The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (16-13-5-1) concluded a two-game homestand on Saturday night against the first-place Hershey Bears (29-7-0-1) from the PPL Center. The Phantoms were 1-3-2 against Hershey this season.
The starting lineup featured Olle Lycksell, Tanner Laczynski, and Samu Tuomaala on the first line. Garrett Wilson, Elliot Desnoyers, and Cooper Marody were on the second line. J.R. Avon, Rhett Gardner, and Jordy Bellerive were on the third line, and Brendan Furry, Jacob Gaucher, and Zayde Wisdom were on the fourth line.
On defense, Emil Andrae and Ronnie Attard were on the first line. Victor Mete and Ethan Samson were on the second line, and Adam Ginning was paired up with Mason Millman on the third line.
Cal Petersen (4-7-2, 3.24 GAA, .892 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms. The scratches for the game included Helge Grans, Adam Karashik, Louie Belpedio, Evan Polei, Wade Allison, and Adam Brooks.
In the first period, Hershey started strong with five shots on goal in the first two minutes of the game. At 5:37, Hershey’s Matt Strome (8) poke-checked Mason Millman to create a turnover.
Then, Hershey’s Henrik Rybinski (3) came up with the puck then turned on the jets with Adam Ginning attempting to get the puck away from him. Rybinski made a maneuver around Ginning before firing the puck over Cal Peterson’s glove and into the net for a 1-0 lead with 14:24 left in the first period.
At 6:18, Hershey’s Joe Snively slashed J.R. Avon on the rush putting Lehigh Valley on their first power play of the game. During the power play, Lehigh Valley battled back.
They moved the puck well inside the Hershey’s zone. Cooper Marody (23) made a pass to Tanner Laczynski (18). In a repeat of last night’s game, Laczynski made a nice backhand pass to Olle Lycksell (15), who chipped the puck through the five-hole and into the net tying the game 1-1 with 13:17 left of the first period. That goal gave the Phantoms momentum.
However, the game did not stay tied for long. At 8:32, Hershey’s Bogdan Trineyev (5) made a long pass to Ivan Miroshnichenko (9), who hustled inside the Phantoms’ zone with Adam Ginning trying to get the puck away from him. Then, Miroshnichenko spun around before finding Garrett Roe (5) behind him with his stick up and passed the puck to him. Roe blasted the puck over Cal Peterson’s glove and into the net for a 2-1 with 12:14 left of the first period.
At 12:46, Lehigh Valley’s Ronnie Attard went to the penalty box for tripping. Hershey took advantage. At 13:54, Hershey’s Mike Sgarbossa (27) made a pass to Joe Snively (19). Then, Snively quickly passed the puck to Ethan Frank (15), who pelted it from the left circle over the left pad of Cal Peterson and into the net for a 3-1 lead with 6:07 left of the first period.
Despite giving up three goals, Lehigh Valley stayed in the game. Late in the first period, Lehigh Valley got a goal back. At 18:56, Lehigh Valley’s Olle Lycksell (11) sent the puck toward Ronnie Attard (13). Attard had great vision seeing Hershey’s defense was not paying attention to Samu Tuomaala (11). Attard passed the puck to Tuomaala, who chipped darted it through the five-hole and into the net cutting Hershey’s lead down to 3-2 with 1:04 left of the first period.
Lehigh Valley’s offense had seven shots on goal and Cal Peterson made 15 saves off 18 shots. The Phantoms struggled early in the game but found their footing as the period went along and trailed the Hershey Bears 3-2 after one period of play.
In the second period, both teams had seven shots on goal apiece. At 6:46, Hershey’s Vincent Iorio held J.R. Avon which put the Phantoms on their second power play of the game.
During the power play, Lehigh Valley’s Emil Andrae was unable to get control of the puck forcing a turnover. Hershey turned it into a 2-on-1 play where Jimmy Huntington passed the puck to Lucas Johansen but Lehigh Valley goaltender Cal Peterson made a great sliding double pad save.
Lehigh Valley’s offense at times had trouble getting set up for scoring opportunities. Cooper Marody, Olle Lycksell, and Garrett Wilson had chances to tie the game but Hershey goaltender Hunter Shepard shut them out. On the other side, Lehigh Valley’s defense kept Hershey in check not allowing them to get chances on Peterson. Lehigh Valley still trailed Hershey 3-2 after two periods of play.
In the third period, Lehigh Valley had eight shots on goal. Jordy Bellerive came close twice to tying the game. Lehigh Valley kept grinding and hustling looking to tie the game. At 9:32, Emil Andrae (15) passed the puck to Ronnie Attard (7) to begin the charge into Hershey’s zone.
Then, Attard passed the puck to Elliot Desnoyers (9) near the left boards with three Hershey players on him. Desnoyers took a shot which was tipped in by Ronnie Attard over the left shoulder of Hunter Shepard and into the net tying the game 3-3 with 10:28 left in the game.
Lehigh Valley had a great chance to take the lead when Hershey’s Dylan McIlrath (tripping) and Hardy Häman Aktell (holding) gave the Phantoms a 5-on-3 power play for 20 seconds. At one point, Olle Lycksell shot the puck that hit the post triggering the goal horn but the refs waived it off. Lycksell thought he had scored the goal but the play continued.
Once the whistle was blown, the official decided to not review the play, and the game remained tied. Late in the third period, Hershey made a push getting two shots on goal. After 60 minutes of play, the game remained tied 3-3 heading to overtime.
In overtime, Lehigh Valley did not get a shot on goal. They had some chances but no plays developed. Hershey had three shots on goal but overtime was not enough and the game went to a shootout.
In the shootout, Samu Tuomaala, Tanner Laczynski, and Jordy Bellerive could not score. On the other side, Cal Peterson stopped Joe Snively, Mike Sgarbossa, and Pierrick Dubé.
Lehigh Valley’s J.R. Avon was next to start the fourth round. He made a nice backhand shot into the net to give the Phantoms the lead. Cal Peterson needed one more stop and that was against Matt Strome. Strome’s shot went off the post and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms completed the comeback with a 4-3 win in a shootout.
Lehigh Valley had 24 shots on goal, committed four penalties for eight minutes, went 1 for 5 on the power play, and Cal Peterson made 31 saves off 34 shots.
Lehigh Valley starts a three-game road trip on Wednesday night from the Blue Cross Arena against the Rochester Americans at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
