The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-6-2) returned home to the PPL Center on Saturday night against the Hershey Bears (9-2) for the third time this year. This was the first visit by Hershey to the PPL Center this season. The Phantoms had lost the two previous matchups against Hershey.
Since Lehigh Valley’s last game, the Phantoms sent defensemen Will Zmolek and Darren Brady back to the Reading Royals as they started to get guys back from either the injury or flu.
The first line featured Alexis Gendron, Tanner Laczynski, and Cooper Marody. The second line had Garrett Wilson, Rhett Gardner, and Wade Allison. The third line consisted of Olle Lycksell, Elliot Desnoyers, and Samu Tuomaala, and the fourth line featured Evan Polei, Brendan Furry, and Zayde Wisdom.
On defense, Emil Andrae and Helge Grans were on the first line. Adam Ginning and Ethan Samsom were on the second line, and Mason Millman and Ronnie Attard were on the third line. Parker Gahagen (3-2-1, 2.81 GAA, .905 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms. The scratches for the game were Adam Karashik, Jordy Bellerive, J.R. Avon, and Adam Brooks.
In the first period, the Phantoms had six shots on goal. They had issues turning the puck over which almost led to several goals by Hershey but the defense was there to prevent the goals. At 10:04 of the first period, Jake Massie made a long pass to Ethan Frank near the Phantoms’ zone. Tanner Laczynski and Cooper Marody tried to control the bouncing puck but Mike Sgarbossa (10) got a hold of it before making the pass to Mike Vecchione (5).
Vecchione took the shot that bounced off the right post, behind Parker Gahagen before Gahagen knocked it into the net trying to locate the puck. In addition, Gahagen was hit by Sgarbossa inside the crease which the goal should’ve waved off but it was not a reviewable play. It was 1-0 Hershey with 9:56 left.
At 12:07, Lehigh Valley went on their first power play on a high-stick call against Henrik Rybinski but the Phantoms did not get a shot on goal during the power play. Late in the first period, Wade Allison stole the puck before making a backhand shot but the puck bounced off Clay Stevenson. The Phantoms trailed 1-0 after one period.
A minute and fifty-eight seconds into the second period, Elliot Desnoyers got clobbered on the head by Dmitry Osipov’s shoulder and landed hard on the ice. Ronnie Attard went after Osipov and Desnoyers had to be helped off the ice and did not return to the game.
Later in the second period, Hershey’s Aaron Ness (3) had the puck to start a rush inside the Phantoms’ zone. Pierrick Dubé (5) went to shoot the puck from the right circle but Adam Ginning blocked it. Then, Logan Day (1) got the puck before passing it back to Pierrick Dubé. Pierrick Dubé skated around the goal net before spinning around and rifling the puck through the five-hole and into the net for a 2-0 lead with 9:53 left.
The Phantoms had seven shots on goal in the second period. They struggled to generate any rushes and had problems getting the puck out of their zone. Late in the second period, Garrett Wilson went to the penalty box for tripping. Hershey had 1:43 left of power play time to begin the third period with the Phantoms down 2-0 with one more period left to play.
In the third period, the Phantoms killed the power play. This was Lehigh Valley’s best period. They had 11 shots on goal. Wade Allison came close several times to scoring. He also hustled on the ice and created several turnovers. The Phantoms spent the majority of the third period inside the Bears’ zone but could not put the puck into the net.
With 3:15 left in the game, the Phantoms pulled Parker Gahagen. Despite the man advantage, the Phantoms were unable to score and went on to get shut out by the Hershey Bears 2-0. This was the second shutout by Hershey against Lehigh Valley this season.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 24 shots on goal, committed two penalties, went 0 for 2 on the power play, and Parker Gahagen made 19 saves off 21 shots.
The two teams will play again on Sunday from the Giant Center at 3:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
