The Lehigh Valley Phantoms returned to the ice Sunday afternoon against the Hershey Bears. The Phantoms played twenty minutes on Wednesday before the game was suspended due to a COVID-19 protocol on the Binghamton Devils. The Phantoms game against the Devils from Saturday was moved to April 11th.
There were also some roster moves between Wednesday through Sunday. First, Alex Lyon returned to the Phantoms Taxi Squad, and the Flyers sent Felix Sandstrom back to Lehigh Valley. The Phantoms also received Wade Allison from the Flyers. Lehigh Valley went into this game missing Brennan Saulnier, who was suspended for one game due to an elbowing incident in Wednesday’s game against the Devils.
The Phantoms got back Maksim Sushko, Max Willman, and Logan Day, who all returned from injuries. Tyler Wotherspoon, Tanner MacMaster, Mason Millman, Tanner Laczynski, Matt Strome, Linus Sandin, Ralph Cuddemi, Brennan Saulnier, Chris Bigras, and Eamon McAdam were all scratched for the game. Zane McIntyre got the start at goalie.
The Bears struck first at 1:36 in the first period when Blake Pietila found Damien Riat, whose wrist shot to the top right corner of the net put the Bears up 1-0. The Phantoms quickly responded with a goal of their own. A two-on-one developed with David Kase passing the puck to Tyson Foerster for the backhand goal to even the game at one apiece. It was Foerster’s first career goal in the AHL.
After a penalty was called on Bears center Connor McMichael for interference, the Phantoms struck again at 8:30. Ryan Fitzgerald initially took a shot that bounced off the Bears goalie. The puck made its way to Derrick Pouliot, who wasted no time putting the puck upstairs to give the Phantoms a 2-1 lead.
The Bears continued to shoot themselves in the foot. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby was the latest to head to the penalty box for cross-checking. The Phantoms were now in a five-on-three power play. Lehigh Valley would take advantage of this power play. Logan Day shot the puck that hit the shoulder of Zach Fucale before Ryan Fitzgerald finished the play with a tap-in goal to extend the Phantoms lead to 3-1.
With the goal, it was now a five-on-four power play. The first period ended with the Phantoms having 1:25 left on the power play. Despite leading by two goals, the Bears had a 12-8 shot advantage.
The Phantoms were unable to add another goal on the power play in the second period as the Bears kept them out of their neutral zone. Both teams were getting agitated with each other, with some skirmishes breaking out. Lehigh Valley would add another goal at 7:23 when Max Willman fought a couple of Bears players for the puck. Wade Allison made a rocket shot past Zach Fucale for a 4-1 Phantoms lead.
Lehigh Valley almost had another goal when Ryan Fitzgerald’s shot hit the post. The Phantoms had a scary incident late in the second period as Wyatte Wiley was hit in the face by a puck and went down immediately. He was taken to the locker room and would not return for the rest of the game. The Phantoms led 4-1 at the end of the second period. Once again, the Bears had a 10-7 shot advantage.
The Phantoms created more opportunities in the third period to add to their lead but could not do so. As the period wore down, the Phantoms let off the gas a bit, knowing they had the game in hand. Lehigh Valley was on the power play a couple more times but couldn’t score. Zane McIntyre was having himself a game, making 32 saves as the Phantoms defeated the Bears 4-1. The Bears would have the shot advantage 11-5. The overall shot totals were 33-20 for the Bears.
The Phantoms continue to be the AHL’s best power-play killing unit. They also improved on the power play, going 2-7 while the Bears were 0-4. Zane McIntyre was named the second star of the game, and Ryan Fitzgerald was the first star. The Phantoms are now 4-1 against the Bears and 7-2-2 overall.
The Phantoms will now head back home on Wednesday, March 17th, against the Binghamton Devils at 7:05 pm on AHL.tv.
