The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (22-26-7-3) continued their six-game road trip Wednesday at the Giant Center against the Hershey Bears (30-23-5-3). Heading into the game, the Phantoms trailed the Penguins by eight points for the final playoff spot.
This was the tenth meeting between these two teams, with the season series tied 5-5. Before the game, the Philadelphia Flyers recalled forward Hayden Hodgson. Hodgson did not travel with the Phantoms. He signed an NHL contract on Tuesday for the Flyers.
Felix Sandstrom started in goal with Pat Nagle as the backup. The scratches for the game were Garrett McFadden, Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jackson Cates, Alex Kile, Sam Ersson, and Kirill Ustimenko.
Twenty seconds into the first period, the Phantoms generated a rush towards the Bears zone. Phantoms forward Adam Johnson (9) had Bears defenseman Bobby Nardella on him. Johnson was able to use his left arm to swing a pass to Wade Allison.
Allison (7) had an empty net in front of him and scored from the left side, putting the Phantoms up 1-0. Egor Zamula (21) earned the secondary assists.
The Phantoms continued to generate chances. Adam Clendening and Egor Zamula had an opportunity to add to Lehigh Valley’s lead, but Pheonix Copley stopped their shots.
The Bears began to come alive late in the first period. With 3:13 left, Hershey rushed towards the Phantoms’ zone. Mike Vecchione (25) had the puck and made a backhand pass to Shane Gersich (12). Gersich put the puck into the net as Sandstrom was sliding to try and save it, but the Bears tied it up 1-1.
Hershey’s defense was doing a good job breaking any momentum the Phantoms tried to generate. They were using their sticks to break up the plays and create turnovers. With 1:53 left, Bears forward Cody Franson (21) had the puck on the right side.
Franson’s shot deflected into the net by Aliaksei Protas (6), which gave Hershey a 2-1 lead. Mason Morelli (19) earned the secondary assist.
The Bears led 2-1 after one period with the shots 12-9 Phantoms. The Phantoms started off strong but cooled off late first period.
In the second period, Isaac Ratcliffe had a chance, but his shot hit Copley’s body. Later, Ratcliffe was hooked by Alex Alexeyev, and no call was made.
With 11:15 left, the Phantoms were at the Bears’ zone, scrambling for the puck. However, Pheonix Copley made the save. Then with 5:35 left, Hershey was back in Lehigh Valley’s zone as Kody Clark (10) went up to pass the puck to Cody Franson (22).
Franson made a long cross-ice pass to Lucas Johansen (7), who fired the puck over the left shoulder of Sandstrom into the net for a 3-1 lead.
Two minutes later, Hershey returned to Lehigh Valley’s zone. This time, Bobby Nardella had the puck with Charlie Gerard on him. Nardella found an open Beck Malenstyn (9) for a slapshot past Sandstrom’s left side for a 4-1 lead.
Late in the second period, the Phantoms generated a scoring chance, with Wade Allison nearly scoring his eighth goal. However, his shot was stopped by Copley. The Bears led the Phantoms 4-1 after two periods with the shots 26-24 Phantoms.
In the third period, the Phantoms were having difficulty getting shots off. They only managed three shots on goal in the third period. With 9:12 left, Garrett Wilson hit Garrett Pilon and was called for interference. Again, another bad call by the referee.
With 2:19 left, Isaac Ratcliffe was tripped by Lucas Johansen, putting the Phantoms on the power-play for the second time. However, shortly after the faceoff, Wade Allison could not get control of the puck and fought Beck Malenstyn (10). Malenstyn sprinted towards Sandstrom and made a backhand shot passed Felix’s right side and into the net for a 5-1 lead win.
The Phantoms finished the night with 27 shots, 0/2 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom made 29 of 34 saves.
The Phantoms finished the six-game road trip in Canada beginning Friday night against the Laval Rocket at 7 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased courtesy of our friends at StubHub.
