GAMEDAY: Game 53 - Hershey (28-20-3) at Lehigh Valley (27-19-6) 5:15 p.m. ET

ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-19-6) rematch the Hershey Bears (28-20-3) on home ice Sunday after falling in a shootout at Giant Center last night.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Brian Elliott got the start in net Sunday for Lehigh Valley, coming off a 36-save performance in a 4-3 win against Bridgeport Friday night. Alex Lyon, who played valiantly but took the loss in last night's shootout defeat, served as Elliott's backup.

Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)

Carsen Twarynski - Mikhail Vorobyev - Mike Vecchione Greg Carey - Connor Bunnaman - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Tyrell Goulbourne - Jori Lehtera - Colin McDonaldMike Huntebrinker - Steven Swavely - Alex Krushelnyski

T.J. Brennan - James de Haas David Schlemko - Mark FriedmanZach Palmquist - Philip Samuelsson

Brian Elliott - Alex Lyon

Phantoms' scratches: Sam Morin, Cole Bardreau (upper body), Corban Knight, German Rubtsov (shoulder surgery - out for season), Byron Froese (veteran), Chris Conner (veteran), David Kase (undisclosed) and Reece Willcox

GAME STORY

FIRST PERIOD

It took the Phantoms some time to find their legs, but they were able to open the scoring in their third game in as many days.

After a nice give-and-go between Colin McDonald and Tyrell Goulbourne through the neutral zone, McDonald took the puck down low in the left-wing and dropped a pass back to Jori Lehtera who, from the top of the circle, blasted a one-timer to the net. Vitek Vanecek made the initial save, but his defenseman in front accidentally kicked the puck under and behind Vanecek in the crease. Goulbourne, who headed to the net after the give-and-go with McDonald, was in good position to get the loose puck across the goal line before the Bears could recover.

From there, it became the Beck Malenstyn show. The Bears' forward tallied a pair of goals back-to-back before the period ended to give Hershey the 2-1 edge heading to the middle frame.

First, a D-to-D pass across the top of the zone from Connor Hobbs to Ryan Sproul at the left point opened up a shooting lane which Sproul took - blasting a hard and low shot on net that Malenstyn was able to re-direct from the slot past Brian Elliott to even the game at 1-1 with 6:08 left before the first intermission.

Less than three minutes later, Malenstyn took a pass from Garrett Pilon on the right wing and skated down to the circle before stopping and firing a shot past Elliott to the short side to give the Bears a 2-1 lead with 3:12 left in the opening period.

The Phantoms pressured in the final minute of the period, drawing a penalty and taking the full two-minutes of the man advantage into the middle frame, electing to let the remaining first period time expire before heading to the locker room trailing by one.

SECOND PERIOD

Things went downhill for the Phantoms in the middle frame, as the red-hot Hershey Bears continued to pour it on.

Mike Sgarbossa made it 3-1 Bears with a power play tally in the slot after a nice pass from Riley Barber got it into the middle for Sgarbossa to tally his 23rd of the season. Less than two minutes later, a long distance shot from Ryan Sproul eluded Brian Elliott and gave the Bears a commanding 4-1 lead.

With just 14 total shots on goal through 40 minutes despite having three power play opportunities - including back to back power plays in the middle of the period, the Phantoms knew they needed much more in the third period if they were to have any hopes of ending Hershey's impressive 14-game unbeaten streak.

THIRD PERIOD

The Phantoms came out hard to start the third period, and got one back 2:07 into the final frame to cut the deficit to 4-2.

After Greg Carey and Connor Bunnaman nearly connected for a tap-in goal, the Phantoms re-gained possession in the offensive zone and Philip Samuelsson got it back to Bunnaman. Nicolas Aube-Kubel ended up putting it home, getting his 11th of the season in his return to game action this weekend.

Mikhail Vorobyev made it a one-goal game on a snipe from down low in the left-wing at the bottom of the circle with 5:23 left, but that's as close as the Phantoms would get - dropping a 4-3 decision in regulation and allowing Hershey to extend their unbeaten streak to 15 games (14-0-0-1).

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

7:38: LV - Goulbourne (6) - Lehtera, McDonald 13:52: HER - Malenstyn (5) - Sproul, Hobbs 16:48: HER - Malenstyn (6) - Pilon, Sproul 20:00: HER - (PP) Siegenthaler, minor (cross-checking)

2nd Period

5:21: LV - (PP) Swavely, minor (hooking) 6:28: HER - PPG Sgarbossa (23) - Barber, Ness 8:20: HER - Sproul (7) - Megna, Pinho 11:10: HER - (PP) Johansen, minor (hooking) 14:31: HER - (PP) Lewington, minor (interference) 16:40: LV - (PP) Twarynski, minor (high-sticking) 17:20: LV - (PP) Lehtera, minor (delay of game - faceoff violation)

3rd Period

2:07: LV - Aube-Kubel (11) - Bunnaman, Samuelsson 12:55: HER - (PP) Siegenthaler, minor (tripping) 14:37: LV - PPG Vorobyev (7) - Twarynski, Aube-Kubel

BOXSCORE

Hershey  2 - 2 - 0 = 4 Lehigh Valley 1 - 0 - 2 = 3

Shots

Hershey  7 - 9 - 2 = 18 Lehigh Valley 7 - 7 - 13 = 27

Goalies

HER: Vitek Vanecek (24 saves - 27 shots) LV: Brian Elliott (14 saves - 18 shots)

Power Play

HER: 1-for-3 LV: 1-for-4

Penalty Kill

HER: 3-for-4 LV: 2-for-3

Attendance: 8,777