The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (26-28-7-4) returned to the PPL Center Friday night against the Hershey Bears (31-27-5-4). The Phantoms are playing six games in nine days. They headed into this game trailing the Penguins by nine points for the final spot in the Eastern Conference.
This was the eleventh meeting between these two teams, and the season series is tied at five apiece. The Phantoms are 4-0 against the Bears at home. Before the game, the Phantoms released goalie Darion Hanson from his PTO contract so he could sign with the Reading Royals (ECHL).
The Phantoms got some good news before the game. Wade Allison was back in the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game due to an injury. Allison started on the first line with Adam Johnson and Cal O’Reilly.
Felix Sandstrom (14-17-3, 3.01 GAA, .899 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms, and starting in goal for the Hershey Bears is Zach Fucale (10-12-4, 2.63 GAA, .895 SV%).
Scratches for the game were Adam Karashik, Garrett McFadden, Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jackson Cates, Linus Sandin, Sam Ersson, Will Riedell, Charlie Gerard, Alex Kile, and Kirill Ustimenko.
Early in the first period, the Phantoms’ offense came out swinging. They had a 6-1 shot advantage with 12:43 left. Lehigh Valley forward Tanner Laczynski had a couple of breakaway chances. One of the shots hit the post and ricocheted off. There was a lot of back-and-forth action, with the Bears’ offense picking up later in the first period, outshooting the Phantoms 9-2.
The Phantoms killed a couple of Bears’ power plays that kept the game scoreless. The Bears are now 2/42 against the Phantoms on power plays. After one period, the game was scoreless, and the Hershey Bears led the shots 10-8.
A minute into the second period, the Phantoms went on the power-play after a delay of game was called against Hershey forward Mike Vecchione. It was the Phantoms’ first power-play of the game, and they could not score.
With 14:21 left, the Phantoms broke the scoreless tie. Off the faceoff in the Bears’ neutral zone, Hayden Hodgson (12) made a quick pass to Isaac Ratcliffe (9). Ratcliffe fired the puck from center point that went past the left side of Hershey goalie Zach Fucale and into the net for a 1-0 lead. Egor Zamula (24) got the secondary assist.
With 9:33 left, Phantoms center Cal O’Reilly hooked Kale Kessy, putting the Bears on the power play for the third time.
During the power play, the Bears were on the rush. Bobby Nardella (14) made a cross-ice pass to Mike Vecchione (14). Vecchione shot the puck that went over the right glove of Sandstrom, hit the right post, and into the net for a power-play goal. The game was tied 1-1, and Cody Franson (24) got the secondary assist.
With 1:25 left, Adam Clendening (31) got a hold of the puck and made a long pass to Wade Allison (9) for a breakaway. Hershey forward Alex Alexeyev tripped Allison, and he was sliding towards Fucale. Allison used his left arm to shoot the puck that went under the five-hole of Fucale and into the net for a 2-1 lead.
With 1:09 left, Hayden Hodgson was interfered with by Cody Franson, and the Phantoms were going on their second power-play.
During the power-play, the Phantoms were setting up a shot. Phantoms center Cal O’Reilly (28) drew two Hershey defenders toward him, allowing O’Reilly to pass the puck to Tanner Laczynski (6). Laczynski’s slapshot went past the left side of Fucale and into the net for a power-play goal, extending the lead 3-1.
Adam Clendening (32) got the secondary assist, and the Phantoms led 3-1 after two periods, but the Hershey Bears led the shots 24-22.
Early in the third period, Wade Allison hit the boards hard and went down limping towards to bench. Unfortunately, no one made contact with him when he hit the boards. Luckily, Allison stayed in the game.
Meanwhile, the Bears were aggressively trying to score. With 5:54 left, Felix Sandstrom made a diving save with traffic in front of him. As time was winding down, the Bears were trying to get to the Phantoms’ zone so they could pull the goalie. However, the Phantoms quickly gained control of the puck, preventing Hershey from pulling Fucale.
Then, with 2:10 left, Adam Johnson (13) was racing toward the Bears goalie Zach Fucale. Johnson drew Fucale away from his net and tried a wraparound. But instead, he found Cal O’Reilly (19). O’Reilly had an empty net in front of him, and he tapped the puck into the net for a 4-1 lead.
After the faceoff from center point, the Phantoms held onto the puck and played keep away. As a result, the Phantoms beat the Hershey Bears 4-1.
The Phantoms played a really good game. They were physical and didn’t allow the Bears to push them around. As a result, they gained two points on the Penguins and now trail them by seven points for the final playoff spot with eleven games left.
The Phantoms finished the game with 27 shots, 1/2 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom made 31 of 32 saves.
The Phantoms next game is on Sunday at the Total Mortgage Arena against the Bridgeport Islanders at 3 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased courtesy of our friends at StubHub.
