LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa – Another sellout crowd at the PPL Center was treated to an amazing performance from their Phantoms on Friday night, who outshot the Hershey Bears 45 to 21 and 27 to 1 in just the third period alone in a losing effort. The Phantoms would be down by two goals twice in this contest and rally back both times, but ultimately come up short in a 4-3 loss.
In what was an uneventful first period which the only notes on the score sheet are that both teams number 25s, Nick Cousins for LV and Connor Carrick for Hershey, sat in the penalty box for slashes, the Phantoms would set the tone. The first being the only period they were outshot by the Bears (10-8) would not show the actual tilt of the ice like the other two periods would. Lehigh Valley had the better of the chances in the first, but it would ultimately be Hershey who would strike first in the second.
As uneventful as the first period was, the second would be just as exciting. The teams would trade burst of two goals, and it would all start less than two minutes in. A point to point play that would see Carrick fling a puck to the net is what would get the ball rolling. The puck would be blocked off by Sam Morin and sit in the slot, a
nd Travis Boyd would kick it up to known Phantom killer Chris Bourque, who slide the puck through Jason LaBarberas five-hole to give Hershey a 1-0 lead. It would take almost six minutes for another goal to be scored, the longest time between goals in the period, but it would be Hershey again on a very weird, puck luck type of bounce. Paul Carey would skate to thed top of the near side circle and slide a pass cross ice to Carter Camper, who one timed a shot a LaBarbera. The puck would pop up in the air over LaBarbera and land at the other side of the crease where Tyler Lewington was waiting to deposit the puck in the empty net. Despite having the better of the chances, approaching the mid-way point of the game the Phantoms were trailing 2-0, but that’s when the puck luck started to go their way. Just a minute and 59 seconds after lewington put Hershey up by two, Nick Cousins would answer back with a lucky play of his own. A little wrist shot pass from out of the corner from Defenseman Mark Alt would be tipped in from in front of the net by Cousins to cut the lead in half. Cousins, who with that goal has 32 points in 32 games in showing why he’s deserving of his All-Star game nod. Less than a minute after Cousins extended his point per game streak, Chris Conner, a former Bear, would tie the game. A
puck that hopped up over the Hershey net sat in just the right spot for Cole Bardreau to tap a pass 
to the front where Conner was waiting. Conner found a hole between Justin Peters pad and the post to tie the game at two, but the tie wouldn’t last long. Just two minutes later Carrick would skate down below the goal line and pull off the Washington Capitals organizations signature play, a behind the back below the goal line centering pass for an easy tap in goal. The benefactor of the play this time would be Liam O’Brien to give the Bears back the lead going into the third. A third period that would be dominated by the Phantoms.
The Phantoms would out shoot Hershey by a whopping 27-1, but only connect on one of their shots. However, Hersheys one shot in the period would be a goal. At the 14:23 mark of the third, the Bears would put their lead back up to two on a goal from Dustin Gazley. Chris Brown would skate around the Phantoms net and see Gazley standing below the far side circle. Brown would slide the puck to Gazley, who would snap a shot to the far side corner above LaBarbera to reestablish the two goal lead. The rest of the period would see Bears goalie Justin Peters get peppered with shot after shot, but he stayed cool and collected and stopped everything he saw. Coming toward the end of the period, he would let an easy one go through simply because he did not see it. Phantoms captain Colin McDonald would just step between the circles and tap a puck through traffic that would find the back off the net behind Peters at the 17 minute mark to pull Lehigh Valley within one and set up the tone for the last three minutes of the game. Chance after chance from Phantoms sticks would test Peters, and, with 19 seconds left, the Phantoms would get a power play to try to tie the game.
Unfortunately for the Lehigh Valley, the game would end with them leaving the ice after their fourth straight loss, and with no time to waste on the weekend either. Another
three-in-three was looming for the Phantoms, as they play Hartford at home on Saturday and head to Bridgeport on Sunday. As hot as the Phantoms looked a month ago, their offense has started to cool off and the teams slump is showing just that. Not for lack of chances, however, just lack of finish. When you put up 45 shots in one night, you’re hoping to leave the building, especially your own, with a win. On Friday night, that was not the case for the Phantoms, and they’ll look to right that wrong on Saturday.
All photos by Steve.Rusyn@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.