The Lehigh Valley Phantoms hosted the Hershey Bears Sunday afternoon at the PPL Center. The Phantoms were looking to end a three-game losing streak.
This was the Phantoms third game in a row, and with a diminished team due to illness, injuries, and call-ups, the players grounded it out all through the game. During the first period, both the Bears and the Phantoms committed two penalties each. Neither team took advantage of the power play, and the game remained scoreless 0-0 at the end of the first period.
The second period was a much different story that favored the Bears. The Bears scored the first goal three minutes and forty-six seconds in the second period when Joe Snively (9) with an assist from Mike Sgarbossa (21) put the Bears up 1-0.
The Phantoms committed two more penalties, but the defense stood their ground to keep it a 1-0 game. The Bears added another goal eleven minutes and five seconds later by Garrett Pilon (6) with an assist from Bobby Nardella (8) to extend the Bears lead 2-0.
The Phantoms had a chance to get back into this game after a cross-checking penalty on Bears left-winger Joe Snively to go on the power play. The Phantoms couldn’t find a way to score on the power play, and the Bears were still leading 2-0. With five seconds left in the second period, the Bears extended the lead 3-0 on a goal by Brain Pinho (6) with assists from Connor Hobbs (1) and Bobby Nardella (9). The Bears led 3-0 at the end of the second period.
The Phantoms didn’t do much in the third period. They had a couple of opportunities to get back into this game as the Bears committed two penalties; however, they couldn’t take advantage of either of them. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were shut out by the Hershey Bears 3-0. The Phantoms have now lost four straight games.
The Phantoms finished the game with nineteen shots on goal, and the Bears had thirty-eight shots. Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon made thirty-five of thirty-eight saves allowing three goals while Bears goalie Parker Milner stopped all nineteen shots.
The Phantoms didn’t have any answers in this game. It’s hard when they have lost key contributors like Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Andy Andreoff, and Mikhail Vorobyev, who have all been called up to the Flyers. But they might have help on the way as moments after the Phantoms game; the Flyers announced that Morgan Frost is returning to the Phantoms. The Flyers also placed Andy Andreoff off waivers. If Andreoff clears waivers, he will return to the Phantoms, and that could help boost the offense.
The Phantoms will now start a four-game road trip beginning Friday night at the Place Bell against the Laval Rockets at 7:05 pm.
