2024 Calder Cup Playoffs: Game 3, Hershey - 0 at Lehigh Valley 2 (5/8/24)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms made the most of their opportunities Wednesday night, capitalizing on two early power play chances in the first period in route to a 2-0 win over the Hershey Bears in Game 3 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals.

The win allowed Lehigh Valley to fend off elimination and force Game 4 of the best-of-five series on home ice Saturday night.

Emil Andrae and Olle Lycksell provided tallies on back-to-back power plays in the opening seven and a half minutes of the contest, and that ended up being all the offense the Phantoms would need as Cal Petersen stopped all 22 Bears' shots to earn a shutout.

Missed opportunities, and an inability to match the Phantoms' desperation was the story of the Bears' night but with a 2-1 series lead they will have a chance to bounce back and close out the series in Game 4.

GAME STORY

Facing elimination, the Phantoms needed a strong start in the opening minutes of Game 3 to show they weren't ready to head into the offseason just yet.

They certainly made the most of their opportunities in the first seven and a half minutes of the contest.

After Dylan McIlrath was deemed to be too aggressive in clearing Jacob Gaucher out of the Bears' crease 4:58 into the first frame, the Phantoms got the game's first power play - cashing in on an elusive shot from the left point by Andrae through traffic to take an early 1-0 lead.

Less than 90 seconds later, Hendrix Lapierre was whistled for a hooking minor in the neutral zone - sending the Phantoms back on the man advantage looking to build on their early lead.

They did just that - with a little bit of controversy, perhaps - as the Bears appeared to tie up Andrae at the right point and the puck exited the blue line.

Instead, the linesman in-position with the puck near his feet allowed play to continue - which saw the Phantoms dissect the Bears' penalty kill setup with a series of quick, cross-ice passes that ended with Lycksell stuffing one past a sliding Shepard to extend the Phantoms' lead to 2-0 with 12:32 remaining in the opening frame.

At that point, the Phantoms - aided by those two early power plays - held a 9-3 advantage in shots on goal in addition to the two-goal lead.

Hershey began to get to their game in the second half of the period and, although they were unable to get one back before the first intermission, drew themselves their first power play opportunity in the waning moments of the period and had dominated play at 5v5 - evening the shots at 11 apiece before heading off the ice.

The theme of the middle frame was high-sticking penalties and missed opportunities.

Usually at this time of year, stick infractions can come back to bite you.

The Phantoms dodged a bullet when Hunter McDonald took a foolish high-sticking penalty, getting caught a bit flat-footed in the neutral zone and as a result reaching up high and getting a piece of Pierrick Dube as the Bears' forward was attempting to speed by.

The result was a four-minute power play for the Bears, who had several chances in the second half of the man advantage but were ultimately unable to convert.

Hershey got another power play by way of a Phantoms' high-sticking penalty a few minutes after Lehigh Valley had killed off McDonald's double-minor, but again it was a missed opportunity for the Bears as they continued to trail the Phantoms 2-0 heading to the third.

Shots on goal and chances in general were hard to come by in the third period for both teams as the Phantoms preserved the 2-0 lead to the final horn.

Credit to Lehigh Valley for being the more desperate team, and the result allows them to come back to PPL Center for Game 4 on Saturday night.

Hershey Bears Lineup Notes

Hunter Shepard got the start in net for the Bears in Game 3, with Clay Stevenson serving as the team's backup goaltender.

The same 18 skaters took the ice for the Bears Saturday as they did in Game 2.

Bears Scratches: Garin Bjorklund, Mitch Gibson, Jake Massie, Nicky Leivermann, Vincent Iorio (injured), Tyson Empey, Riley Sutter (injured), Ryan Hofer, Dmitry Osipov, Andrew Cristall, Kevin O'Neil, Jon McDonald and Garrett Roe

Lines/Pairings:

Joe Snively - Hendrix Lapierre - Ethan Frank Alex Limoges - Mike Vecchione - Pierrick Dube Ivan Miroschnichenko - Jimmy Huntington - Matthew Phillips Matthew Strome - Henrik Rybinski - Bogdan Trineyev

Aaron Ness - Dylan McIlrath Lucas Johansen - Chase Priskie Hardy Haman Aktell - Logan Day

Hunter Shepard (Backup: Clay Stevenson)

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Cal Petersen got the start in net for Lehigh Valley in Game 3, with Alexei Kolosov serving as the team's backup.

Down 2-0 in the series, the Phantoms made a host of changes to their lineup for Game 3.

They went to the traditional 12-forward/six defensemen lineup with defensemen Helge Grans and Victor Mete coming out of the lineup and Ethan Samson entering on the backend.

Up front, Elliot Desnoyers and Evan Polei returned to the lineup and Matt Miller made his AHL playoff debut while Jon-Randall Avon and Zayde Wisdom were scratched to make room.

Scratches: Parker Gahagen, Felix Sandstrom, Helge Grans, Adam Karashik, Will Zmolek, Mason Millman, Zayde Wisdom, Jon-Randall Avon, Massimo Rizzo, Tyler Gratton, Samu Tuomaala, Jacques Bouquot, Matt Brown and Victor Mete

Lines/Pairings:

Olle Lycksell - Tanner Laczynski - Adam Brooks Brendan Furry - Rhett Gardner - Bobby Brink Garrett Wilson - Jacob Gaucher - Cooper Marody Evan Polei - Elliot Desnoyers - Matt Miller

Adam Ginning - Ronnie Attard Emil Andrae - Louis Belpedio Hunter McDonald - Ethan Samson

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

4:58: HER - (PP) McIlrath, minor (roughing) 5:44: LV - PPG Andrae (2) - Lycksell, Marody 7:05: HER - (PP) Lapierre, minor (hooking) 7:28: LV - PPG Lycksell (1) - Marody, Brink 18:56: LV - (PP) Lycksell, minor (high-sticking)

2nd Period

7:20: LV - (PP) McDonald, double-minor (high-sticking) 13:19: LV - (PP) Gardner, minor (high-sticking) 15:46: HER - (PP) Huntington, minor (high-sticking)

3rd Period

3:55: LV - (PP) Furry, minor (high-sticking)

BOXSCORE

Hershey Bears  0 - 0 - 0 = 0 Lehigh Valley   2 - 0 - 0 = 2

Shots

Hershey Bears  11 - 5 - 6 = 22 Lehigh Valley   11 - 6 - 5 = 22

Goalies

HER: Hunter Shepard (20 saves - 22 shots) LV: Cal Petersen (22 saves - 22 shots)

Power Play

HER: 0-for-5 LV: 2-for-3

Penalty Kill

HER: 1-for-3 LV: 5-for-5

Post-Game EXTRA!

Video interview with Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere!