The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-30-11) returned to the PPL Center Wednesday night against the Hershey Bears (33-27-9) for the twelfth time this year. The Phantoms lead the season series 7-5 and are undefeated at home against the Bears with a 6-0 record.
Before the game, the Philadelphia Flyers recalled defenseman Egor Zamula, forward Tanner Laczynski, and goalie Felix Sandstrom. All three of those played Wednesday night against the New York Rangers. The Phantoms entered this game with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
The Phantoms signed goalie Darion Hanson to a new PTO (professional try-out) contract to fill in for Felix Sandstrom. Hanson played one game for the Reading Royals and was the backup for Pat Nagle (8-4-4-1, 2.59 GAA, .904 SV%). Meanwhile, the Hershey Bears started Pheonix Copley (17-9-5, 2.36 GAA, .914 SV%).
The scratches for the game were Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jackson Cates, Linus Sandin, Sam Ersson, Will Riedell, Ryan MacKinnon, Hayden Hodgson, and Kirill Ustimenko.
The Phantoms got off to a hot start in the first period. Adam Johnson had a chance to put the Phantoms up with 14:14 left, but Pheonix Copley stopped his shot with a right pad save.
There was a lot of back-and-forth action early in the period. Then, with 8:44 left, Hershey took a 1-0 lead. Bears’ defenseman Brett Leason (6) skated around with the puck in the Phantoms’ zone. He took a shot from center point that hit Pat Nagle. Then, former Phantom Mike Vecchione (16) rebounded Leason’s shot and made a backhand shot past Nagle’s left side and into the net for the goal.
With 6:44 left, the Phantoms were rushing towards the Bears’ zone. Hershey defenseman Tobias Geisser went to retrieve the puck. However, Wade Allison chased Geisser from behind the net while Garrett Wilson was skating right in front of Geisser. Wilson and Allison made a sandwich out of Geisser, and a fight broke out afterward between Wilson and Mike Sgarbossa.
The penalties were offset, making it four-on-four for two minutes. The Phantoms had a couple of chances to score on the power-play but could not score. In the last two games, they are 0/8. The Bears led the Phantoms 1-0 after one period while the Phantoms led the shots 15-10.
In the second period, the Phantoms’ offense attempted to get the puck into the net. However, the Bears’ goalie Pheonix Copley continued to stop their shots. With 9:58 left, Max Willman took a shot from inside the Bears’ right circle, but the puck hit the right post.
Once again, there was a lot of back-and-forth action. With 40-seconds left, Hershey defenseman Alex Alexeyev took a shot inside the Phantoms’ right circle, but it hit the right post. The Bears led 1-0 after two periods while the Phantoms led the shots 23-14.
Before the third period started, Isaac Ratcliffe did not return to the game for unknown reasons. In the third period, Bears’ forward Ethan Frank had a breakaway opportunity but never got a shot off with 13:55 left.
Then, with 12:51 left, a bad pass by Bears’ defender Dylan McIlrath turned into a goal for the Phantoms. Alex Kile (4) got the puck and took a shot that bounced off Copley. He rebounded his own shot and fired the puck under the five-hole past Copley and into the net that tied the game 1-1. After the goal, the Phantoms had momentum.
Then, with 8:31 left, the Phantoms took the lead. The Phantoms were setting up a shot inside the Bears’ zone. Brennan Menell (9) took a shot that hit the left pad off Bears’ goalie Pheonix Copley. The puck slid past Copley, and he didn’t see it. After that, everyone was scrambling to get the puck out. Then, Maksim Sushko (9) rushed towards the goal net and fired the puck into the net for a goal as the goal net was being dislodged.
For the first time this season, the refs went to the booth to review the play. After several minutes, the goal was credited to Sushko. Cal O’Reilly (30) had the secondary assist.
The Phantoms had one more challenge for the rest of the game, stopping the Bears. With 3:26 left, Alex Kile blocked a shot off his left leg and paid the price for it. He limped off to the bench and straight to the locker room.
Then, with 2:18 left, the Bears’ pulled Pheonix Copley for a six-on-five advantage. The Phantoms fought hard to defend Pat Nagle until the final horn sounded. The Phantoms held on to a 2-1 win thanks to their tremendous play in the third period.
In addition to the win, the Hartford Wolf Pack lost to the Belleville Senators 1-0. As a result, the Phantoms are now three points behind the Wolf Pack for the final playoff spot.
The Phantoms finished the night with 38 shots, 0/2 on the power-play, and Pat Nagle made 21 of 22 saves.
The Phantoms host the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub.
