Bears Cap Weekend with 4-3 Shootout Win Over Phantoms
Published on October 25, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - The Hershey Bears (2-3-1-0) battled back from 1-0 and 3-2 deficits to come away with a 4-3 shootout win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-2-0-1) on Saturday night at GIANT Center.
NOTABLES:
Lehigh Valley took the initial lead when Carl Grundström scored 62 seconds into the contest, but the Bears responded with Bogdan Trineyev netting his second of the season from Matt Strome and Andrew Cristall at 6:32 on Hershey's first shot of the evening.
Cristall put the Bears ahead with his first pro goal at 14:17 with the man advantage from Alex Suzdalev - marking Suzdalev's first AHL point in his season debut with Hershey - and Calle Rosén.
The Phantoms re-took the lead in the second period after Helge Grans leveled the score for the visitors at 3:14, and Garrett Wilson struck at 12:25.
Spencer Smallman netted his second goal of the season at 7:56 of the third period to tie the game at 3-3.
With the game still tied after the end of regulation and overtime, Hershey went to its first shootout of the season and emerged with the win after Ilya Protas scored the lone goal in the first round the Bears and Garin Bjorklund stopped all three Lehigh Valley shooters.
SHOTS: HER 26, LV 26
GOALTENDING: HER - Garin Bjorklund, 23-for-26; LV - Carson Bjarnason, 22-for-25
POWER PLAY: HER - 1-for-5; LV - 0-for-2
THEY SAID IT:
Bears head coach Derek King on the play of Garin Bjorklund:
"You know what? He was excellent. Obviously in the shootout, that's when you need the saves and he made them. Since we started, our goaltending hasn't been a problem. Sure, last game we could have used a save there at the end, but these guys hold us in games and keep us alive, give us a chance to win. And [Bjorklund] did that again tonight. And, you know, I'm happy for him."
King on playing a particular style of hockey:
"At the start [of the season], when I mentioned about playing fast hockey, exciting hockey, just looking at our clientele, I guess you want to call it, we're not overly big and strong. We're young and we're a little smaller, but the one thing we do have that other teams don't have is we can skate. So we've got to use that to our advantage. But to do that, you've got to play a certain way. I think we're doing a good job with that."
Andrew Cristall on connecting with Alex Suzdalev for his first pro goal:
"Me and Suzy are pretty good friends, so I knew that on his end, he was going to find me, and I kind of like [had] a little give-and-go with him, and I knew the second I passed to him, he was giving it right back. I think it was just a good little chemistry there, and glad it worked out."
Ilya Protas on playing against a physical opponent like Lehigh Valley and how he felt in returning after leaving the game late in the first period following a hit from Garrett Wilson:
"They're a pretty tough team. They're always finishing checks and play hard, so, we kind of were ready for it, and it was a tough game but we battled through it and found our way to win and did a great job overall [...] It hurt real bad after I got hit, right away. But after I came to the room and had that intermission, it helped me a lot to kind of rest and get back full recovery. The trainers helped during the intermission and I put some ice and I felt great afterwards though."
The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Bridgeport Islanders on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. Total Mortgage Arena. Hershey returns home to host the Toronto Marlies on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center, featuring Happy Hour, where fans 21-and-over can enjoy a $5, 16 oz. select beer special, available from doors to puck drop.
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