Bears Pick up Point in 4-3 Overtime Loss to Penguins
AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Pick up Point in 4-3 Overtime Loss to Penguins

Published on February 7, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


(Hershey, PA) The Hershey Bears (20-16-6-2) battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to force overtime, but Avery Hayes completed a hat trick to lift the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (32-12-2-2) past Hershey by a 4-3 score in front of a sellout crowd of 10,550 on Saturday night at GIANT Center.

Hershey's record against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the season series now stands at 1-5-1-1; the two teams will next face each other on March 13 at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. Despite the overtime loss, the point earned extended Hershey's season-high home point streak to eight games (3-0-4-1).

NOTABLES:

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took an early 1-0 lead with a power-play goal from Avery Hayes at 2:39 of the opening frame. Hayes then netted a shorthanded tally for the Penguins at 6:07 to give the visitors a 2-0 lead after Phil Kemp was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking David Gucciardi at 5:10.

The Bears ultimately converted on the Kemp penalty at 7:57 when Ilya Protas netted his 18th of the season from Andrew Cristall and Bogdan Trineyev.

Ivan Miroshnichenko added a power-play goal at 1:12 of the second period to level the score at 2-2, with Cristall and Protas assisting on the tally.

The Penguins went ahead 3-2 on a goal by Melvin Fernström at 3:56, but Alex Suzdalev responded for Hershey at 5:10 by redirecting Louie Belpedio's shot past Sergei Murashov, with David Gucciardi adding a secondary assist.

Just before the end of regulation, Jon McDonald was assessed a double-minor penalty for high-sticking. Hershey played the opening 3:49 of overtime playing down a man at 4-on-3, and Hayes struck at 2:04.

SHOTS: HER 23, WBS 38

GOALTENDING: HER - Garin Bjorklund, 34-for-38; WBS - Sergei Murashov, 20-for-23

POWER PLAY: HER - 2-for-4; WBS - 2-for-6

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on his assessment of the game:

"Thought, you know, we weren't perfect, but we battled. And when you battle against a team like that, you're going to come out, for the most part, you're going to win hockey games against them."

King on the play of goaltender Garin Bjorklund:

"You could just see the guys and you could hear them tapping their sticks, 'good job, good job' That was the one thing I think we didn't do a good job was when we had our power play, we kind of sold the farm a little bit. And gave them those two on o's, two on ones, and you can't do that against a good team like that. But, you know, we held them out and G made some saves. But, yeah, I mean, again, not our best performance for three periods, but we worked hard and like I said, when you work hard against teams like that, most of the time you're going to beat them."

King on the team facing a high level of adversity this season:

"Yeah, I mean, that's a part of it, right? That's the American Hockey League. You never know what your lineup's going to be right up until game time. And then all of a sudden your trainer comes in and says, two guys are sick. Or you lose three guys to injuries that are maybe end-of-season, who knows. So you have to deal with it. The good thing is our staff keeps everything positive. We keep it light in the locker room. We make sure nobody's on pins and needles and tiptoeing around. Whoever's in the lineup, they know they have a job to do and there's an opportunity for them and they take advantage of it for the most part."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Laval Rocket on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. at Place Bell. Hershey returns home to host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for PA Lottery Night on Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. The first 6,000 fans 18-and-over in attendance will receive a coupon offer, courtesy of the Pennsylvania Lottery. Fans 21-and-over can also take advantage of $5, 16 oz. Happy Hour select beer special on from doors until puck drop.

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from February 7, 2026


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.

OurSports Central