The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back in action at the PPL Center Wednesday night against the Hershey Bears. The Phantoms are 4-1 against the Bears this year. Early in the day, Max Willman signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Flyers also announced that Felix Sandstrom was recalled to the Flyers Taxi Squad. Alex Lyon was sent to the Phantoms and made his second start of the season.
The only other game Lyon had played was against the Devils for twenty minutes before the game was suspended. The Phantoms also announced that Logan Day signed a one-year contract extension with the team. Logan’s deal was set to expire after the season before signing the extension.
The Phantoms also received more good news as Chris Bigras returned to the lineup. It was Bigras’s first game since being injured on February 10th against the Devils. Scratches for tonight’s game were Linus Hogberg, Tanner MacMaster, Mason Millman, Maksim Sushko, Matt Strome, Linus Sandin, Brennan Saulnier, Wyatte Wylie, Pascal Laberge, and Eamon McAdam.
The Phantoms had several opportunities to get on the board first. They were on the power play four times. Egor Zamula blew by two Bears players on the second power play when he was taken down, earning a penalty shot.
Zamula would miss the shot. Lehigh Valley created several more chances to get a goal but couldn’t put the puck in the net. The first period ended scoreless, with the Phantoms having a 10-3 shot advantage.
The second period was a different story. Halfway through the second period on the Phantoms’ power play, Shane Gersich of the Bears stole the puck and passed it to Martin Fehervary. Fehervary shot the puck that hit Lyon before Gersich tipped it in for a 1-0 Bears lead. A little over a minute later, the Bears would extend their lead 2-0 after Paul LaDue’s shot was deflected by Matt Moulson and in for the goal.
The Phantoms tried to make a case that the goal shouldn’t have counted. However, instant replay showed high sticking, and it looked like Moulson did get a piece of the puck for the goal. The goal was given to LaDue.
The Bears continued to cause problems for the Phantoms at 13:40 when Philippe Maillet had three Phantoms players on him. He made a backhand pass to Joe Snively, who then finished the drive giving the Bears a 3-0 lead. With 3:53 left in the second period, the Bears added another goal for a 4-0 after Maillet found Brian Pinho for a chip-in goal.
Before the second period ended, the Phantoms went on the power play and finally were able to get a goal. Derrick Pouliot found Ryan Fitzgerald for the put-in to cut, the Bears lead to 4-1 with two seconds left. Despite the Bears scoring four goals, the Phantoms had an 11-9 shot advantage.
Just when it looked like the Phantoms were starting to build momentum on their side, the Bears added another goal. Maillet and Moulson took turns with the puck in a two-on-one situation before Maillet made a last-second pass to Moulson for the goal and a 5-1 lead.
Three minutes later, the Phantoms went on the power play. They were able to add another goal when Derrick Pouliot shot the puck that deflected off the stick of Zayde Wisdom to cut the Bears lead 5-2.
The Phantoms pulled Lyon with 5:40 left in the third period. The Phantoms, even though they added an extra forward, were unable to take advantage for the rest of the game. Brain Pinho added an empty-net goal for the Bears to end the game. The Bears defeated the Phantoms 6-2. Once again, the Phantoms led the shots advantage 8-5.
The Phantoms finished 2-6 on the power play with 29 shots to the Bears 17. Alex Lyon finished the night with eleven saves and gave up five goals. This was Lyon’s first full complete game since last year when the AHL season ended due to COVID. The Phantoms record is now 8-3-2.
The Phantoms continue to do well on the penalty kill. They only gave up one goal out of the three power plays the Bears had. The power plays are something the Phantoms need to continue to work on throughout the season. They are 6-48 on the power play.
The Phantoms will now head back to Newark on Friday night against the Devils at 7 pm on AHL.tv.
