BOX SCORE
NOTES:
- Louie Belpedio opened the scoring for Hershey by notching his first as a Bear against his old club at 2:35 of the first period, giving the defenseman a five-game scoring streak (1g, 4a). Andrew Cristall and Ivan Miroshnichenko assisted on the goal.
- Alex Belzile tied the game for the Rocket at 7:35 of the second period, then Marc Del Gaizo gave Laval its first lead of the night when he knocked the puck past Clay Stevenson on a broken play at 8:13. The two goals conceded in a span of 38 seconds marked the fastest streak of goals scored against the Bears this season.
- Grant Cruikshank tied the score at 2-2 with a short marker from Henrik Rybinski and Corey Schueneman at 16:13, but Luke Tuch restored the lead for the visitors late in the frame at 18:58. Cruikshank then scored his second of the match at 3:35 of the third period to tie the score at 3-3, but Xavier Simoneau scored the game-deciding goal for Laval at 10:48.
- Ilya Protas’ points streak was stopped after seven games (8g, 6a), while Clay Stevenson’s win streak was stopped after six games.
- Bears forward Graeme Clarke skated in his 300th career AHL game.
- Bears defenseman Aaron Ness skated in his 799th career AHL game, tying Frank Mathers 16th in league history for games played between defensemen (and 44th overall).
- Hershey hosted the Hockey Fights Cancer game.
- The bears went 7-4-0-0 in the month of November, with Protas leading the club in scoring for the month with 14 points (8g, 6a) in 11 games.
- The loss was Hershey’s first home loss to Laval since December 12, 2021 (4-2 L).
SHOTS: HERE 18, LOW 29
OBJECTIVE: HER-Clay Stevenson, 15-for-18; LAV – Kaapo Kähkönen, 25-for-29
POWER PLAY: HER – 0-for-1; LAV – 0-for-4
THEY SAID IT:
Bears head coach Derek King on how the team tried to adapt to Laval throughout the game:
“After talking a little bit, I think this is probably one of the better teams I’ve seen so far this year. And we made them earn it. We weren’t clean, our execution wasn’t there, but we had a game plan to just manage that puck back in the neutral zone and get in front and play at a little tempo, but we just couldn’t sustain it. They’re fast, they come hard and they’re a good hockey team.”
King on Grant Cruikshank’s play and the need for more from elsewhere in the lineup:
“I liked him. He went tonight and it showed in the ice time I gave him. But your top players have to learn to play in these types of games. And I don’t think they were terrible, but I think there was more that we could have used. We used a little more of them, but I think we’re tired, a little exhausted, blown out. It’s not clearly our lineup that we would want to have all the time, but give the guys credit, they didn’t quit.”
Grant Cruikshank on what the team has learned about itself from the start of the season to now:
“I think people would have said that we’re just a very young, inexperienced team that would struggle. And I think what the league is finding – and I think what we’re finding too – is that we’re in contention every night and there are things that we need to clean up, and times in the game where we need to sharpen up – that might be some of the inexperience or not playing with guys for years like previous teams here at the Bears. I think we’re in contention every game and keeping games close against the best teams in the league, and we’re beating the best teams in the league. So I think we’re discovering ourselves a little bit, because we have a great team here [if] If we clean some things up, we’ll end up in a good place.”
The bears continues the 2025-2026 season presented by Penn State Health when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, December 6 at 7 p.m. GIANT Center for Hall of Fame night. All fans in attendance will receive one Hershey Bears Postcard from the Hockey Club Hall of Fame as the Bears induct their Hall of Fame Class of 2025. CLICK HERE to buy tickets for this game.
With Hershey match report
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