Recalls Contribute to Lift Hershey to 2-1 Overtime Victory Over Phantoms

The Hershey Bears (9-4-1-0) were bolstered by call-ups from the ECHL to complete a perfect 3-0-0-0 weekend sweep with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-4-1-1) on Sunday afternoon at GIANT Center.

Sunday, November 16, 2025, the Hershey Bears vs the LV Phantoms. The Bears beat the Phantoms in overtime by a score of 2-1.

Defenseman Connor Mayer (recalled from ECHL South Carolina earlier today) and D.J. King (signed by Hershey from South Carolina to a professional tryout agreement earlier today) made their Hershey debuts and both factored in the offense for the afternoon.

Mayer scored the game-winning tally in the extra frame to lift Hershey to its fourth consecutive victory and second straight home win.

For King, son of Bears head coach Derek King, it marked the first time in Bears history that a game featured a father-son/head coach-player duo for Hershey, and believed to be the seventh time in American Hockey League history, and the first in the AHL since Ulf Samuelsson coached son Phil Samuelsson with the Charlotte Checkers during the 2016-17 season. King received credit with the primary assist on Protas’ game-tying marker, his second career AHL point.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

Lehigh Valley’s Alexis Gendron scored the opening goal at 1:31 of the second period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Ilya Protas tied the game at 1-1 at 13:12 of the third period with his third goal in as many games and his fifth of the season after he knocked in D.J. King’s initial shot that had banked off the boards behind the Lehigh Valley net.
Mayer won the game for the Bears at 2:06 of the overtime frame when Brett Leason’s initial breakaway shot was denied by Alexei Kolosov, but Henrik Rybinski found Mayer from the side of the net and fed the defenseman in the slot for the game-clinching tally.
Clay Stevenson earned his fifth win of the season and his fourth consecutive victory. The win also marked Stevenson’s 50th career win with the Bears, moving the goaltender past Darren Jensen and Don Edwards for sole possession of 19th in team history.

SHOTS: HER 37, LV 37

GOALTENDING: HER – Clay Stevenson, 36-for-37; LV – Alexei Kolosov, 35-for-37

POWER PLAY: HER – 0-for-4; LV – 0-for-3

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on the play of the call-ups in today’s game:
“The guys that came up, they played well for us. They filled in when we needed it. I think the biggest thing going with seven ‘D’ was just because our ‘D’ took a pounding the last couple of games. So we tried to rest them as much as we could and keep them fresh. So I thought those guys did a great job. And again, Clay [Stevenson] – outstanding.”

Derek King on the team completing a 3-0-0-0 weekend:
“They found a way to get it done. It wasn’t always pretty, but they just stayed with it. The talking on the bench, the guys backing each other up and pushing each other, to get to that next level. It was really fun to watch and I’m probably more tired than those guys.”

Derek King on being able to coach his son in a regular-season AHL game for the first time:
“It’s good for him. His mom will be happy. She’s probably crying, probably. But like I said, whether it was my kid or not, [D.J. and Mayer] came in and they helped us and they took some pressure off the other ‘D’ that have been battling for the last couple of days. I’m excited for him – shot wide. Probably going to yell at him for hitting the net [chuckles], but he shot wide and we tucked it in. So it was good for him.”

Bears defenseman D.J. King on playing on the same team coached by his father:
“Yeah, it was wild. Actually he had me a couple times in Rockford in the preseason, but this was our first regular-season moment. But it was great. He’s got some great one-liners on the bench I chuckled at a lot and it was fun. He’s very loose, a great coach and it was a lot of fun.”

D.J. King on the goal he assisted on scored by Ilya Protas:
“Yeah, [Andrew Cristall] had the puck come to him and he bumped it back to me, and I just kind of had my head down and shot it on net – I don’t even think it hit the net. I think it went behind the net and then ‘Pro’ tapped it right in, so it was good.”

Connor Mayer on scoring the game-winner in his Bears debut after a long travel day:
“Yeah, it’s the first goal of the season for me all year actually, so, just getting that off my back is pretty huge. And then coming here and, and doing it is obviously pretty special too. But yeah, a long travel day, just tried to keep it really simple all day. And then, obviously, I was fortunate to get that pass and it went in.”

Mayer on the directive he was given by the coaching staff in Hershey after initially being loaned to South Carolina following training camp:
“Had a good training camp and got some good words from ‘Kinger,’ and it was mostly just ‘Go down, play your game, get confidence, and then at some point we’re going to look to call you back up and make an impact here.’ And I think so far, so good, I guess.”

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Cleveland Monsters on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at Rocket Arena. Hershey returns home to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for its traditional Thanksgiving Eve game on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. All fans in attendance that night are welcome to participate in the postgame Canteen Vending Turkey Shoot on ice. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.

With Bears match report