The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (5-6-2) concluded the home-and-home weekend visiting the Giant Center for the third time this year against the Hershey Bears (9-4). So far this season, the Phantoms have not beaten the Bears in three matchups.
Before the game, there was one transaction as the Phantoms recalled forward Jacob Gaucher from the Reading Royals with Elliot Desnoyers out after getting injured in Saturday night’s game. Gaucher was inserted into the fourth line.
There were several lineup changes before the game. The first line featured Olle Lycksell, Tanner Laczynski, and Samu Tuomaala. The second line had Garrett Wilson, Rhett Gardner, and Wade Allison. The third line featured J.R. Avon, Brendan Furry, and Cooper Marody, and the fourth line featured Jordy Bellerive, Jacob Gaucher, and Zayde Wisdom.
On defense, Emil Andrae and Helge Grans were on the first line. Adam Ginning and Ronnie Attard were on the second line, and Mason Millman and Ethan Samson covered the third line. Nolan Maier started in goal for the Phantoms making his first start of the season. The scratches for the game were Adam Karashik, Evan Polei, Adam Brooks, Alexis Gendron, and Elliot Desnoyers.
In the first period, both teams had problems with puck possession which led to several turnovers. The Phantoms had one shot on goal in the first ten minutes of the game. Then, the Lehigh Valley’s offense started to get going with three straight shots on goal.
At 13:46, the Phantoms won the faceoff inside Hershey’s zone. Adam Ginning (4) got the puck to Rhett Gardner (1) before passing the puck to Garrett Wilson (3). Wilson skated around the goal net before making a wraparound shot through the five-hole of Clay Stevenson and into the net for a 1-0 lead with 6:14 left of the first period.
Late in the first period, Lehigh Valley’s Jacob Gaucher tripped Hershey’s Ivan Miroshnichenko with 1:16 left. Hershey had 44 seconds left of power play time to begin the second period. The Phantoms had seven shots on goal and led 1-0 after one period of play.
In the second period, the Phantoms killed Hershey’s power play. The Phantoms spent part of the second period in their zone. At 5:53, Jake Massie (2) made a long pass inside their zone to Logan Day (2). Then, Day made a cross-ice pass to Ivan Miroshnichenko (3). Miroshnichenko dangled around Helge Grans before firing the puck past the right skate of Nolan Maier which tied the game 1-1.
Later in the second period, Lehigh Valley’s Helge Grans (3) made a long pass to Garrett Wilson (6), who had a Hershey player on him before jamming the brakes to make a pass to Rhett Gardner (3). Gardner got the puck before rifling it through the five-hole and into the net which put the Phantoms back up 2-1 with 10:43 left.
For the rest of the second period, the Phantoms were penalized four times including Garrett Wilson for a game misconduct after Ronnie Attard got drilled by Riley Sutter which led to Wilson and Sutter fighting. On top of that, Wilson was called for instigating and fighting for a total of 17 penalty minutes.
The officials in this game were horrible as usual. Lehigh Valley head coach Ian Laperrière chewed out the officials several times and rightfully so. During those penalties, Lehigh Valley’s defense broke up several Hershey plays forcing turnovers and getting the puck out of their zone.
Hershey had nine seconds left of power play time to begin the third period. The Phantoms had five shots on goal and led 2-1 with one period left to play. Lehigh Valley goalie Nolan Maier was playing his best game as a Phantom with 20 saves off 21 shots.
Two minutes and six seconds into the third period, Cooper Marody (6) stole the puck from Dmitry Osipov before skating around the goal net and finding J.R. Avon (3) right in front of Clay Stevenson. Avon quickly shot the puck through the five-hole and into the net for a 3-1 lead with 17:55 left in the game.
Shortly after the goal, Hershey’s Alex Limoges was called for hooking at 3:36. Thirty seconds later, Emil Andrae (2) got the puck to Olle Lycksell (2) to start a rush with Cooper Marody (4). Lycksell made a great pass to Marody, who fired the puck past the left skate of Stevenson and into the net for a power play goal. It was now 4-1 Phantoms.
With five minutes left in the game, Garrett Wilson returned after serving 17 penalty minutes. For the rest of the third period, the Phantoms were called for two more penalties. Hershey rushed several times to the Phantoms’ zone but Lehigh Valley’s defense did a great job protecting Maier and getting the puck out of their zone. Hershey had nine shots on goal in the third period.
The Phantoms defeated the Hershey Bears by the final score of 4-1. It is Lehigh Valley’s first win against Hershey this season. They finished the afternoon with 19 shots on goal, committed seven penalties for 29 minutes, went 1 for 2 on the power play, and Nolan Maier played his best game as a Phantom making 29 saves off 30 shots.
The Phantoms head to Canada next weekend starting on Friday against the Laval Rocket at 7 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Lehigh Valley Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
