The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (20-16-5) continued their five-game homestand on Saturday night. They took on the first-place Hershey Bears (27-8-5) at the PPL Center for the seventh time. The Phantoms have not beaten Hershey this year and the winless streak continued.
There was one lineup change before the game began. Zayde Wisdom replaced Jordy Bellerive on the fourth line. Pat Nagle (1-5-1, 3.60 GAA, .885 SV%) started in goal. The scratches for the game were Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jordy Bellerive, Isaac Ratcliffe, and Cooper Marody.
From the get-go, the Phantoms had problems against the Bears. Early in the game, Max Willman had an open net in front of him and hesitated to shoot. Then when he did a Hershey player blocked his pass, turning the puck over.
Hershey had six shots in the opening four minutes of the first period. Lehigh Valley spent the entire game chasing the puck instead of covering their man. They left too many Hershey players wide-open throughout this game. Hershey struck first seven minutes and fifty-five seconds into the game.
Mike Sgarbossa (23) forced a turnover and quickly passed the puck to Ethen Frank (14). Frank used his speed to generate an odd-man rush with Mike Vecchione (14) with him. Wyatte Wylie was the only player protecting Nagle but Frank made a cross-ice pass to Vecchione and he whisk the puck past Nagle’s right skate and into the net. It was 1-0 with 12:06 left.
Four minutes and fifty seconds later, Hershey added another goal. Hershey made some great passes to pull Nagle away from his net. Mike Sgarbossa drew three Phantoms players near him before making a pass to Bobby Nardella (13). Nardella found Vincent Iorio (12), who then made a cross-ice pass to Shane Gersich (3) with a wide-open net and he scored. It was now 2-0 Hershey with 8:55 left.
The Phantoms had six shots in the first period but none of them went into the net. With 29 seconds left, Hershey added another goal. Former Phantoms player Logan Day (7) created a turnover before sending the puck toward Ethen Frank (15) for another odd-man rush with Mike Sgarbossa (15) near him. Frank quickly made a pass to Sgarbossa and he fired it through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 3-0.
Egor Zamula attempted to block a shot but missed badly. He slid away from Nagle trying to use his stick to block the shot but to no prevail. Hershey led 3-0 after one period and led the shots 9-6. During intermission, Phantoms coach Ian Laperriere adjusted the line combinations in hopes of sparking the offense.
A minute and forty-nine seconds into the second period. Hershey scored another goal. When the Phantoms attempted to control the puck. Hershey made some great stick work to get it away from the Phantoms. They quickly got set up for a scoring chance.
Gabriel Carlsson (10) passed the puck to Connor McMichael (9) before finding Garrett Pilon (6) for a one-timer through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 4-0. The Phantoms’ defense could not keep up with Hershey. They tended to huddle around the puck instead of playing positions which allowed Hershey to take advantage of the open ice.
Five minutes after the goal, Tyson Foerster boarded Vincent Iorio and the Bears had a power play for five minutes. Luckily, the Phantoms killed it off. Later in the second period, the Phantoms finally got on the board. Cal O’Reilly (5) wrestled the puck away from a Hershey player near the left boards and sprinted toward Hershey’s zone. He had a Hershey player on him and made a backhand shot. The puck took a lucky bounce off Fucale’s left shoulder and rolled into the net for a short-hand goal. It was now 4-1 Hershey with 9:26 left. Max Willman (8) assisted with O’Reilly’s goal.
The Phantoms had nine shots in the second period, including four in the last seven minutes of the period. Hershey led 4-1 after two periods and led the shots 21-14. Hershey dominated the faceoff wins. Nothing was going right for the Phantoms in this game.
Thirty-four seconds into the third period. Hershey added another goal. Mike Vecchione (20) made a long pass to Ethen Frank (19) for the breakaway. Frank zoomed the puck through the five-hole and into the net. The score was now 5-1 with 19:26 left.
A minute and nineteen seconds later. The Phantoms added another goal. After two tries by Adam Ginning (10) and Cal O’Reilly (12). Ronnie Attard (7) rushed toward Fucale and fired the puck past his right skate and into the net. It was 5-2 Hershey with 17:07 left.
Past halfway through the third period. Hershey kept on scoring. Gabriel Carlsson (11) led the Hershey rush toward the Phantoms’ zone. He passed the puck to Dylan McIlrath (10), whose shot was redirected by Ethen Frank (20) through the five-hole. It was now 6-2 with 7:55 left.
A minute and fifty-eight seconds later. The Phantoms got the goal back. Jackson Cates (8) fired the puck that went off of Mason Morelli’s stick and over the right shoulder of Fucale before going into the net. It was now 6-3 with 5:57 left.
Garrett Wilson fought Gabriel Carlsson and was ejected from the game. He was given a ten-minute game misconduct and a slashing penalty that was served by Bobby Brink. Hershey added one goal just for good measure.
Inside the Phantoms’ zone. Connor McMichael’s (10) shot was tipped in by Mason Morelli (8) under Nagle’s right arm and into the net for a power play goal. It was 7-3 with 3:14 left. Hershey killed the remaining time left in the game and blew out the Phantoms by the final score of 7-3. The Phantoms had nine shots in the third period.
This was just a dominant performance by Hershey. The Phantoms remain winless against Hershey this year. The Bears made the Phantoms look like a JV team. There is a substantial difference in talent, and Hershey took their foot off the gas in the third period but still scored goals.
After the game, head coach Ian Laperriere said the team played scared, not taking hits, and have not shown that they are ready for the next level. He felt bad for Nagle. In addition, Laperriere said the players need to raise their game up against the best teams and they didn’t do that.
The Phantoms finished the night with 23 shots, 0/1 on the power play, and Pat Nagle made 21 saves. On the other side, Hershey had 28 shots, 1/2 on the power play, and Zach Fucale made 20 saves.
The two teams will meet again next Wednesday at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
