After finishing up a home-and-home series with the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms traveled to the Giant Center to take on the Hershey Bears Sunday afternoon.
The Phantoms were down a couple of players as Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Carsen Twarynski were called up by the Flyers. The Phantoms made a roster move before the game calling up center Steven Swavely from the Reading Royals.
Both of these teams got off to a slow start. There was not much action for the majority of the first period. The Phantoms went on the power play thirteen minutes and forty-two seconds into the first period when Bears left-winger Liam O’Brien was called for tripping.
The Phantoms could not capitalize on the power play, and the game remained tied 0-0. The Bears would get the first goal of the game with under two minutes to play in the first period by Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (6) with assists from Martin Fehervary (7) and Brian Pinho (8) to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. The Bears remained in the lead 1-0 as the first period came to a close.
Twenty seconds into the second period, the Bears would extend the lead 2-0 on a goal by Garrett Pilon (3) with assists from Christian Djoos (14) and Joe Snively (5). The Phantoms had a couple of opportunities to get back into this game but couldn’t capitalize on both power plays. Clearly, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Caren Twarynski’s presences were missing in this game. The Bears remained in the lead 2-0 at the end of the second period.
One minute and three seconds into the third period, the Phantoms were going on their fourth power play of the game when Bears left-winger Matt Moulson was called for slashing. The fourth time was the charm for the Phantoms as Andy Andreoff (4) scored a minute and forty-six seconds in the third period to cut the Bears lead 2-1 with assists from German Rubtsov (7) and Greg Carey (8).
Unfortunately for the Phantoms, they gave the Bears their first power play of the game when center Steven Swavely was called for tripping. The Bears took advantage of the power play and got their two-goal lead back as Bobby Nardella (1) scored his first goal of the season to put the Bears up 3-1.
Christian Djoos (15) and Philippe Maillet (5) assisted Nardella’s goal. Late into the third period, the Phantoms pulled goalie Alex Lyon for the extra attacker but ran out of time as the Hershey Bears defeat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-1.
The Phantoms looked out of it in this game. They could not get anything going at all for the first two periods. After Andreoff’s goal, the Phantoms did show some signs of life, but it was too little, too late.
Despite the loss, the Phantoms did win the shots on goal total with thirty to the Bears’ twenty-one. The Phantoms went one for six on the power play while the Bears were one for one. Phantoms goalie Jean Francois-Berube made ten of eleven saves, allowing one goal. Berube only played thirty-four minutes and thirty-five seconds in the game.
He then was substituted by Alex Lyon, who made eight of ten saves allowing two goals. Lyon played for twenty minutes and eighteen seconds. On the other side, Bears goalie Vitek Vanecek made twenty-nine of thirty saves allowing one goal.
The three stars of the game were Bears center Garrett Pilon with one goal, Bears goalie Vitek Vanecek with twenty-nine saves, and Bears defenseman Bobby Nardella with one goal.
The Phantoms return to action next weekend both at the Bojangles’ Coliseum against the Charlotte Checkers Saturday, December 21st at 6 pm and Sunday, December 22nd at 1 pm.
