Bears lose on late goal in Lehigh Valley

Allentown, PA- Corban Knight’s goal with 2:18 to play in regulation time handed the Hershey Bears hockey team a heartbreaking 3-2 loss versus the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday night at the PPL Center. The loss snapped Hershey’s three-game winning streak.

Despite being outshot 11-5 in the opening period, Hershey took a 1-0 lead into the locker room through 20 minutes. Ryan Bourque scored his second goal of the season with 54 seconds to play in the first period. The Phantoms’ defense turned the puck over behind their net. Hershey’s Zach Sill tapped a pass to Bourque, and the forward rolled a shot through the legs of Lehigh Valley goaltender Anthony Stolarz to give Hershey the lead.

In the second period, the Phantoms took over the game, outshooting Hershey 17-8, and bolting out to a 2-1 lead. Travis Sanheim scored his ninth goal of the season just 1:30 into the period to tie the game. At 12:52, the Phantoms took the lead on a Scott Laughton goal. The Bears turned the puck over at the offensive zone blue line and Lehigh Valley skated up ice on an odd-man rush. Cole Bardreau found a streaking Laughton, and the forward beat Hershey netminder Pheonix Copley with a shot underneath the crossbar to pull the Phantoms ahead.

Hershey was able to even the score in the closing seconds of the second period. Paul Carey scored on the power play, beating Stolarz through the legs with a wrist shot. Travis Boyd’s rush up the ice resulted in Carey getting lost in coverage. Boyd found Carey open on the left wing, and the forward struck for his 17th goal of the season at 19:56 to make it 2-2.

The third period was the most even portion of the game with each team firing eight shots on goal. However, the Phantoms last shot of the game proved to be the game-winning marker. The Bears failed to clear the puck out of their zone and Lehigh Valley’s Mark Zengerle capitalized on the turnover. He made a perfect pass to Knight on the left wing, and the forward one-timed a shot past Copley at 17:42 to make it 3-2.

Hershey was outshot 36-21 in the contest. The Bears were 1-for-3 on the power play while the Phantoms were 0-for-3.
With Hershey match report