Bears Open Weekend With 2-1 Win Over Phantoms

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AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Open Weekend With 2-1 Win Over Phantoms

April 4, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


Allentown, PA - The Hershey Bears (40-18-6-1) battled to a 2-1 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (33-27-5-2) on Friday night at PPL Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

Hershey's record against Lehigh Valley improved to 5-2-1-0; each team will host one more home game against the other to conclude the season series. The Bears will next face the Phantoms on Saturday, April 12 at 7:05 p.m. at PPL Center.

NOTABLES:

Luke Philp opened the scoring for Hershey by redirecting a Nicky Leivermann shot from the point at 2:41 of the second period for his seventh of the campaign. Andrew Perrott picked up a secondary helper on the goal.

Spencer Smallman suited up in his 300th career AHL game (56th with the Bears) and put Hershey in front 2-0 at 9:13 of the frame for his 10th of the season on a redirect of an Ethan Bear shot from the line that was also touched by Ivan Miroshnichenko. Bear's assist extended his point streak to five games (1g, 4a).

Bears captain Aaron Ness made his return to the lineup for Hershey after missing the previous 13 games with an upper-body injury sustained on March 1 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Ness made a critical block for Hershey late in the contest with the Bears on the penalty kill and the Phantoms with a 6-on-4 advantage.

Bears head coach Todd Nelson earned his 137th victory with Hershey, passing Don Penniston (1945-50, 332 games coached; 136-146-50) for sole possession of seventh on the club's list for wins by a head coach.

SHOTS: HER 17, LV 33

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 32-for-33; LV - Cal Petersen, 15-for-17

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-0; LV - 0-for-1

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on the win:

"I'm happy with the win. I don't think we played a very strong game, but we found a game to win. [Clay Stevenson] was great in net for us. And like my saying always goes, they all can't be Picassos. The guys found a way to get a nice road win for us."

Nelson on his trust in Clay Stevenson handling a larger workload with Hunter Shepard recalled to Washington:

"I've always trusted him, but he had a tough outing in the last game, and he bounced back. It's just great on him. And we're going to have to rely on him and [Garin Bjorklund] as well, because we won't see Shep for a bit."

Nelson on the versatility that Spencer Smallman brings in light of his play tonight and recent re-signing with the Washington Capitals:

"It doesn't matter if he's playing third line wing or first line center, he's very versatile, he can kill penalties, he provides offense on the power play. He's a pretty complete player and that's why the Caps invested in him."

Nelson on the play of Aaron Ness in his first game back from injury:

"I thought he played a good game. There's always going to be a bit of rust the first game back, right? But just his commitment to the team, the big blocked shot [in the third]; he defended really well tonight. It's good to have him back for sure."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return home to host the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday, April 5, at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Harrisburg International Airport Luggage Tag Giveaway Night. The first 6,000 fans in attendance will receive a luggage tag, courtesy of Harrisburg International Airport.

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