-0-5) concluded the 2023-24 regular season with a 4-1 loss to the Charlotte Checkers (39-25-7-0) in front of 10,320 fans on Saturday night at GIANT Center.
Hershey finished the regular season with a 53-14-0-5 record, posting a .771 points percentage, the best mark in the franchise’s 86-season history. The 53 wins earned by the Bears are an American Hockey League record for the most victories in a 72-game campaign, and the club’s points percentage fell just shy of passing the 1992-93 Binghamton Rangers’ mark of .775 for a new league record. Hershey also went the entire regular season without consecutive regulation losses, a first for the franchise.
Charlotte raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, with goals from Mackie Samoskevich at 4:45 and Will Lockwood at 5:53, as the Checkers outshot the Bears 16-7 in the game’s first 20 minutes.
Thanks to several timely saves from Hershey netminder Hunter Shepard, the game remained 2-0 until the third period. Charlotte goaltender Spencer Knight shut the door until late in regulation when Hershey pulled Shepard for an extra attacker, and Joe Snively scored for the Bears on a slapshot from the point to make it 2-1 at 18:41.
Hershey would pull Shepard again to try and pull even, but Alex True and Zac Dalpe added empty net tallies to give Charlotte the victory.
Hershey finished 5-3-0-0 against the Checkers this season, setting a new club record for most wins against Charlotte in a single season.
Shots finished 31-23 in favor of the Checkers. Shepard went 27-for-29 in the losing effort; Knight earned the win for Charlotte with a 24-for-25 effort. The Bears went 0-for-3 on the power play; the Checkers went 0-for-1 with the man advantage.
