The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back in action Wednesday night at the PPL Center against the Hershey Bears in their second-to-last meeting of the season. The Phantoms are 5-4 this year against the Bears and trail them by seven points in the North Division. Lehigh Valley’s record is 15-6-3-1 this year.
Scratches for tonight’s game were Tyler Wotherspoon, Mason Millman, Maksim Sushko, Ralph Cuddemi, Brennan Saulnier, David Kase, and Eamon McAdam. Felix Sandstrom got the start at goalie.
Twenty-four seconds into the game, Philippe Maillet rebounded his shot and scored to put the Bears up 1-0. The Bears outmaneuvered the Phantoms early in the game. Then Isaac Ratcliffe got into a fight that sparked the team. At 4:23, Linus Hogberg intercepted the puck and went top shelf over the left shoulder of Pheonix Copley to tie the game at one apiece.
Three minutes later, the Phantoms took a 2-1 lead after Linus Sandin faked a shot and passed it to Chris Mueller for the tap-in goal. Lehigh Valley spent the majority of the period in the Bears’ neutral zone. Hershey went on the power play after Phantoms defensemen Derrick Pouliot was called for hooking. The Bears tied it up at two apiece after Brett Leason faked a shot and passed it to Damien Riat, who had an empty net in front of him and scored.
Late into the first period, Felix Sandstrom made a great save on the breakaway by Joe Snively to keep the game tied. The game remained tied at two apiece after the first period ended, with the Bears having the shot advantage 17-6.
Egor Zamula almost put the Phantoms back up early in the second period, but his shot hit the post. An interference call against Hershey defensemen Cameron Schilling put Lehigh Valley on the power play. At 2:02, the Phantoms regained the lead 3-2 after Cal O’Reilly found Cam York. York’s shot was redirected by Tyson Foerster that went under the arm of Bears goalie Pheonix Copley for the goal.
Felix Sandstrom continued to make tremendous saves as the second period went along. Both teams were back and forth in each other’s zones taking shots. With 2:07 left, Hershey tied it up a three apiece after Axel Jonsson-Fjallby rebounded his shot and went upstairs the second time for the goal. The game was tied at three apiece after the second period, with the Phantoms having a 9-8 shot advantage.
Early in the third period, Felix Sandstrom continued to have himself a good night. Both teams consistently took shots, and both goalies struck down what came at them. At 7:06, the Phantoms went on the power play after a hooking call against Mason Morelli. With 12:01 left, Tyson Forester made a great pass to Cam York, who went top shelf for the power-play goal to put the Phantoms back up 4-3.
The Phantoms had a couple of more chances, with Garrett Wilson and Connor Bunnaman scoring goals. With 5:50 left, Tyson Foerster made an excellent pass to Cal O’Reilly for the goal to extend the Phantoms lead 5-3. It was O’Reilly’s fourth goal of the season.
With two minutes left, Hershey pulled Copley for the extra attacker. Hershey was doing everything they could to score, and the Phantoms’ defense stood up. The Phantoms would defeat the Bears 5-3. The Phantoms finished the third period with only four shots.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 19 shots, 1-4 on the power play, and Felix Sandstrom had a good game with 34 saves. The Phantoms gained two points and are five points behind Hershey for the North Division. The Phantoms also end a three-game losing streak.
Felix Sandstrom earned the third star, Cameron York got the second star with one goal and one assist, and Tyson Foerster earned the first start with one goal and two assists. The Phantoms will wrap their regular-season meeting with the Hershey Bears on Saturday, May 8th, at 4 pm on AHL.tv.
