Miroshnichenko's Three-Point Night Propels Hershey to 3-2 Comeback Over Toronto Marlies

Ivan Miroshnichenko scored twice and added an assist as the Hershey Bears rallied from a 2-0 second-period hole to beat the Toronto Marlies 3-2 at Coca-Cola Coliseum on February 18, 2026, a comeback capped by Miro’s redirected winner and backed by Clay Stevenson’s 39-save, AHL career-high performance.

The school-day matinee with an 11:00 a.m. puck drop turned into a third-period swing. Toronto led 2-0 after two periods on goals by Luke Haymes and Alex Nylander, Russianmachineneverbreaks noted, before Miroshnichenko converted a late second-period power-play to get Hershey on the board and shift momentum into the third period, Fox43 reported. Toronto outshot Hershey 41-26, and Stevenson stopped 39 of those 41 shots to earn his 12th win of the season.

Hershey’s comeback unfolded quickly in the third. Ilya Protas tied the game at 10:42 of the third with his team-leading 19th goal of the season, a play assisted by Miroshnichenko and Reilly Webb, the latter recording his first career AHL point, according to Fox43. At 12:31 of the third, Miroshnichenko redirected a Corey Schueneman point shot from just outside the crease past Hildeby for the game-winner, with Fox43 and Russianmachineneverbreaks describing the finish as the decisive play. Hershey’s official social post celebrated the sequence with the tweet: “Have a day, Miro!! 🍎 Schueneman 🍏 Leason.”

Miroshnichenko finished with two goals and one assist in the 3-2 win, marking his second three-point game and second two-goal game of the 2025-26 season, PHN and Russianmachineneverbreaks reported. Russianmachineneverbreaks added that Miro’s three points came in a 13:39 span and named him the game’s first star. CBS Sports RotoWire listed Miro as a 22-year-old winger with 11 goals and 28 assists in 31 appearances, a five-goal, five-assist run over his last seven contests, and a 12.4 percent shooting rate, noting that this level of production “should be sustainable for a player with ample talent.”

Hershey head coach Derek King framed the result as both timely and developmental. “It was huge. The guys were banging the boards, talking, yapping. He worked, and when he does that he’s an effective player, but he’s got to do that every shift,” King said, later adding, “That’s what this is about. It’s about developing these players. We had two young ‘D’ on the back end there when they had their goalie pulled, and they broke up that shot. What we have to do as coaches is give those guys the opportunity to show what they can do.”

The win improved Hershey to 22-18-6-2 and moved the club to 5-13-2-0 when trailing after two periods, PHN reported. The Bears finished a four-game road trip out of the All-Star break 2-2 and will return home to host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a back-to-back series on Friday and Saturday, with additional home dates listed for February 25 at 7:00 PM on the Hersheybears schedule.