Bears Rout Phantoms 6-1
HERSHEY - Simply put, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-4-2) did not come ready to play Saturday night in Hershey against a Bears team (6-6-2) that has put a slow start to their season behind them with wins now in five of their last seven games.
The Bears tallied six straight goals before the Phantoms ended Pheonix Copley's shutout bid with eight minutes left in the third period in a 6-1 drubbing that has the Phantoms searching for answers as to why their first period starts in the previous two games have been so off-putting.
It's certainly not time to hit the panic button just yet. But the slow starts and early deficits the Phantoms have put themselves in in the past two games are a cause for concern.
Perhaps the team's first "real" road trip of the season next week in a getaway to Canada is just what the doctor ordered.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms have Sunday off in preparation for a pair of road games in Canada next week beginning Wednesday night in Belleville, Ontario against the Senators before a Friday night matchup in Laval, Quebec against the Montreal Canadiens' AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Colin McDonald (C) Danick Martel - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Oskar Lindblom - Mikhail Vorobyev - Chris Conner (A) Tyrell Goulbourne - Corban Knight (A) - Radel Fazleev
T.J. Brennan - Max LamarcheWill O'Neill - Mark Alt Reece Willcox - Mark Friedman
Alex Lyon - Mark Dekanich
Scratches: Anthony Stolarz (knee surgery - out indefinitely), Dustin Tokarski (injured), Sam Morin (injured), Phil Myers (injured) and Cole Bardreau (injured)
ROSTER NOTES
Alex Lyon got the start in net for Lehigh Valley Saturday night, while it was Mark Dekanich backing up Lyon for the Phantoms.
Dustin Tokarski was replaced at practice Thursday in Whitehall by a shooter tutor. Initially, it was speculated he might be a potential call up to Philadelphia as Michal Neuvirth was feeling under the weather. Instead, it now appears that Tokarski is injured. Scott Gordon offered no update on his status.
Mark Alt was returned to the Phantoms from Philadelphia, and Alt returned to Lehigh Valley's lineup on defense to his normal pairing alongside Will O'Neill.
With Alt back and both Sam Morin and Phil Myers nearing a return from injury, the Phantoms returned defensemen Adam Comrie and James De Haas to Reading (ECHL).
Cole Bardreau is suspected to have broken his hand in a fight last Sunday with Toronto's Dmytro Timashov. He's expected to be out long-term.
RECAP
It was a first period to forget for the Phantoms Saturday night in Hershey. They had as many shots on goal (three) as the Bears did goals in the opening 20 minutes.
Early in the period, the Bears were flying right from the opening puck drop. Still, the Phantoms had one or two Grade-A chances that could've completely changed the momentum of the period and how it was played if only they had gone in.
The first was a Phil Varone rebound attempt on Bears' netminder Pheonix Copley that was pushed just wide. The other came on an early power play on the shift after the Bears' first goal of the period. T.J. Brennan skated in from the point and had an open lane. His blast actually beat Copley, but the puck hit the inside of the post and stayed out.
The Bears were playing well, avoided some early chances from the Phantoms and flat out took over the game.
Hershey's captain Garrett Mitchell led off the scoring on a drive to the net 5:13 into the contest, and plowed right into Lyon after the puck had crossed the line. Lyon was slow to get up, but appeared fine and remained in the game. This became a theme of the night - both the Bears scoring goals and making contact with the Phantoms' goaltender.
A 1-0 deficit wasn't too much for the Phantoms to overcome despite poor play in the first frame, but the Bears put the dagger in the side with a pair of goals in the final 2:28 of the period to extend their lead over Lehigh Valley to 3-0.
First, on a power play, Lyon came up big on a one-timer from the left-wing circle on Travis Boyd. Unfortunately for Lyon and Lehigh Valley, the rebound popped right in front to 6-foot-7 Danish forward Mathias Bau who was able to tap home the puck into what was basically an empty net for his second goal in as many games.
Then, in the final 40 seconds, Tyler Lewington's center-point blast trickled through Lyon and was sitting in the crease behind the Phantoms' netminder. Lyon tried to turn and swat the puck to the corner but accidentally bumped it with the back of his goalie stick into his own net with Bears' forward Zach Sill nearly on top of him trying to get to the loose puck.
And just like that, it was 3-0 Hershey heading into the first intermission. The Bears were in complete control and dominated much of the period - outshooting the Phantoms 16-3 in the opening 20 minutes.
The middle frame was much better for Lehigh Valley - particularly in the opening half of the period. They had the first 11 shots of the 2nd period and created plenty of chances with the help of two early period power plays, but were unable to get on the board.
Hershey made it 4-0 midway through the second period and added two more to make it a 6-0 whitewashing in the third period before the Phantoms got on the scoreboard.
The Phantoms ended Copley's shutout bid with eight minutes left on a tic-tac-toe power play tally. Colin McDonald behind the net got the puck to the inside of the left-wing circle to Phil Varone, who quickly sent one across to Greg Carey for a one-timer on the back door for his 5th goal of the season.
POST-GAME REACTION
Head coach Scott Gordon
On the rough first period:
Probably the third goal. We tried to survive it like we did in Bridgeport. We didn't play our best hockey, and they played well. It happened and we had a good push (in the 2nd) a couple chances on the power play but ultimately we didn't score.
On getting away to Canada for a two-game road trip, where team gets away from everything on first real road trip team:
At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter whether you're at home or on the road - you have to come ready to play. Our last two games we have not been ready to play in the first period. We have to address that.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
5:13: HER - Mitchell (3) - Sill 5:39: HER - (PP) Bourque, minor (slashing) 16:25: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (cross-checking) 17:32: HER - PPG Bau (2) - Boyd, Bourque 19:24: HER - Lewington (1) - Labrie, O'Brien
2nd Period
1:15: HER - Simpson, minor (tripping) 6:47: HER - Bindulis, minor (holding) 9:19: HER - Simpson (5) - Boyd, Bourque 14:06: LV - Willcox, minor (roughing) 14:06: HER - Barber, minor (roughing) 14:36: LV - (PP) Alt, minor (tripping)
3rd Period
4:09: HER - Barber (3) - Siegenthaler 7:36: LV - (PP) Conner, minor (slashing) 9:24: HER - PPG Bau (3) - Boyd, Bourque 10:43: HER - (PP) O'Brien, minor (delay of game) 12:00: LV - PPG Carey (5) - Varone, McDonald 17:22: HER - (PP) Gustafsson, minor (goaltender interference)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 0 - 1 = 1 Hershey 3 - 1 - 2 = 6
Shots
Lehigh Valley 3 - 12 - 10 = 25 Hershey 16 - 8 - 9 = 33
Goalies
LV - Alex Lyon (25 saves - 31 shots) HER - Pheonix Copley (24 saves - 25 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-5 HER: 2-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 1-for-3 HER: 4-for-5
Attendance: 10,295
