Hershey Bears/Washington Capitals goalie Clay Stevenson (33) looks on during a game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Source: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images)In what was a low shooting affair, the Hershey Bears beat the Bridgeport Islanders 5-2 in Game Two of the First Round of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs to advance to the Atlantic Division Semifinals.
This marks the end of 25 years of professional hockey in Bridgeport, Connecticut but it came with a bit of controversy.
The first shot in the game did not come until the fifth minute as did the opening goal by 2023 second-rounder and Hershey forward Andrew Cristall.
Hershey almost gifted this game to Bridgeport with undisciplined hockey as nine of the Isles' first 19 shots came in the Bears' five penalty-kill situations and giveaways. Two of them resulted in goals that kept the game alive for Bridgeport. The Bears can thank the excellent work of goalie Clay Stevenson to ensure the win.
Hershey were also bailed out by a controversial goal call made by the officials in the 11th minute of the second period where Bears forward Grant Cruikshank was being pursued by Bridgeport defenseman Warren Marshall on his way to score on Isles goalie Marcus Hogberg. Hogberg initially made the save but got bowled over by Cruikshank, leaving a loose puck to be cleaned up by Hershey's Sam Bitten into the net. The call on the ice was initially a no goal. To Bridgeport's dismay, after a short review, it was awarded as a goal, putting the Bears up 2-1.
Cristall would feed off the energy from the crowd made by the officials' call and score his second and the game-winning goal less than two minutes later.
Bears goalie Stevenson made 22 saves off 24 shots, registering a save percentage of 0.917.