GAMEDAY: Game 38 - Lehigh Valley (20-14-3) at Hershey (16-20-2) 7: p.m. ET
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HERSHEY, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (20-14-3) look to finish their three-in-three weekend on a positive note Sunday in Hershey (16-20-2) in a rematch of last night's Bears' shutout win.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Connor Bunnaman - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Carsen Twarynski - Mike Vecchione - Chris Conner Taylor Leier - Mikhail Vorobyev - Colin McDonaldTyrell Goulbourne - Steven Swavely - Mike Huntebrinker
T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Philip Samuelsson - Phil MyersZach Palmquist - Reece Willcox
Branden Komm - Alex Lyon
Scratches: James de Haas (healthy), Cole Bardreau (injured), German Rubtsov (injured - out for season), Alex Krushelnyski (healthy) and David Kase (injured)
GAME STORY
FIRST PERIOD
After a pair of losses to start the weekend - and a particularly sour effort last night at home against Hershey - just how the Phantoms would respond was anticipated by many.
Two goals against in the opening 1:19 of the contest had Lehigh Valley on their heels and in big trouble, down 2-0 on the road at the tail end of a three-in-three in what looked like was the beginning of another lifeless effort.
A much-needed power play directly after the Bears' second goal gave the Phantoms a chance to get back into the game. They didn't score on the power play, but seconds after the penalty expired Taylor Leier got the Phantoms on the board in an attempt to stop the bleeding - making it a 2-1 deficit at the 3:39 mark.
But from there, the Phantoms' struggles continued.
Hershey's Mike Sgarbossa made it three goals on four shots for the Bears 6:36 into the contest, effectively chasing Phantoms goalie Branden Komm (one save on four shots) from the game. It forced Alex Lyon - who played on both Friday and Saturday nights - into action for a third straight night.
Lyon wasn't eased into things either. The Phantoms took back-to-back penalties and things looked like they weren't going to get any better for Lehigh Valley. But, the Phantoms goalie took it upon himself to try to turn the game around. He made several ten-bell saves to keep Hershey from blowing the game open.
Two big penalty kills later and perhaps a change in momentum, the Phantoms got a power play of their own and Leier tallied his second of the contest - from his knees, backhanding a rebound of a Greg Carey shot from the circle. All of a sudden, a lifeless effort and destined to be blowout was a one-goal game.
SECOND PERIOD
After everything that went down in the first period, things settled down quite a bit in the middle frame.
Connor Bunnaman tied the game up at 3-3 under four minutes into the frame, after a Nicolas Aube-Kubel shot attempt was partially blocked and went right to Bunnaman at the net-front for a quick re-direct past Vanecek.
From there, the end to end action continued - but it didn't produce another goal until the Phantoms were caught in transition with under six minutes left before the second intermission.
Juuso Ikonen took a pass from Maximilian Kammerer down the left wing into the Phantoms' defensive zone, pulled up in the bottom of the left-wing circle and fed a perfect cross ice pass to the top of the right-wing circle for Connor Hobbs. The Bears defender creeped in from the blue line, took the pass and fired a shot past Lyon to give Hershey the lead back at 4-3.
THIRD PERIOD
Hershey extended their lead to 5-3 in the opening two minutes of the final frame, after Alex Lyon attempted a poke at a loose puck below the left-wing circle and Brian Pinho got to it - sliding one under Lyon's pads 1:57 into the period to restore the home team's two-goal lead.
A bizarre sequence near the midway mark saw Bears forward Shane Gerisch two-hand chop Mark Friedman in the leg, sending the Phantoms' defender to the ice and unable to put weight on his leg as headed to the locker room with trainer. A penalty was called on the play, but it was assessed to Friedman for diving/embellishment. He wasn't able to serve the penalty because he was injured, so Mike Huntebrinker served the penalty.
It's no secret that Friedman draws penalties in bunches, but to be called for embellishment on a play where said player is actually injured and needs medical attention is ludicrous. Friedman missing time after his penalty had expired in a 5-3 game midway through the third period wouldn't be a wise move if he was still "embellishing." He later returned and was able to finish the game - missing several shifts and forcing the Phantoms to rotate five defensemen for about five minutes of game time.
The Phantoms pulled the goalie and inched to within a goal with 1:26 left to play on Mike Vecchione's 9th of the season - a rebound attempt in a scrum around the net - but it's as close as the Phantoms would get as the slow start in the first period did them in.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
0:37: HER - Walker (9) - Leach, Sproul 1:19: HER - O'Brien (13) - Barber, Lewington 1:33: HER - (PP) Ness, minor (hooking) 3:39: LV - Leier (8) - Friedman, Brennan 6:36: HER - Sgarbossa (17) - Barber, Gerisch 7:19: LV - (PP) Willcox, minor (holding) 9:54: LV - (PP) Palmquist, minor (hooking) 13:42: HER - (PP) Gustafsson, minor (slashing) 12:13: LV - PPG Leier (9) - Carey, Brennan 14:25: HER - (PP) O'Brien, minor (hooking)
2nd Period
3:48: LV - Bunnaman (9) - Aube-Kubel 6:24: LV - Huntebrinker, minor (roughing) 6:24: HER - Gerisch, minor (roughing) 14:29: HER - Hobbs (2) - Ikonen, Kammerer
3rd Period
1:57: HER - Pinho (3) - Hobbs, Megna 5:03: HER - (PP) Ness, minor (holding) 9:40: LV - (PP) Friedman, minor (diving/embellishment) 18:34: LV - Vecchione (9) - Leier, Carey
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 2 - 1 - 1 = 4 Hershey Bears 3 - 1 - 1 = 5
Shots
Lehigh Valley 12 - 7 - 8 = 27 Hershey Bears 9 - 8 - 7 = 24
Goalies
LV: Branden Komm (1 saves - 4 shots in 6:36) and Alex Lyon (18 saves - 20 shots in 51:00) HER: Vitek Vanecek (23 saves - 27 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-4 HER: 0-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 3-for-3 HER: 3-for-4
Attendance: 8,986
