The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (0-2) returned to the Giant Center on Saturday night in game two of the second round in the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs against the Hershey Bears (2-0). This series is a best-of-five.
In the first eight minutes and eighteen seconds of the first period, Hershey forward Ethan Frank scored two goals putting the Bears up 2-0. At 18:45, Lehigh Valley defenseman Hunter McDonald (1) scored with assists by Adam Brooks (1) and Helge Grans (1) to cut the Bears lead down to 2-1. The Phantoms had 14 shots on goal but trailed 2-1 after one period of play.
Hershey dominated the rest of the game. In the second period, Henrik Rybinski and Alex Limoges scored goals for a 4-1 lead, and in the third period, Hendrix Lapierre put the game away with an empty net goal for a 5-1 win. The Phantoms now trail the series 2-0 and must win out or else they are eliminated.
The Phantoms finished the night with 31 shots on goal, committed seven penalties, went 0 for 3 on the power play, and Cal Peterson made 11 saves off 15 shots. The Phantoms return to the PPL Center for Game 3 on Wednesday at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
