GAMEDAY: Game 29 - Lehigh Valley (16-9-3) at Hershey (12-16-2) 7:00 p.m. ET
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HERSHEY, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (16-9-3) face Hershey for the second time this week, their last before a three-day hiatus for the holidays.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes
Only one change from Friday's lineup, with Michael Huntebrinker replacing Alex Krushelnyski on the team's second line with Chris Conner and Mike Vecchione.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Connor Bunnaman - Nicolas Aube-KubelMichael Huntebrinker - Mike Vecchione - Chris Conner Taylor Leier - Mikhail Vorobyev - Carsen Twarynski Tyrell Goulbourne - Steven Swavely - Colin McDonald
T.J. Brennan - Mark FriedmanPhilip Samuelsson - Phil Myers Zach Palmquist - Reece Willcox
Alex Lyon - Brenden Komm
Scratches: James de Haas (healthy), Cole Bardreau (injured), German Rubtsov (injured - out for season) and Alex Krushelnyski (healthy)
Hershey Bears Lineup Notes
Bears' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Liam O-Brien - Mike Sgarbossa - Riley BarberNathan Walker - Jayson Megna - Steven Whitney Beck Malenstyn - Garrett Pilon - Grant Besse Mason Mitchell - Hampus Gustafsson - Juuso Ikonen
Cliff Watson - Aaron Ness Steve Johnson - Ryan SproulJoey Leach - Colby Williams
Ilya Samsonov - Vitek Vanecek
Scratches: Lucas Johansen, Connor Hobbs, Shane Gerisch, Maximilian Kammerer, Brian Pinho, Jake Linhart and Kris Bindulis
GAME STORY
FIRST PERIOD
The Phantoms were pinned in their own zone early and often in the opening five minutes or so, but a bad break for the Bears - literally - gave the Phantoms a momentum swing they needed.
Joey Leach took a shot from the center point, but his stick broke in half and the puck went right to Steven Swavely. Swavely quickly shuffled one up to Tyrell Goulbourne, and the winger flew up the left side before sniping one far side on Ilya Samsonov at 5:44 of the first period to give the Phantoms an early 1-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley was downright dominant from there. Besides a Nicolas Aube-Kubel minor, which was easily killed off, the Phantoms held the Bears without a shot on goal for a large chunk of the period. The Bears had just two shots on net entering the final seconds of the first frame.
As time was winding down, the Bears beat the buzzer when Riley Barber fired a shot from the slot over Alex Lyon's glove with 1.9 seconds left before the first intermission - sending the two teams to the first intermission deadlocked at 1-1
SECOND PERIOD
The late Hershey goal was initially thought to be a deflating goal against, but it didn't sway the Phantoms from getting right back to it in the middle frame.
Lehigh Valley broke the game open with a pair of goals just 48 seconds apart in the opening five minutes, rattling off the first five shots of the period and picking up where they left off in the opening period.
First, it was a big point blast from Zach Palmquist. Then, Tyrell Goulbourne picked up his second goal of the night on a deflection of a big shot from Phil Myers at the right point.
Just like that, it was a 3-1 game with all the momentum on the Phantoms' side.
Hershey started to get their chances in the second half of the period, but Alex Lyon was able to come with timely saves to keep the pressure on Hershey.
Carsen Twarynski continued his recent offensive surge, tallying his fourth goal in his last five games to make it 4-1 with 5:15 left before the second intermission.
Tempers flared in the waning moments of the period, with an obviously frustrated Bears team trying to stir things up to look for a spark.
THIRD PERIOD
It only got worse for Hershey in the third, as Taylor Leier tallied a pair of goals to turn the game into a blowout similar to Wednesday night.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
5:44: LV - Goulbourne (2) - Swavely 10:33: LV - (PP) Aube-Kubel, minor (boarding) 19:58: HER Barber - Sproul, Watson
2nd Period
4:17: LV - Palmquist (2) - Swavely, McDonald 5:05: LV - Goulbourne (3) - Myers, Bunnaman 14:45: LV - Twarynski (5) - Willcox
3rd Period
1:52: LV - (PP) Aube-Kubel, minor (slashing) 6:54: HER - (PP) Mitchell, minor (cross-checking) 9:03: LV - Leier (5) - Swavely, Goulbourne 11:25: LV - Leier (6) - Vorobyev 13:03: HER - (PP) Malenstyn, minor (tripping)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 3 - 2 = 6 Hershey Bears 1 - 0 - 0 = 1
Shots
Lehigh Valley 9 - 10 - 11 = 30 Hershey Bears 3 - 10 - 9 = 22
Goalies
LV: Alex Lyon (21 saves - 22 shots) HER: Ilya Samsonov (24 saves - 30 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-2 HER: 0-for-2
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-2 HER: 2-for-2
Attendance: 9,361
