Bears Open Homestand with 6-3 Loss to Penguins
Published on November 26, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - Ilya Protas scored for the sixth straight game and Brett Leason had two points, but the Hershey Bears (10-6-1-0) opened their 10-game season series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (14-4-1-0) with a 6-3 loss on Wednesday night at GIANT Center.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Phil Tomasino and Rutger McGroarty both collected a goal and two assists apiece to pace the visitors in their win.
NOTABLES:
The Penguins took a 1-0 lead at 6:21 of the first period off a successful penalty shot goal by Bokondji Imama, marking the first penalty shot faced by the Bears this season and the first successfully converted penalty shot by a Hershey opponent since Dec. 12, 2021 vs. Laval (Rafaël Harvey-Pinard). Imama scrapped on the ensuing shift with Hershey's Dalton Smith.
Rutger McGroarty snapped a shot past a screened Garin Bjorklund at 11:56 to extend the lead to 2-0 for the visitors.
Avery Hayes' shot trickled through the pads of Bjorklund at 14:45 to widen the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton lead to 3-0.
Sam Bitten dropped the gloves with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Phil Kemp at 8:19 of the second period for his first fight as a Bear.
Brett Leason scored his first of the season at 16:06 of the second, then set up Ilya Protas' shorthanded goal at 2:30 of the third period to close the deficit to 3-2.
Protas' goal, his eighth of the season, allowed the rookie forward to extend his goal-scoring and point streaks to six games (6g, 5a).
Hayes and Sam Poulin added empty-net goals to bookend Eriks Mateiko's goal for Hershey at 17:52.
Hershey is now 30-21-4-2-1 in its traditional Thanksgiving Eve game.
Former Bears defenseman Alex Alexeyev played his first game back at GIANT Center as a member of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton since joining the Pittsburgh Penguins organization this past summer.
SHOTS: HER 33, WBS 31
GOALTENDING: HER - Garin Bjorklund, 25-for-29; WBS - Joel Blomqvist, 30-for-33
POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-2; WBS - 1-for-4
THEY SAID IT:
Bears head coach Derek King on the team's ability to fight back against a strong Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team and his reaction to a delay of game bench minor over a faceoff violation at 14:24 of the third period:
"I thought we outplayed them for two periods, but that's a good hockey team over there and you need three periods to beat that team. I liked our compete. I really don't have answers. I don't know what the fine is if you yap about refereeing or anything like that, but maybe I should find out. But that's too bad because our guys worked hard. [...] [the officials] have a tough job. I get that. But don't be the outcome of a game. It was a good hockey game at 3-2. Whether [Clarke] did or not on the face-off, who knows? [...] You get one warning and then if you go in again too quick a second time, it's a penalty. And I get that, I understand, but at the heat of the moment, it's an emotional game. Coaches get revved up, players get revved up, but the outcome was based on us not having a strong first period, and against a good team like that, you need to play three solid periods."
The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return from the Thanksgiving holiday to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center.
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