GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Lehigh Valley (6-2-4) at Hershey (6-5-3) 11/10/19

HERSHEY, Pa. -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (6-2-4) finish the weekend with the second of a back-to-back against Atlantic Division rival Hershey Bears (6-5-3). Sunday's puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Line rushes in warmup:

Maksim Sushko - Morgan Frost - David Kase Greg Carey - Cal O'Reilly - Kyle Criscuolo Mikhail Vorobyev - German Rubtsov - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Isaac Ratcliffe - Gerry Fitzgerald - Kurtis Gabriel

T.J. Brennan - Andy Welinski Tyler Wotherspoon - Reece Willcox James de Haas - Nate Prosser

J-F Berube - Alex Lyon

Scratches: Sam Morin (out for season), Matthew Strome, Mark Friedman (injured), Connor Bunnaman (injured) and Chris Bigras

GAME STORY

1st Period

Christian Djoos rang the opening shot attempt of the evening off the left post for Hershey, but they didn't record their first shot on goal until there was over eight and a half minutes gone in the first frame.

The Bears, playing their third game in as many nights, were looking to weather the storm in the opening minutes.

Lehigh Valley tried to push the pace in the early going, but were unable to find the back of the net - instead putting themselves shorthanded when Tyler Wotherspoon was whistled for a tripping minor in the defensive at the 8:51 mark.

Hershey didn't tally on the ensuing man advantage, but it seemed to give them momentum. They had several extended shifts in the offensive zone, and if not for some timely saves by J-F Berube the period might have played out much differently.

Later in the period, it was the Phantoms getting on the scoreboard in quick transition after Hershey seemed to have a cycle started in the Phantoms' defensive zone.

Reece Willcox forced a Bears forward out of the corner and nudged the puck ahead to Greg Carey, who started a 3-on-2 rush up ice. Credit Cal O'Reilly with a center drive that opened a lane for Carey to fling an area pass to the far side for an open Kyle Criscuolo redirect in behind Vitek Vanecek to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead with 5:28 left before the first intermission. Criscuolo has had all four of his goals on the season come in the team's last five games.

2nd Period

The Bears had gone 10 straight games without scoring a power play goal, but that changed in the middle frame after a slashing minor by T.J. Brennan put the Phantoms shorthanded just 3:11 into the period.

Hershey made quick work of the ensuing man advantage, tying the game at 1-1 on Philippe Maillet's second of the season.

It seemed like Lehigh Valley was having trouble getting their game going offensively, being out shot by a Bears team playing their third game on the weekend compared to the Phantoms playing in their second game of the weekend.

Things changed late in the period after a failed breakout attempt by Martin Fehervary was picked up by David Kase and quickly flipped to Maksim Sushko for an odd-man chance with Morgan Frost.  Sushko centered to Frost, who went five-hole on Vanecek to put the Phantoms back in front by a 2-1 score with 5:28 remaining before the second intermission.

The Phantoms had a chance in the final 2:29 of the period to grab an insurance marker heading to the third but were unsuccessful on their first power play chance of the night.

Through the opening 40 minutes, the play was pretty even. Lehigh Valley headed to the third with a 2-1 lead.

3rd Period

Typically at the end of the week, the third period of a Sunday game can be sloppy and slow - especially when a team is in their third game of the weekend. That wasn't really the case Sunday at Giant Center.

Trailing 2-1 entering the period, Hershey was able to kill off an early-period penalty and force the Phantoms into penalty trouble - getting a 5-second stint on 5-on-3 toward the middle of the period.

Luckily for Lehigh Valley, Berube came up with some big time stops to keep his team ahead as the period was winding down.

Credit to the Bears for not quitting on the night, and they were able to tie things up at 2-2 with 2:44 left in regulation on a goal from Steve Whitney.

Liam O'Brien had a solid effort on a chip and chase, eluding T.J. Brennan and setting up a quick passing play behind the net to former Phantoms forward Chris McCarthy who quickly shuffled it in front for a quick shot by Whitney that got past Berube.

Overtime

Not one, but two penalties called in overtime after three minors were called in the opening 40 minutes.

Surprisingly, it didn't help either team end the game without a skills competition - though the Phantoms' power play chance came in the final 35 seconds of the extra session.

In the shootout, the Phantoms couldn't get one past Vanecek and despite a heroic effort from J-F Berube the Bears were able to get the shootout win on a nice move from Mike Sgarbossa.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

8:51: LV - (PP) Wotherspoon, minor (tripping) 14:32: LV - Criscuolo (4) - Carey, Willcox

2nd Period

3:11: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (slashing) 3:42: HER - PPG Maillet (2) - Moulson, Fehervary 12:24: LV - Frost (5) - Sushko, Kase 17:31: HER - (PP) O'Brien, minor (holding)

3rd Period

4:58: HER - (PP) Gersich, minor (tripping) 7:57: LV - (PP) Wotherspoon, minor (hooking) 9:52: LV - (PP) Sushko, minor (hooking) 17:16: HER - Whitney (2) - McCarthy, O'Brien

Overtime

1:51: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (hooking) 4:25: HER - (PP) Maillet, minor (holding)

Shootout

LV

Frost - no goal Criscuolo - no goal Vorobyev - no goal Carey - no goal

HER

Moulson - no goal Maillet - no goal Djoos - no goal Sgarbossa - GOAL

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley  1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 = 2 Hershey  0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 1 = 3

Shots

Lehigh Valley  7 - 11 - 7 - 2 = 27 Hershey  10 - 12 - 13 - 2 = 38

Goalies

LV: J-F Berube (21 saves - 22 shots) HER: Vitek Vanecek (16 saves - 18 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-3 HER: 1-for-5

Penalty Kill

LV: 4-for-5 HER: 3-for-3