Bears Fall 6-3, Beckman Scores Twice For Bridgeport

 

The Bears hosted the Bridgeport Islanders on Sunday, falling 6-3 to suffer their fourth consecutive loss. This follows a 4-3 shootout defeat against Bridgeport on Saturday, giving the Islanders back-to-back wins after a two-game skid. Adam Beckman led the scoring for the Islanders with two goals, while Henrik Tikkanen made 22 saves in the victory. Former Bears Ethan Bear and Pierrick Dubé were also key contributors in their return to Hershey; Bear recorded a three-point night, including a power-play goal. The Bears will look to snap their losing streak on Friday against the Syracuse Crunch, while the Islanders return home on Wednesday to host the Charlotte Checkers.

Bridgeport Islanders Lineup:

Eiserman - Highmore - Luff

Foudy - Kuefler - Dube

Terry - Jefferies - Larson

Thiesing - Drew

Mitchell - Bear

George - McWard

Warren - Rowe

Day

Tikkanen

Gahagen

Hershey Bears Lineup:

Cristall - Protas Trineyev

Milano - Rybinski - Leason

Thomas - Bongiovanni - Bitten

Smith - Cruikshank - Strome

Muggli - Belpedio

McDonald - Chesley

Rodzinski - Schueneman

Bjorklund

Gibson

Adam Beckman got things started, putting the Islanders ahead 1-0 with 10:46 on the clock in the first period when he roofed the puck past Garin Bjorklund. Pierrick Dube and Cam Berg picked up the assists.

Early in the second frame at 17:24, Leon Muggli tied it 1-1 after he took a pass from Ilya Protas, who received it from Andrew Cristall, and he moved into the left circle, firing a wrist shot through traffic, beating Henrik Tikkanen. Cam Thiesing scored his seventh goal of the season, breaking the tie and putting Bridgeport back in front 2-1 at 8:44 from inside the left circle. At 7:45, Liam Foudy got the puck from Beckman before adding to the lead to make it 3-1, recording his 23rd goal of the season. Joey Larson kept things going, making it 4-1 with his 16th of the season at 3:15 with a backhand shot off a pass from Dube that went off the crossbar and in past Bjorklund. Isaiah George picked up the secondary assist on the fourth Islanders tally. With just seconds to go, Beckman scored his second of the night to give Bridgeport a 5-1 lead from the slot. Travis Mitchell and Ethan Bear picked up the assists.

Corey Schueneman put Hershey on the board for their second tally at 15:02 of the third period, finding the back of the net on a point shot, cutting the lead to 5-2 with his fourth goal of the season. He took a pass from Wyatt Bongiovanni, who sent the puck along the wall after fighting for it behind Birdgeport's net. Jon McDonald received the puck from Cristall, who took a pass from Patrick Thomas. McDonald put it past Tikkanen to pull the Bears within 5-3 on his third goal of the season at 8:20. Not long after McDonald's goal, Ethan Bear scored his third goal of the season with a power-play goal from the top of the left circle for the 6-3 final. Dube and Matt Luff picked up the assists.

Notes:

- Garin Bjorklund, before being replaced between the pipes, made 13 saves for Hershey. For the third period, Mitch Gibson took Bjorklund's place, making seven saves.

- Henrik Tikkanen made a total of 22 saves for Bridgeport.

- Pierrick Dube recorded three assists, and both Cam Berg and Isaiah George collected a pair of assists.

- Ethan Bear had a three-point night, recording one goal and two assists.

- Andrew Cristall and Patrick Thomas each picked up a pair of assists.

- For Cristall, his two-point night made him hit the 50-point mark (15 goals, 35 assists). Along with Ilya Protas, who has 53 points (26 goals, 27 assists), both Protas and Cristall are the first rookie duo for the Bears to record at least 50 points since Riley Barber and Travis Boyd (2015-16).

First game back in Chocolatetown for this pair of beauties.

Thanks for the memories, fellas 🤎 pic.twitter.com/oFOOfS7wxP

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) March 22, 2026