Phantoms Drop Heartbreaker at Hershey
Avon and Wisdom Score Their First of the Season
December 8, 2024
Hershey, PA – For a second consecutive night the Phantoms probably deserved a better outcome against the Hershey Bears. But after largely dominating through the third period in a 4-4 deadlock it would be the Hershey Bears to prevail late yet again as Ethen Frank’s second goal of the game with just 3:07 left would vault the defending Calder Cup Champs into the W column.
Lehigh Valley (9-8-5) was on the comeback trail again after falling behind 4-2 in the second period when back-to-back goals by Rhett Gardner (4th) and Alexis Gendron (6th) pulled the Phantoms to even and gave them all the momentum. But somehow Hunter Shepard and the Bears hung on and eventually found a way. The Phantoms had initially taken a 2-1 lead in the first period with a pair of Phantoms contributing their first goals of the season on markers by J.R. Avon and Zayde Wisdom who blasted home the second shorthanded goal of the weekend. Anthony Richard notched a season-high three assists.
Hershey (17-5-3) made it happen with AHL-leading goal scorer Ethen Frank whose 17th and 18th goals of the season put him all alone in the top spot again. Bogdan Trineyev (6th) and former Phantom Mike Vecchione (5th) also scored for the Bears.
Trineyev pushed it home from Henrik Rybinski at 3:26 into the game with the team’s first shorthanded goal of the season burying a 2-on-1 past starting goaltender Parker Gahagen.
But Lehigh Valley battled back. First, it was J.R. Avon at the net-front digging and pushing home a feed from Richard at 9:13. The Bears contended goaltenders’ interference but Avon’s first of the 2024-25 campaign stood after a lengthy review.
Sawyer Boulton came off the bench to defend a teammate and delivered some quick punches on former Phantom Brennan Saulnier but found himself out of the game immediately thereafter with a game misconduct. Hershey was granted a five-minute power play.
But it was Lehigh Valley to take advantage while a man down to score a shorthanded goal for a second consecutive night. The Phantoms rushed forward with a 2-on-1 as Brendan Furry connected across to Wisdom from the left of the cage who went past Shepard to the other side of the net for his first of the season at 13:37 putting the Phantoms ahead 2-1.
The Phantoms were building momentum on the five-minute penalty kill while maintaining the lead but the Bears finally broke through with only nine seconds remaining on the lengthy power play when Vecchione tapped home a rebound at the right side in the blue paint off a Pierrick Dube drive.
Hershey broke the 2-2 deadlock early in the second period with Luke Philp (3rd) striking on the rush past the glove of Gahagen at 4:41 to put the Bears back in front at 3-2. Frank connected from longer range at 14:49 to boost the lead to 4-2 but the Phantoms put their comeback hats on again.
Gardner got to the net-front to deflect a center-point shot from Avon through the five-hole of Shepard at 16:10 to pull Lehigh Valley back to within a goal. Next came Lehigh Valley’s turn on a five-minute major when Spencer Smallman was assessed a game misconduct for cross-checking during a scrum in front of Gahagen.
Olle Lycksell found Gendron at the top of the left circle who knocked the puck into position with his skate before snapping home the equalizer to the upper-right corner past Shepard’s glove at 18:08 to even the score again at 4-4.
The Phantoms kept the pressure up in the third period beginning with the carry-over power play from the end of the second. The Bears were having difficulties finding exits or creating anything while Lehigh Valley kept them in trouble. But deflected passes and shots held the Phantoms away and then Shepard made the big saves when they needed him to.
Hershey stunningly broke through with 3:07 left when Frank was left open in the high slot after the Bears knock the puck into the left-wing corner. Frank’s snipe past relief goaltender Cal Petersen to the upper-right corner was his seventh goal in the last seven games and his 18th of the season, most in the AHL. More importantly, it gave Hershey a 5-4 lead and Lehigh Valley ran out of time trying to find another answer as the Bears hung on to complete the weekend series sweep.
The Phantoms are 2-2-1 against Hershey this season. The two teams just concluded a busy rivalry stretch in which they saw each other four times in 22 days. The Phantoms will return to Chocolatetown on January 7.
After a pair of strong games against the top team in the conference, the Phantoms look to keep it going as their road trip continues on Tuesday at 6:00 at the Toronto Marlies.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st 3:26 – HER, B. Trineyev (6) (H. Rybinski, C. Priskie) (SH) (0-1)
1st 9:13 – LV, J. Avon (1) (A. Richard) (1-1)
1st 13:37 – LV, Z. Wisdom (1) (B. Furry, H. Grans) (SH) (2-1)
1st 15:38 – HER, M. Vecchione (5) (P. Dube, M. Sgarbossa) (PP) (2-2)
2nd 4:41 – HER, L. Philp (3) (P. Dube) (2-3)
2nd 14:49 – HER, E. Frank (17) (M. Sgarbossa, B. Saulnier) (2-4)
2nd 16:10 – LV, R. Gardner (4) (J. Avon, A. Richard) (3-4)
2nd 18:08 – LV, A. Gendron (6) (O. Lycksell, A. Richard) (PP) (4-4)
3rd 16:53 – HER, E. Frank (18) (4-5) (P. Dube, J. McDonald)
Shots:
LV 23 – HER 30
PP:
LV 1/4, HER 1/2
Goaltenders:
LV – P. Gahagen (ND) (14/18)
LV – C. Petersen (L) (4-6-2) (4/5)
HER – H. Shepard (W) (13-3-1) (26/30)
Records:
Lehigh Valley (9-8-5)
Hershey (17-5-3)
UPCOMING
Tuesday, December 10 (6:00) – Phantoms at Toronto Marlies
Thursday, December 12 (7:00) – Phantoms at Cleveland Monsters
Saturday, December 14 (7:30) – Phantoms at Cleveland Monsters
Wednesday, December 18 (7:05) – Providence Bruins at Phantoms – Pregame Happy Hour, $2 Draft Beers
Friday, December 20 (7:05) – Toronto Marlies at Phantoms – meLVin Youth Winter Knit Cap presented by Reilly Children’s Hospital
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