GAMEDAY: Game 52 - Lehigh Valley (27-19-5) at Hershey (27-20-3) 7:00 p.m. ET
HERSHEY, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-19-5) look to make it two wins in a row as they take on the Hershey Bears (27-20-3) in the first of a home-and-home series with their most-heated Atlantic Division rival.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes
Brian Elliott, who stopped 36 of 39 in his return to game action last night with the Phantoms, was given the night off. Branden Komm backed up Alex Lyon.
Sam Morin, also coming off his first game action after a lengthy absence, was given the night off as well. Morin expects to be back in the Phantoms' lineup Sunday.
The middle game of the 3-in-3 brought several lineup changes as guys rotate in and out. All four healthy scratches from Friday - Zach Palmquist, Phil Samuelsson, Jori Lehtera and Alex Krushelnyski - returned to the lineup Saturday.
Colin McDonald and Chris Conner served as the Phantoms' veteran scratches Saturday. Sam Morin and Reece Willcox were the other two healthy scratches.
Phantoms' Scratches: Brian Elliott (healthy), Sam Morin (healthy), Cole Bardreau (injured), Colin McDonald (veteran), German Rubtsov (injured), Chris Conner (veteran), Pascal Laberge (injured), David Kase (injured) and Reece Willcox (healthy)
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Corban Knight - Nicolas Aube-KubelTyrell Goulbourne - Byron Froese - Mike Vecchione Connor Bunnaman - Jori Lehtera - Alex Krushelnyski Carsen Twarynski - Steven Swavely - Mike Huntebrinker
Philip Samuelsson - Mark FriedmanDavid Schlemko - Zach Palmquist T.J. Brennan - James de Haas
Alex Lyon - Branden Komm
Hershey Bears Lineup
Liam O'Brien - Mike Sgarbossa - Riley Barber Shane Gerisch - Jayson Megna - Brian PinhoBeck Malenstyn - Garrett Pilon - Nathan Walker Steven Whitney - Hampus Gustafsson - Juuso Ikonen
Aaron Ness - Tyler LewingtonTobias Geisser - Ryan Sproul Lucas Johansen - Jonas Siegenthaler
Ilya Samsonov - Vitek Vanecek
GAME STORY
FIRST PERIOD
A high-energy opening period has an almost playoff-like feel to it inside a packed Giant Center.
A pair of penalties eight seconds apart on Hershey gave Lehigh Valley a golden opportunity, and they took full advantage.
Mike Vecchione got a puck back to T.J Brennan at the center point, and his blast was re-directed past Ilya Samsonov by Corban Knight for Knight's first goal of the season.
From there, the feisty Phantoms-Bears rivalry took center stage with none other than Mark Friedman drawing the ire of the opposition.
The Bears had their chances as the period wore on, but Alex Lyon stood tall - stopping all 10 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes to keep his team ahead 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
The hard-fought battle continued in the middle frame. There wasn't a lot of room out there for either team. Through the opening half of the period, the two teams combined for just six total shots on goal.
Back-to-back penalties on the Phantoms in the middle of the period gave Hershey some momentum, but not before Knight nearly set up Vecchione for a shorthanded goal. A timely save by Ilya Samsonov springboarded the Bears' attack the other way where seconds later they tied the game.
Aaron Ness got a pass over to the right wing for Riley Barber, who pulled up and sent a cross-ice feed to Mike Sgarbossa in the left-wing circle. Sgarbossa skated to the face-off dot before sniping one past Alex Lyon to the top shelf to even the game at 1-1 with 8:10 remaining before the second intermission.
An untimely penalty with less than two minutes left before the second intermission gave Hershey a chance to take the lead, and they didn't hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity.
Aaron Ness got the puck to the right-wing for Riley Barber, and Barber's shot from atop the circle was tipped past Lyon by Jayson Megna to give the Bears their first lead of the night heading to the third period with a 2-1 lead.'
THIRD PERIOD
An early period penalty for too many men, which head coach Kerry Huffman explained was incorrectly called, prevented the Phantoms from getting to the attack in hopes of tying the game up.
Instead, it was Hershey playing with the lead and making it difficult for the Phantoms to get much of anything going.
It wasn't until a power play opportunity with 3:09 left that the Phantoms found a way to tie up the game. And they needed every last second of that man advantage to do it.
Amidst a scramble, Greg Carey got a puck out of a jam at the net-front and got it to a wide open Corban Knight in the slot. Knight's initial shot was stopped by Samsonov, but a great second-effort by Knight saw the Phantoms' forward put the rebound home to tie the game at 2-2 with 69 seconds left to play in regulation.
OVERTIME
Thrill-a-minute hockey in the three-on-three, which didn't see its first whistle come until there was 58.7 seconds left in the 5-minute extra session.
It almost ended on the opening shift after Knight sprung Vecchione on a breakaway. Credit Samsonov with a big save to keep the game going.
The Bears proved victorious in the shootout, getting the lone goal in the breakaway competition to give Hershey the extra point in the standings.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
3:40: HER - (PP) Siegenthaler, minor (slashing) 3:48: HER - (PP) Lewington, minor (delay of game) 4:36: LV - PPG Knight (1) - Brennan, Vecchione 7:06: HER - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Ikonen) 14:01: LV - (PP) Vecchione, minor (hooking)
2nd Period
7:21: LV - (PP) Aube-Kubel, minor (boarding) 11:08: LV - (PP) Froese, minor (tripping) 11:50: HER - PPG Sgarbossa (22) - Barber, Ness 18:08: LV - (PP) Huntebrinker, minor (tripping) 18:42: HER - PPG Megna (12) - Barber, Ness
3rd Period
2:36: LV - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Huntebrinker) 14:14: LV - (PP) Lehtera, minor (tripping) 16:51: HER - (PP) O'Brien, minor (high-sticking) 18:51: LV - PPG Knight (2) - Carey
Overtime
No scoring/penalties
Shootout
HER
Barber - no goal Walker - no goal Sgarbossa - GOAL
LV
Knight - no goal Aube-Kubel - no goal Carey - no goal
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 = 2 Hershey Bears 0 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 = 3
Shots
Lehigh Valley 10 - 9 - 8 - 3 = 30 Hershey Bears 10 - 15 - 7 - 1 = 35
Goalies
LV: Alex Lyon (32 saves - 34 shots) HER: Ilya Samsonov (28 saves - 30 shots)
Power Play
LV: 2-for-4 HER: 2-for-6
Penalty Kill
LV: 4-for-6 HER: 2-for-4
Attendance: 10,587
