The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (22-17-5) had their last game before the AHL All-Star break on Saturday night. They were at the Giant Center to take on the first-place Hershey Bears (29-10-5) for the ninth time this year. The Phantoms ended the drought against Hershey on Wednesday night and were looking to add another one and accomplished it.
The Phantoms found out earlier in the day that Ronnie Attard is headed to the AHL All-Star Game next week in Laval. There was one minor lineup change before the game. Isaac Ratcliffe was scratched and Adam Karashik replaced him. He took a costly penalty in last night’s loss to Providence.
Ratcliffe joined Troy Grosenick (injury), Linus Hogberg, Cal O’Reilly (illness), Ryan Fitzgerald, Wyatte Wylie, and Elliot Desnoyers (injury) out for the game. Sam Ersson (13-10-1) started in goal with Pat Nagle backing him up.
The Phantoms got off to a rough start in the first period. They had five shots in the first period. The Phantoms were losing the one-on-one battles, too much passing, not enough shooting, and leaving too much room for Hershey. The shots that Lehigh Valley was taking either went far left or far right. Hershey took every opportunity to shoot the puck with the defense giving them plenty of room to shoot. Hershey had 11 shots in the first period.
With 6:15 left, Jordy Bellerive pushed Aaron Ness into goalie Hunter Shepard and several fights broke out. Once the situation was under control, a total of five players went to the penalty box. Bellerive (cross-checking), Hayden Hodgson (roughing), and Kevin Connauton (fighting) went to the penalty box. It was Hershey’s first power play of the game.
Twenty-eight seconds later. Hershey got on the board. Mike Sgarbossa (25 won the faceoff inside the Phantoms’ zone. After several passes, Ethen Frank (16) fired the puck that went off of Ersson’s left pad but Aliaksei Protas (2) was there for the rebound with a backhand shot past Ersson’s left skate and into the net. It was 1-0 Hershey with 5:47 left.
Hershey went on their second power play with a minute and thirty-eight seconds left on a tripping penalty against Hayden Hodgson. They had 23 seconds left of power play time to begin the second period up 1-0. On the plus side, the Phantoms made a lot of poke checks to break up plays, hitting, and being aggressive.
The Phantoms killed Hershey’s power play to begin the second period. Two minutes and twenty-one seconds into the second period. The Phantoms tied the game.
After winning the faceoff. Lehigh Valley pushed hard to keep the puck inside Hershey’s zone. Bobby Brink (4) made a pass to Max Willman (9). Then, Willman skated toward Shepard before spotting Jackson Cates (9). Cates went right up toward Shepard as Willman passed the puck to him. Cates whisked it through the five-hole and into the net. The game was tied 1-1 with 17:39 left.
The goal sparked the Phantoms. They started to tighten their coverage and play better in one-on-one situations. Lehigh Valley’s defense was able to stand guard and protect Ersson. The Phantoms went on their first power play of the game on a hooking call against Dylan McIlrath.
A minute and fourteen seconds later. The Phantoms struck again. Lehigh Valley had four shots before Olle Lycksell (25) made a pass to Tyson Foerster (17) and Foerster rifled it over Shepard’s right shoulder and into the net for a power play goal. It was now 2-1 Phantoms and Egor Zamula (10) picked up the secondary assist.
The Phantoms had 12 shots in the second period. Late in the second period. Louie Belpedio fought Beck Malenstyn and both players went to the penalty box. Meanwhile, Garrett Wilson went to the penalty box for cross-checking. Hershey had 15 seconds left of power play time to start the third period. The Phantoms led 2-1 after two periods but Hershey led the shots 19-17.
The Phantoms killed Hershey’s power play to start the third period. Two minutes and fifty-five seconds into the third period. Lehigh Valley extended its lead. Jordy Bellerive (6) led a three-on-two odd-man rush with Bobby Brink (5) and Max Willman. Bellerive passed the puck to Brink before he returned it to Bellerive. Bellerive fired it through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 3-1 Phantoms and Egor Zamula (11) earned the secondary assists.
Hershey was not having a good game. They made too many mistakes and the Phantoms took advantage of them. With under five minutes left. Dylan McIlrath went to the penalty box for interference and the Phantoms went on another power play.
During the power play, the Phantoms got set up for a shot opportunity inside the Bears’ zone. Ronnie Attard (12) made a pass to Louie Belpedio (12). Belpedio took a shot that went off of Shepard’s glove but Bobby Brink (6) was there for the rebound and put it past Shepard’s left skate and into the net. It was now 4-1 with 3:11 left. For Brink, it was his third point of the night.
After Adam Brooks was called for tripping. Hershey pulled Shepard twice but the Phantoms put the game away. Adam Karashik (1) got the puck away from Hershey and onto the stick of Max Willman (10). Willman and Jackson Cates (10) created a two-on-one odd-man rush. Willman passed the puck to Cates and he scored a shorthand empty net goal for a 5-1 win. The Phantoms had 12 shots in the third period.
This was a hard-fought win by the Phantoms. It was nice to see them recover after a bad start. Now, they will get some time off as they head into the All-Star break.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 29 shots, 2/3 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 22 saves. On the other side, Hershey had 23 shots, 1/4 on the power play, and Hunter Shepard made 24 saves.
The Phantoms will resume the season on Friday. They visit the XL Center to take on the Hartford Wolf Pack at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
