The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (18-24-7-3) visited the Giant Center Tuesday night against the Hershey Bears (27-21-4-3) for the seventh meeting of the season.
This was a makeup game from December 22nd. The Phantoms have been trending in the wrong direction and were looking to snap a five-game losing streak. Meanwhile, the Bears were looking to snap a four-game losing streak.
Felix Sandstrom started in goal with Kirill Ustimenko backing him up. Ustimenko showed up just after warmups after Pat Nagle felt ill. Zach Fucale was in goal for Hershey. Head coach Ian Laperriere said Jackson Cates was released from the hospital, while Egor Zamula and Matt Strome were out due to injury.
They were joined by Wade Allison, Pat Nagle, Maksim Sushko, Jackson Cates, Ryan MacKinnon, Hayden Hodgson, Alex Kile, Tyson Foerster, and Sam Ersson on the scratch list. MacKinnon was recalled from the Reading Royals.
In the first period, the Bears had six shots in the game’s first three minutes. At 3:08, the Phantoms went on the power play after a tripping call against Hershey center Shane Gersich. The Phantoms were unable to capitalize.
The Phantoms did not register their first shot until eleven minutes into the game. There was lots of back-and-forth action, with both teams missing their shots wide. After one period, Felix Sandstrom made some excellent saves that kept the game scoreless. The shots were 11-5 Bears.
The Bears nearly took a 1-0 lead 12-seconds into the second period when Garrett Pilon’s shot from the right corner got by Sandstrom. Adam Clendening was able to clear the puck that was on the line, which kept it a scoreless game. The Bears did not challenge the play.
A bench minor called on Lehigh Valley forward Nick Lappin with 16:15 left put the Hershey Bears on the power play. Garrett Wilson and Morgan Frost had a two-on-one play during the power play, but Wilson did not pass the puck to Frost. Wilson was hesitant to shoot the puck that Zach Fucale stopped with the left pad.
The Phantoms went on the power play with 13:58 left on an interference call against Hershey forward Mason Morelli. However, the power play lasted 21-seconds after Garrett Wilson was called for holding.
With 9:39 left, Beck Malenstyn (6) tipped Dylan McIlrath’s (6) slapshot from the right side past Sandstrom into the net that put Hershey up 1-0.
Riley Sutter (6) earned the secondary assist. Late in the second period, the Phantoms generated a rush but could not tie the game. Morgan Frost and Logan Day each had a chance.
With 26-seconds left, Lehigh Valley defenseman Adam Johnson was called for a delay of game. Hershey had 1:34 left on the power play after two periods up 1-0 and led the shots 20-13.
The Phantoms killed Hershey’s power-play in the third period. However, shortly after the power play expired, Brett Leason (2) cut across the ice and finished with a backhand shot past Sandstrom’s right side and into the net for a 2-0 lead with 18:22 left. Beck Malenstyn (5) assisted Leason’s goal.
Two minutes and seventeen seconds later, Shane Gersich (16) and Lucas Johansen (18) both had shot attempts stopped by Sandstrom’s left pad, but Garrett Pilon (15) pushed the puck into the net for a 3-0 lead. But, again, Felix Sandstrom was doing all he could do and had no defense to protect him.
Lehigh Valley forward Garrett Wilson had three chances to score but couldn’t put the puck into the net. Tanner Laczynski also had a shot to end the shutout and missed. With 5:03 left, an interference was called against Hershey defender Lucas Johansen.
The Phantoms pulled Sandstrom with 4:52 left for a six-on-four advantage. However, they were unable to capitalize. After the power play ended, Beck Malenstyn (7) put the game away with a backhand shot from Hershey’s zone to score an empty-net goal for a 4-0 win.
After the game, tension rose between the two teams before heading to their respective locker rooms. Hershey Bears goalie Zach Fucale recorded his third shutout of the season and fifth of his career.
The Phantoms have now lost six straight games. They finished the night with 26 shots, 0/4 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom made 26 of 29 saves.
The Phantoms are back at the PPL Center for two games starting Friday night against the Laval Rocket at 7:05 pm.
