The Hershey Bears are headed to the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Hershey clinched a spot with a 5-1 win over one of their in-state rivals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and a 7-1 loss by the other, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, to the Springfield Thunderbirds. The Bears have not missed the playoffs, in a non-COVID-impacted season, since the 2017-18 campaign.
The Bears still have two games remaining in their regular season to determine where they’ll finish in the Atlantic Division, which will determine their first-round opponent.
Ahead of Wednesday night’s game, the Bears got some much-needed reinforcements in the form of Ilya Protas, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Clay Stevenson, all being sent down by the Washington Capitals. Head coach Derek King immediately inserted the three into the club’s lineup, which paid near immediate dividends.
After defenseman Corey Schueneman opened the scoring in the first period, the Bears made it 2-0 on a power-play strike from Miroshnichenko set up by Protas. Earlier in the day, Protas was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team.
Matt Strome scored the team’s third goal in the second period, and they carried a 3-1 lead into the final frame, knowing they were set to clinch if they could hold on to that advantage. The win was sealed 16:22 into the period with the Penguins’ goaltender pulled, as Protas unselfishly delivered a feed to Alex Suzdalev, who fired into the empty net.
The goal was Suzdalev’s 10th of the season, with Protas and Miroshnichenko earning the assists. Miroshnichenko now has 100 career AHL points (45g, 55a).
Sam Bitten would add another empty-net marker, and Stevenson posted 32 saves on 33 shots in his 17th win of the season. Unfortunately, the already banged-up Bears did suffer an injury to a key player in the victory, as Bogdan Trineyev departed the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
The Bears are already playing without Cam Allen, Louie Belpedio, Spencer Smallman, Eriks Mateiko, Sonny Milano, Wyatt Bongiovanni, and captain Aaron Ness.
