Bears Dealt 3-2 Loss to Checkers on Late Goal
Published on December 28, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - The Hershey Bears (14-13-1-0) battled back from a 2-0 deficit but the Charlotte Checkers (16-9-2-0) tallied a late goal in the game's final two minutes to deal Hershey a 3-2 loss Sunday evening at GIANT Center. Hershey's record in the season series with the Checkers now stands at 1-1-0-0.
NOTABLES:
Nate Smith struck first for the visitors on Charlotte's first shot of the evening at 1:28 of the opening frame.
The Checkers appeared to take a 2-0 lead at 5:42 of the second period, but the call was eventually reversed by the officials as Ben Steeves was deemed to have pushed a loose stick into the legs of goaltender Mitch Gibson to nullify the goal.
Charlotte took a genuine 2-0 edge at 18:31 when Michael Benning capitalized on a giveaway to Robert Mastrosimone.
Gibson exited the game at 5:53 and returned at 6:31 after an equipment issue forced him from the game; Clay Stevenson took over in a 38-second relief appearance that saw him face no shots before Gibson returned to action. Gibson would take the eventual loss, the first of his AHL career after going 6-0-0 to start his tenure with Hershey since the 2023-24 season.
During Gibson's absence, Spencer Smallman got Hershey on the board with a power-play goal at 6:20 for his fourth tally of the season.
Louie Belpedio knotted the score with a power-play blast from the point at 8:09 for his third of the campaign from Brett Leason and Ivan Miroshnichenko.
Sandis Vilmanis netted the go-ahead goal at 18:42.
SHOTS: HER 26, CLT 22
GOALTENDING: HER - Mitch Gibson [L], 19-for-22, Clay Stevenson, 0-for-0; CLT - Cooper Black, 24-for-26
POWER PLAY: HER - 2-for-5; CLT - 0-for-4
THEY SAID IT:
Bears head coach Derek King on what was different today after previously earning a win against Charlotte earlier this month:
"No, I thought, I thought it was a good hockey game to watch. It was fun to watch it on the bench. You know, they get up on us, but we battled back. We played well, and then we make one little mistake with under a minute left and, you know, game's over."
King on the team's resolve battling back from a two-goal deficit in the third period:
"Hats off to them. Coming back after, you know, playing last night in Wilkes-Barre and losing and playing a bad first period [Saturday], I thought we came out and played well for three periods. Again, [Charlotte's] a good hockey team. And we had many opportunities to score goals and they just weren't going in. And obviously they went in when we needed them, but we need to defend a little better there at the end."
Louie Belpedio on the season series with Charlotte:
"They're a good team. Every team in this league is good. They've got some good players, they work hard, they play the right way, similar to us. Obviously they got the win tonight, so we've just got to put it in the past and move on to Wednesday."
(Answers edited for clarity)
The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they close out the 2025 calendar year with a road game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 3:05 p.m. at PPL Center. Hershey returns home to host the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for a Washington Capitals Night and PSECU Knit Hat Night, where the first 5,000 fans will receive a knit hat, courtesy of PSECU.
American Hockey League Stories from December 28, 2025
- Walker Lifts Roadrunners Past Wranglers in Overtime - Tucson Roadrunners
- Bears Dealt 3-2 Loss to Checkers on Late Goal - Hershey Bears
- Phantoms Rally for Another Shootout Win - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Vilmanis' Late Goal Propels Checkers Past Bears - Charlotte Checkers
- Penguins Suffer 4-3 Shootout Loss at Lehigh Valley - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- All Senators as Belleville Blanks Comets 7-0 - Belleville Senators
- Luff Leads T-Birds' Comeback Charge to Stun Isles - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Crunch Drop Matinee Matchup to Rocket, 4-2 - Syracuse Crunch
- Comets Blanked by Belleville in Final Game of Calendar Year - Utica Comets
- Islanders Gain Point in Overtime Loss to Thunderbirds, 4-3 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Hartford Wolf Pack Recall D Case Mccarthy - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Carter Gylander Reassigned to Toledo - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Defenseman Max Groshev, Reassign Defenseman Steven Santini to Syracuse Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Forward Michael Milne from Minnesota Wild - Syracuse Crunch
- Penguins Recall Defenseman Brent Johnson, Tommy Budnick - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- F Brett Berard Assigned to Wolf Pack - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Game Preview: Bears vs. Checkers, 5 p.m. - Hershey Bears
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
