For the first time in sixteen days, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back in action Wednesday night against the Hershey Bears. The Phantoms are 5-2 this season against the Bears. The last time the Phantoms played was back on April 5th, in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Binghamton Devils.
In those sixteen days, many Phantoms players were called up by the Flyers, including Wade Allison, Tanner Laczynski, Carsen Twarynski, Derrick Pouliot, and Mason Millman. Allison scored his first NHL goal on April 17th against the Washington Capitals.
Players that were injured in the season returned to the lineup, including Pascal Laberge. The game was also the debut of 2019 first-round pick Cam York. Felix Sandstrom was in goal. The scratches for the game were Linus Hogberg, Zayde Wisdom, Maksim Sushko, Ralph Cuddemi, Eamon McAdam, and Garrett Wilson.
The Phantoms got off to a sluggish start. The Bears were all over the Phantoms in the neutral zone. Wyatte Wylie nearly scored for the Phantoms, but his shot missed wide left. At 5:14, Shane Gersich rebounded his shot and shot again, this time hitting the right pad of Sandstrom and in for the goal to put Hershey up 1-0.
Ten seconds later, The Bears went on the power play after a holding call against Connor Bunnaman. The Bears would capitalize on the power play at 11:47 when Cameron Schilling made a cross pass to Connor McMichael for a one-timer in the net and the goal for a 2-0 lead. Late in the first period, the Phantoms had a couple of chances to get on the board, but they missed their shots wide of the net. The Bears led 2-0 after the first period and dominated the shots at 15-6.
The game didn’t get any better for the Phantoms. At 6:49, Ryan Fitzgerald was called for hooking, putting the Bears on their third power play. Connor McMichael would take care of the power play on the faceoff at 6:56 with a shot to the right side for his second goal of the game and a 3-0 lead. The Bears kept giving Sandstrom problems. After a penalty was issued on both Lehigh Valley and Hershey, the game was four-on-four for two minutes. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby used his speed to charge at Sandstrom and buried the shot to the left side of the net for a shorthand goal as the Bears continued to extend their lead 4-0.
Despite Sandstrom giving up four goals, Scott Gordon did not pull Sandstrom. The Phantoms made too many mistakes, allowing the Bears to have their way. Lehigh Valley did improve a bit as the game went along. Late in the second period, the Phantoms went on their fourth power-play with twelve seconds left in the second period. The Phantoms had 1:38 left on the power-play to start the third period. The shots were even at ten apiece.
Max Willman nearly got the Phantoms on the board; however, his shot was blocked, and the Phantoms failed to score. At 3:11, David Kase headed to the penalty box for interference, putting the Bears on their sixth power-play of the game. The Bears would make it 5-0 after Philippe Maillet went top shelf for the goal. It was the third power-play goal for Hershey.
Lehigh Valley would go on their fifth power-play at 5:48 after Rob O’Gara was called for cross-checking. The Phantoms finally got on the board sixteen seconds later after Ryan Fitzgerald scored to make it a 5-1 game. Cal O’Reilly and Logan Day assisted with Fitzgerald’s goal. However, the Bears would get that goal back with 8:39 left when Brett Leason put the puck under the legs of Sandstrom for a 6-1 lead.
The Bears would win the game 6-1. The shots were 10-9 in favor of Lehigh Valley. The Phantoms were undisciplined, sluggish at times, and made too many mistakes. However, they were able to get to the Bears neutral zone at times and did create shot opportunities. They continue to struggle on the power play as they are now 13-81 this season. Felix Sandstrom finished the night with 28 saves and gave up six goals. The Phantoms were 1-6 on the power-play on 26 shots.
The Phantoms will now travel to Newark to play the Binghamton Devils on Friday, April 23rd, at 7 pm on AHL.tv.
