The Hershey Bears will be without defenseman Hardy Häman Aktell when the puck drops for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night.
Hershey Bears head coach Todd Nelson revealed to NHL.com’s Patrick Williams that the Swedish defenseman will be unavailable due to a lower-body injury. Häman Aktell has played in all seven of Hershey’s playoff games to this point.
The Bears will also be without blueliner Logan Day again after he missed the entirety of the Atlantic Division Finals although he is “getting close” to a return. With the injury updates on both defenders, Nelson will need to reconfigure his defensive pairings.
Jake Massie, who filled in earlier in the playoffs for the injured Vincent Iorio, will likely be inserted back into postseason action with Häman Aktell on the shelf. Nelson’s defense pairings should look like this with Massie back in the lineup.
Nelson also confirmed to Williams that forward Riley Sutter will draw back into the lineup after Sutter practiced on the team’s fourth line this past week. Sutter draws into the fray after not playing since the Bears’ regular season finale on April 20 against the Charlotte Checkers, a span of a month and 9 days.
During 66 games in the 2023-24 regular season, Sutter set career highs in goals (9), assists (14), and total points (23). The defensively responsible centerman was huge for the Bears in their successful run to the Cup last year, taking almost all of the pivotal defensive-zone faceoffs and leading the penalty-kill unit.
Nelson’s lines at practice on Wednesday suggest Matt Strome will be coming out of the lineup so that Sutter can step in. Henrik Rybinski will move to the wing of the fourth line after he filled in phenomenally for Sutter, posting five points (2g, 3a) in seven playoff games.
With Ethen Frank also set to return from his brief stint on the injured list, Hershey’s forward lines should look like this for Game 1.
Hunter Shepard is set for his eighth start of this year’s postseason after being named playoff MVP last year. Shepard is 6-1 with a 1.58 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage coming into Thursday’s game.
Puck drop for Game 1 is at 7 pm.
