PREVIEW: Phantoms at Bears, Game #22

Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-7-5) vs. Hershey Bears (16-5-3)
GIANT Center, Hershey, PA
Sunday, December 8, 2024 (5:00 p.m.) – Game #22

TONIGHT – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-7-5) open a four-game road swing this week as they rematch with the Hershey Bears, this time in Chocolatetown.

Lehigh Valley has points in five of the last six games (3-1-2) but has also gone winless in two straight. First-place Hershey has put together a two-game win streak and has points in eight of its last nine (5-2-2).

The Phantoms are 2-1-1 against the two-time defending Calder Cup Champions and are also 1-0-0 at GIANT Center entering Game 5 out of 10 in the rivalry series. This is the fourth meeting in 22 days between the Phantoms and Bears.

LAST TIME – Jacob Gaucher brought thousands of raining teddy bears inside PPL Center to break a scoreless goaltenders’ duel with just 29.9 seconds left in the second period for the latest Teddy Bear Toss goal in team history. His shorthanded breakaway strike to the upper-right corner past Clay Stevenson was the team’s first shorthanded goal of the year. But the Hershey Bears had the last laugh with a late rally and 3-2 overtime win on Saturday night at PPL Center. Helge Grans gave the Phantoms a 2-1 lead with just 3:39 left. But a possible empty-net goal that could have sealed it was disallowed due to an offside giving the Bears an extra chance and they capitalized with a 6-on-5 tying goal with just 2.9 seconds left by Henrik Rybinski. Olle Lycksell had a clean breakaway in overtime but was denied by Clay Stevenson as Hershey once again stayed alive ultimately setting up Chase Priskie’s second overtime goal against the Phantoms in as many years. Cal Petersen (23 saves) was outstanding between the pipes with three breakaway saves and several other acrobatic denials.

MEDIA MATERIALS – Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for both teams and the AHL at the following link. https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/

TEDDY BEAR MANIA – Jacob Gaucher scored the latest Teddy Bear Toss goal in team history via a shorthanded breakaway with just 29.9 seconds remaining in the second period. Thousands of Teddy Bears rained onto the ice and in the annual and heartwarming chaos. The stuffed animals will be counted this week and will later be delivered to our friends at Valley Youth House in Bethlehem. Did our fans help us break last year’s Lehigh Valley record of 10,869 teddy bears? Judging by the eye test, it certainly appears possible!

Phantoms Teddy Bear Goal Scorer:
2014: Brett Hextall
2015: Andrew MacDonald
2016: Nic Aube-Kubel (:59 into the game)
2017: Matt Read
2018: Connor Bunnaman
2019: Chris Bigras
2021: Gerry Mayhew
2022: Cooper Marody
2023: Zayde Wisdom
2024: Jacob Gaucher

Teddy Bear Count:
2014: 1,728
2015: 2,773
2016: 4,125
2017: 4,970
2018: 7,148
2019: 10,091
2021: 6,593
2022: 8,480
2023: 10,869
2024: ????
Total: 56,677

HIGHWAY TO HELGE – The Flyers returned defenseman Helge Grans back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on December 3 where he has since put together a two-game goal streak. Grans, 22, was recalled to the Flyers on November 18 and played in six games during his first career NHL opportunity. Grans recorded one assist in his NHL debut on November 18 against Colorado. He has also played in 16 games for the Phantoms this season scoring three goals with two assists. Last year with the Phantoms, Grans played in 56 games scoring 1-7-8. He is in his fourth season in the AHL having played 187 career games with the Ontario (Cal.) Kings and Lehigh Valley Phantoms combined scoring 13-33-46.

TRANSACTIONS
Dec 2 – Helge Grans – Add – Returned to Phantoms from Flyers
Dec 6 – Swayer Boulton – Del – Loaned to Reading
Dec 6 – Sam Sedley – Del – Loaned to Reading
Dec 8 – Sawyer Boulton – Add – Recalled from Reading
Dec 8 – Sam Sedley – Add – Recalled from Reading
Dec 8 – Mason Primeau – Add – Recalled from Reading

PHANTASTIC – 

– The Phantoms have points in five of the last six games going 3-1-2.

– The Phantoms lead the AHL with 10 overtime games out of 21 games total. The Phantoms are 4-4 in overtime decisions and are 1-1 in shootouts. Lehigh Valley is second in overtime wins trailing only Cleveland (5).

– Lehigh Valley has played in 14 one-goal decisions out of its first 21 games going 7-2-5 in the squeakers. That’s tied for second in the AHL for most one-goal games along with Laval and trailing only Hershey (15). The Phantoms are 5-0-2 at home in one-goal games.

– Helge Grans is on a two-game goal streak

– Olle Lycksell leads the AHL with 84 shots on goal ahead of Pierrick Dube of Hershey who has 78 for second-most.

– Ethan Samson is second among AHL defensemen with 52 shots on goal

– 27-year-old veteran Anthony Richard has scored 2-2-4 in five games since returning to the Phantoms from the Philadelphia Flyers last week. The high-scoring impact player is approaching an impressive milestone of 500 career AHL games. Richard has played in 492 games with Milwaukee, Syracuse, Chicago, Laval, Providence and Lehigh Valley scoring 150 goals with 163 assists for 313 points. He also has played in 31 career NHL games including seven games with the Flyers in his November call-up scoring two goals with four assists.

HEY THERE, HERSHEY – First-place Hershey (16-5-3) got momentum rolling again with a 6-1 thrashing of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday and kept it up with a late, dramatic rally at the Phantoms in a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday. The Phantoms are 2-1-1 against the Bears and prevailed 2-1 at GIANT Center on October 30 in their lone visit to Chocolatetown via goals by Helge Grans and Jacob Gaucher.

Ethen Frank (16-7-23) had a five-game goal streak snapped on Friday and continues to lead the AHL in goals and is sixth in points. The third-year pro from Western Michigan has scored 75 career goals in the AHL but has yet to play in any NHL games. Penn State product Alex Limoges (6-12-18) and veteran Mike Sgarbossa (2-17-19) are also among the returnees leading the offense for third-year head coach Todd Nelson who has back-to-back Calder Cup titles to his credit with the Chocolate and White. The incredibly appropriately named Ethan Bear (5-8-13) helps shore up Hershey’s stingy defense and scored a winning goal at PPL Center on November 16 breaking a 3-3 tie in the third period and also started Hershey’s December 7 comeback at PPL Center with a third-period goal. Bear brings 275 career NHL games to the table including stints with Edmonton, Carolina, Vancouver and Washington.

No fewer than five former Phantoms are on Hershey’s roster including Calder Cup overtime clinching goal scorers Mike Vecchione (2023) and Matt Strome (2024) as well as Logan Day, Brennan Saulnier and former Adirondack Phantoms center Garrett Roe who wore the Orange and Black from 2011-13 before the Phantoms had arrived in the Lehigh Valley in 2014. This weekend marks the third and fourth meetings between the two teams in a 22-day stretch. The Bears do not return to Allentown until April.

SCORING LEADERS
Lehigh Valley
Samu Tuomaala 8-12-20
Olle Lycksell 5-11-16
Anthony Richard 6-7-13
Jacob Gaucher 8-5-13
Ethan Samson 4-6-10
Oscar Eklind 4-6-10

Hershey
Ethen Frank 16-7-23
Alex Limoges 6-12-18
Mike Sgarbossa 2-17-19
Henrik Rybinski 6-11-17
Mike Vecchione 4-12-16

Special Teams:
Lehigh Valley – PP 20.6%, 7th / PK 83.5%, 14th / PP vs.HER 0-9
Hershey – PP 21.6%, 4th / PK 84.1%, 10th / PP vs. LV 1-14

SEASON SERIES
Oct 30 – Win – Lehigh Valley 2 at Hershey 1
Nov 16 – Loss – Hershey 6 at Lehigh Valley 3
Nov 29 – Win – Hershey 1 at Lehigh Valley 2 (OT)
Dec 7 at Lehigh Valley – OTL – Hershey 3 at Lehigh Valley 2 (OT)
Dec 8 at Hershey
Jan 7 at Hershey
Mar 2 at Hershey
Apr 4 at Lehigh Valley
Apr 12 at Lehigh Valley
Apr 19 at Hershey

SERIES LEADERS
Lehigh Valley
Olle Lycksell 2-2-4
Samu Tuomaala 1-2-3
Jacob Gaucher 2-0-2
Cal Petersen 2-1-1, 1.97, .933

Hershey
Spencer Smallman 0-4-4
Ethan Bear 2-1-3
Mike Vecchione 1-2-3
Clay Stevenson 1-0-1, 1.95, .928
Hunter Shepard 1-1-0, 2.55, .900

COMING UP –  The Phantoms road-swing continues with a Tuesday excursion to the Toronto Marlies and then a pair of games at the North Division-leading Cleveland Monsters. Lehigh Valley’s next home games are Wednesday, December 18 against the Providence Bruins and Friday, December 20 against the Toronto Marlies on meLVin Youth Knit Winter Cap Night for the kids in a game featuring holiday-style fun!

UPCOMING

Sunday, December 8 (5:00) – Phantoms at Hershey Bears

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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