Bears Get Another Point in 4-3 OT Loss to Senators
January 24, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
Belleville, ON - The Hershey Bears (25-11-5-0) built 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the first period but the Belleville Senators (16-13-1-4) rallied to tie the game in regulation, and Stephen Halliday scored in sudden death to deal Hershey a 4-3 overtime defeat on Friday night at CAA Arena, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.
The club moved to 6-1-2-0 since the start of 2025, and the point earned extended Hershey's current road point streak to 3-0-2-0 dating back to Dec. 13. The Bears' series with the Senators is now 1-0-1-0, with the two clubs set to face each other again Saturday; Hershey's current road point streak against Belleville is now at seven games (5-0-2-0) dating back to the the 2017-18 season, when the Senators relocated to Belleville from Binghamton.
NOTABLES:
Matt Strome opened the scoring with his first of the season at 5:48, then assisted on Nicky Leivermann's first career AHL goal at 13:38 to put Hershey ahead 2-0.
Mike Vecchione made it 3-1 at 18:41 with his 10th of the season from Garrett Roe and Ethan Bear.
Belleville replaced starting netminder Mark Sinclair with Michael Simpson to start the second period after Sinclair yielded three goals on nine shots in the opening frame.
Veteran forward Sam Gagner (1,043 NHL games) made his Senators debut, assisting on Angus Crookshank's game-tying power-play goal at 16:31 of the second period to force overtime.
Stephen Halliday scored the winning goal for Belleville at 1:40 of overtime off a 2-on-1 rush.
SHOTS: HER 27, BEL 27
GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 23-for-27; BEL - Mark Sinclair, 6-for-9; Michael Simpson [W], 18-for-18
POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-3; BEL - 1-for-3
THEY SAID IT:
Bears head coach Todd Nelson on how the team fared with several players missing from the lineup:
"You know, the [players added to the lineup] played alright. When we're depleted like this though, we need bigger efforts from some of our key players, all-in-all. It wasn't necessarily a bad game, but I thought Belleville played a pretty strong game. It's tough when you lose in overtime, but all-in-all, it was a pretty decent game for our team."
Nelson on how the game proceeded after building 2-0 and 3-1 leads:
"I think when we're up 3-1 and then we allowed that goal late in the first period - and once again, both goals are very preventable - just getting beat, you know? And then in the second period they got a nice power-play goal and all of a sudden it's tied, and in the third period it was going back and forth both ways. It could have been anybody's game tonight."
Nelson on messaging to the locker room:
"The guys are a bit disappointed, but I told them to take five or 10 minutes with this loss and then they've got to refocus and go get a bite to eat, get some good sleep, and we're back at it tomorrow night."
NEXT GAME:
The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they conclude the weekend against the Belleville Senators on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at CAA Arena. Hershey returns home to host the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Sam Adams Tap Takeover Night. Select brews will be on tap for fans 21-and-over at the TRULY portable location, including the new Sam Adams American Light. Purchase tickets for the game.
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