GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Hershey at Lehigh Valley 12/29/19

ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-15-5) and Hershey Bears (17-10-5) wrap up a three-in-three weekend against each other at PPL Center in downtown Allentown. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Line rushes in warmup:

Greg Carey - Connor Bunnaman - Pascal Laberge Max Willman - German Rubtsov - David Kase Carsen Twarynski - Gerry Fitzgerald - Maksim Sushko Matthew Strome - Steven Swavely - Kurtis Gabriel

Tyler Wotherspoon - Andy Welinski Chris Bigras - Nate Prosser Mark Friedman - Reece Willcox

Alex Lyon - J-F Berube

Phantoms Scratches: James de Haas, Matthew Strome, Cal O'Reilly, T.J. Brennan and Kyle Criscuolo

GAME STORY

1st Period

With both teams playing their third game in three days and coming off of Saturday night losses, it was pretty much a given that the team that stayed the most disciplined would end the decade on a winning note.

With Hershey’s Chris McCarthy taking the first penalty, the Phantoms looked to capitalize on the opportunity, but the Bears PK unit rose to the occasion on both of Lehigh Valley’s powerplay chances in the period in front of Parker Milner, who was making his first AHL start of the season.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Alex Lyon came up with a huge stop on Hershey’s top line as Mike Sgarbossa passed the puck to a streaking Garrett Pilon with Joe Snively alongside. Lyon then put together a tremendous sequence against the Hershey powerplay, surviving not one but two multi-scoring chances without his stick, and drawing a goaltender interference on Hershey’s Garrett Pilon.

The Phantoms got two shots on Milner on their second opportunity, but ended the period on the PK as Tyler Wotherspoon was called for tripping.

The Phantoms ended the period with just six shots on net while Hershey had 15. The Phantoms will be short-handed for the first 1:04 of the second period.

2nd Period

In the second period, things went sideways for Lehigh Valley.

The Phantoms successfully killed off the remainder of the of the Wotherspoon first period minor penalty, but shortly afterwards, Hershey’s top line put the Bears on the board.

Mike Sgarbossa intercepted a Phantoms breakout attempt and found Joe Snively in the slot for the game’s first goal.

Despite excellent scoring chances for Hershey on both powerplay chances, Lyon’s herculean efforts in net for the Phantoms kept it a one-goal game until Bobby Nardella picked off an errant Lehigh Valley clearing attempt and found Garrett Pilon alone in the slot for Hershey’s second goal of the game.

Things got a bit heated late in the period when Mark Friedman was whistled for kneeing Sgarbossa. Snively was then assessed a roughing penalty as he came in and decked Friedman.

The teams were separated by the officials and while there was no score on the 4-on-4, Brian Pinho cleaned up a rebound on a high-slot shot attempt from Connor Hobbs with just 5 seconds left in the period to give the visitors a 3-0 lead heading into the final frame.

On the period, the Phantoms managed just four shots for a two-period total of ten while Hershey had 16 for  a two-period total of 31.

3rd Period

In the third, Kody Clark went to the box for a double minor, giving Lehigh Valley a four minute powerplay early in the period. But the Phantoms managed just three shots on Milner for the four-minute man-advantage.

Mistakes continued to plague the Phantoms through the third period, but did not prove costly on the scoreboard. Midway through the period, Pascal Laberge was whistled for a questionable tripping minor which put the Bears on the powerplay for the fifth time, but yet again, Lyon and the PK unit rose to the occasion and kept the Bears from adding to their lead.

Despite a late period man-advantage, the Phantoms were kept off the scoreboard for Milner’s first AHL shutout of the season.

Lehigh Valley ended the period with nine shots on goal for a three-period total of 19. The Bears ended the period with seven shots on goal for a three-period total of 38. Both teams went 0-for-5 on the PP.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

6:21: HER - (PP) McCarthy, minor (slashing) 13:41: LV - (PP) Kase, minor (slashing) 15:47: HER - (PP) Pilon, minor (goaltender interference) 19:04: LV - (PP) Wotherspoon, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

3:46: HER - Snively (9) - Sgarbossa 6:44: LV - (PP) Fitzgerald, minor (interference) 9:46: LV - (PP) Ratcliffe, minor (tripping) 14:41: HER - Pilon (6) - Nardella 17:53: HER - Snively, minor (cross-checking) 17:53: LV - Friedman, minor (kneeing) 19:55: HER - Pinho (6) - Hobbs, Nardella

3rd Period

1:53: HER - (PP) Clark, double-minor (high-sticking) 9:06: LV - (PP) Laberge, minor (tripping) 14:47: HER - (PP) Clark, minor (high-sticking)

BOXSCORE

Hershey  0 - 3 - 0 = 3 Lehigh Valley  0 - 0 - 0 = 0

Shots

Hershey  15 - 16 - 7 = 38 Lehigh Valley  6 - 4 - 9 = 19

Goalies

HER: Parker Milner (19 saves - 19 shots) LV: Alex Lyon (35 saves - 38 shots)

Power Play

HER: 0-for-5 LV: 0-for-5

Penalty Kill

HER: 5-for-5 LV: 5-for-5