Game 1 Preview: Hershey at Lehigh Valley

Editor's Note: I'll have full coverage of tonight's Phantoms game against the Hershey Bears, live from the PPL Center in downtown Allentown, Pa.* The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. ET, but make sure you're following along on Twitter -> @TonyAndrock for live in-game updates * Stay tuned here after the game for a full recap of the action. Don't forget to subscribe to Inside AHL Hockey's YouTube channel for post-game player interviews.

ALLENTOWN - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (0-0-0) kick off the regular season tonight at home against Atlantic Division rival Hershey Bears (0-0-0). It marks the first of 12 meetings between the two teams.

The Phantoms won the regular season series with the Bears last year, going 7-4-1 against the Bears, but Hershey won the first round playoff matchup between the two teams - defeating the Phantoms three games to two in the best-of-five series.

By The Numbers

*All stats are from 2016-17 Season

LV: 76 games played, 48-23-5-0 = 101 points 2nd Place Atlantic Division Streak: 4-0-0-0 Last Ten Games: 6-3-1

HER: 76 games played, 43-22-8-3 = 97 points 3rd Place Atlantic Division Streak: 5-0-0-0 Last Ten Games: 6-4-0-0

Special Teams

Power Play

LV: 73-for-353 = 20.7% (T-5th) HER: 66-for-319 = 20.7% (T-5th)

Penalty Kill

LV: 242-for-288 = 84.0% (5th) HER: 265-for-322 = 82.3% (T-14th)

Leading Scorers

LV: T.J. Brennan (76GP, 21G-39A), Chris Conner (70GP, 22G-34A), Greg Carey (74GP, 28G-23A) and Phil Varone (65GP, 15G-36A)

HER: Travis Boyd (76GP, 16G-47A), Chris Bourque (76GP, 18G-42A), Wayne Simpson (76GP, 16G-33A) and Chandler Stephenson (72GP, 10G-28A)

Starting Goaltenders

LV: Alex Lyon (27-14-5, 2.74 GAA, .912 SV%, 4 SO) HER: To be determined (see Hershey roster notes below)

Season Series

This is the first of 12 meetings between the Phantoms and Bears this season. Lehigh Valley won the season series last year, going 7-4-1 against Hershey.

Season Series Schedule

Saturday, October 7th: Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m. ET Sunday, October 15th: Lehigh Valley at Hershey - 5:00 p.m. ET Saturday, November 11th: Lehigh Valley at Hershey - 7:00 p.m. ET Friday, December 1st: Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m. ET Friday, December 8th: Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m. ET Saturday, December 9th: Lehigh Valley at Hershey - 7:00 p.m. ET Saturday, January 13th: Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m. ET Sunday, January 14th: Lehigh Valley at Hershey - 5:00 p.m. ET Saturday, January 20th: Lehigh Valley at Hershey - 7:00 p.m. ET Friday, February 9th: Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m. ET Friday, March 2nd: Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m. ET Sunday, March 4th: Lehigh Valley at Hershey 5:00 p.m. ET

Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Roster Notes

Alex Lyon is expected to get the start in net tonight for the Phantoms, with Leland Irving expected to serve as Lyon's backup.

Forwards Cole Bardreau (upper body) and Colin McDonald (lower body) are not expected to be in tonight's opening lineup. Both are nearing returns to the lineup, and might not be too far off from returning to game action.

Matt Read and Oskar Lindblom joined the Phantoms at practice this week, and both are expected to be in the lineup.

The Phantoms roster features 13 healthy forwards and seven healthy defensemen, so there will be two healthy scratches for Lehigh Valley tonight.

Lines/Pairings will be updated after the pre-game warmup skate.

Expected Lines:

Forward lines to be determined

T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Will O'Neill - Mark Alt Max Lamarche/Reece Willcox - Phil Myers

Alex Lyon - Leland Irving

Hershey Bears

Roster Notes

According to Chocolate Hockey's Kyle Mace, neither Pheonix Copley nor Vitek Vanecek practiced yesterday for Hershey. Parker Milner and Adam Carlson were the two goalies at practice. If Copley and Vanecek are unable to suit up tonight, Milner will likely get the start in net.

Expected Lines/Pairings (Also per Kyle Mace)

Chris Bourque - Travis Boyd - Wayne Simpson Dustin Gazley - Jeremy Langlois - Mathias Bau Garrett Mitchell - Zach Sill - Liam O'Brien John Albert - Chandler Stephenson - Riley Barber

Hubert Labrie - Madison Bowey Jonas Siegenthaler - Colby Williams Kris Bindulis - Connor Hobbs

Parker Milner - Adam Carlson