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AHL Hershey Bears

Game Preview: Bears vs. Wolf Pack, 7 p.m.

January 6, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


(Hershey, PA) - It's a battle between the top two teams in the Atlantic Division as the first-place Hershey Bears look to build on their season-high nine-game winning streak when they take on the Hartford Wolf Pack for the first time this season tonight at GIANT Center.

Hershey Bears (28-6-0-0) vs. Hartford Wolf Pack (17-7-5-0)

January 6, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Game 35 | GIANT Center

Referees: Phillip Kasko (93), Liam Maaskant (62)

Linespersons: Shawn Oliver (56), Jud Ritter (34)

Tonight's Promotions:

Corona & Modelo Hawaiian Shirt Night - The first 5,000 fans 21-and-over will receive a Bears Hawaiian shirt, courtesy of Corona and Modelo

Halfway to Summer - Break out your swim trunks and your flippy floppies and join us for a halfway to summer bash!

Broadcast Information

Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, AHL Hall-of-Famer Mitch Lamoureux, and in-arena host Jim Jones on the call

RADIO: WFVY-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, SportsRadio 98.9-FM & WOYK 1350-AM, In-Arena on 88.9 FM, Capitals Radio

WATCH LIVE: AHLTV

LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream, Caps Radio 24/7

Radio pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:

The Bears earned their ninth straight win on Wednesday with a 4-1 triumph over the Charlotte Checkers. After surrendering an early goal to Charlotte's Justin Sourdif, Mike Vecchione tied the game with a power-play goal at 6:58. Henrik Rybinski put Hershey ahead 2-1 with his first goal of the season, a shorthanded marker, at 10:05 of the second period. Pierrick Dubé added goals at 16:04, then again at the 17-minute mark of the third to cap the scoring. Clay Stevenson went 28-for-29 to pick up his 13th win of the season. The Wolf Pack are coming off a 3-2 win at Bridgeport on Thursday, as Hartford never trailed in the contest. Matt Rempe scored at 2:28 of the first period to take a 1-0 lead, then Brett Berard scored a power-play goal at 4:29 of the second period to put the Wolf Pack up 2-1. With the score tied 2-2 at the start of the third, Artem Anisimov scored the game-winner at 1:13, and Hartford limited the Islanders to just five shots over the final 20 minutes. Dylan Garand finished the night with a 28-for-30 performance to secure his eighth win of the season.

DUBÉ DOOBY DOO:

Pierrick Dubé's two-goal performance on Wednesday was his fourth multi-goal game of the season and pushed his goal totals for the season to 19, tying him at the end of the night with Chicago Wolves forward Rocco Grimaldi for the league lead. Dubé added an assist in the victory over Charlotte, giving him a season-high three points and matching his previous career-best in AHL competition. The Bears are now 15-0-0-0 when the French national lights the lamp, and 19-0-0-0 when he records a point. Dubé's five game-winning goals are tied for second in the AHL, while his 96 shots on goal are ninth.

MOJO JOJO:

Defender Lucas Johansen has been on a tear offensively for the Bears since he was loaned to Hershey from the Washington Capitals in late December. The seventh-year pro has appeared in six games for the Bears this season, posting six points (2g, 3a), including the game-winner on Dec. 30 at Lehigh Valley, and has logged a plus/minus of +5. He enters tonight's game riding a three-game point streak (2g, 2a).

WOLVES AT THE GATES:

The Bears get set to face the Hartford Wolf Pack for the first time since sweeping the Wolf Pack three games to none in the 2023 Atlantic Division Finals. During the 2022-23 campaign, Hershey went 4-2-0-0 against Hartford in the regular season; since-departed forward Henrik Borgstrom led the Bears in regular-season scoring against the Wolf Pack with five points (3g, 2a) in six games, while currently-recalled netminder Hunter Shepard posted a 3-0-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .964 save percentage. Hartford defender Mac Hollowell is tied for fourth in the AHL in scoring among defensemen with 24 points (1g, 23a) and is tied for third among all skaters with 12 power-play assists. The New York Rangers recalled 20-year-old prospect Brennan Othmann from the Wolf Pack on Wednesday; at the time of his recall, Othmann was tied for sixth in rookie scoring with 23 points (9g, 14a) and was tied for third in scoring for Hartford. The Wolf Pack are receiving reinforcements in the form of forward Adam Sykora, who makes his return from the IIHF World Junior Championships in Sweden, where he suited up for Slovakia. Hartford's road power play is the third-best in the league, operating at 25.5% (13-for-51).

HARTFORD'S NEW MAN IN TOWN:

Longtime Hartford head coach Kris Knoblauch was named the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Nov 12, prompting the New York Rangers to name Hartford assistant coach Steve Smith as interim head coach of the Wolf Pack. Smith, a three-time Stanley Cup champion as a player with the Edmonton Oilers, has served as an assistant coach in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres, and was originally named an assistant coach with Hartford's staff prior to the 2021-22 season. Since the change behind the bench, Hartford has gone 10-4-4-0, good enough for second place in the Atlantic Division.

ANISIMOV BACK WITH THE PACK:

The Wolf Pack made headlines on Tuesday when they announced the signing of veteran forward Artem Anisimov to a professional tryout agreement, bringing the Russian back to Hartford, where he began his North American career in 2007. Anisimov, 35, played 154 games with the Wolf Pack over two seasons, including a 37-goal campaign in 2008-09, in which he was an AHL All-Star. Last season, Anisimov appeared in 55 games with Lehigh Valley, totaling 36 points (19g, 17a). Originally a second-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2006 NHL Draft, Anisimov has skated in 771 games in the National Hockey League with the Rangers, Columbus, Chicago, and Ottawa, totaling 180 goals and 196 assists for 376 points. Anisimov scored the game-winner for Hartford in its 3-2 win at Bridgeport on Thursday, and has eight points (5g, 3a) in 15 career games against Hershey.

FISCH TO CALL 500TH GAME:

Bears manager of media relations and broadcasting Zack Fisch is slated to work his 500th regular-season game as the play-by-play "Voice of the Bears" tonight. The Kansas City native and St. Cloud State University alumnus came to the Bears at the start of the 2016-17 season after one season working in professional hockey with the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays. Since joining the Chocolate and White, Fisch has also worked as part of the radio crew for the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic in Springfield and has called 18 regular-season NHL games on the radio for the Washington Capitals, along with one game during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Additionally, Fisch was named the recipient of the AHL's Ken McKenzie Award for the 2020-21 season. During his tenure with Hershey, Fisch has also served as play-by-play announcer for all televised Bears games on ABC27 and FOX43, the latter of which captured the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award in 2022-23 for outstanding media coverage.

BEARS BITES:

Bears forward Matt Strome is celebrating his 25th birthday today...Hershey has outscored its opponents 42-16 during its current nine-game winning streak, and has outscored opponents 79-40 over its last 19 games since the beginning of its first nine-game winning streak on Nov. 15 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton...Ivan Miroshnichenko is tied for the league rookie plus/minus lead with +13...Hershey is averaging the fewest penalty minutes per game in the AHL at 9.29...Hershey is a league-best 22-0-0-0 when leading after two periods...The Chocolate and White lead the league with the fewest goals against per game (2.03), and are second with the fewest shots against per game (26.03)...Jimmy Huntington needs four more points for 100 in his AHL career...The Bears are third in the AHL with a home power play that is converting at a 26.2% (17-for-65) clip, while Hershey's penalty-killing unit at GIANT Center ranks tops in the AHL at 90.5% (57-for-63)...Ethen Frank is tied for second in the AHL for power-play goals with seven...Mike Sgarbossa is second in the AHL for power-play assists with 13...

ON THIS DATE:

Jan. 6, 2012 - The Bears took the game outdoors for the first time in franchise history, as they skated against the Adirondack Phantoms at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia in front of an AHL-record crowd of 45,653. Current Bears forward Garrett Roe, then playing in his first professional season, dressed in the game for Adirondack. Chris Bourque scored the opening goal for Hershey just 28 seconds into the contest and finished the game with three points, but the Phantoms tied the game with 20.8 seconds left in regulation and Shane Harper gave Adirondack a 4-3 decision in overtime.

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