LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa – Having been eliminated from playoff contention last weekend, you could forgive the Lehigh Valley Phantoms if there was a lack of motivation. Goaltender Rob Zepp would have none of it. Zepp was spectacular in making 39 saves as the Phantoms’ downed Hershey 4-1 Tuesday night at PPL Center. In the first period, it looked as though the Bears’ might rout Lehigh Valley as they have done so many times before in this season. They took up semi-permanent residence in the Phantoms zone, at times staying there for two and three minutes at a time. The 
Bears’ struck early at 4:14 on a goal by Jim O’Brien. O’Brien took a pass from behind the net from rookie Jakub Vrana, who was playing in his first professional game. O’Brien grabbed the puck in the slot and wristed it past Zepp. Dustin Gazley also got an assist on the play. The Phantoms pushed back to tie the game just 51 seconds into the middle frame. Defeseman Mark Alt, on the right wing, got the puck to Scott Laughton, who flubbed a puck on net, and it eluded Hershey goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Jason Akeson also got an assist on the goal. There was a scary moment midway through the period when Phantoms’ defenseman Steven Delisle caught a stick to the face at center ice. He eventually got to his feet and was assisted to the locker room. He did not return. In the third, the Phantoms peppered Grubauer and it paid off. At 6:41, Petr Straka got his first goal since February when he banged home a pass from a fake Kevin Goumas wraparound attempt. After that, a little bit of history. Jason Akeson buried a Scott Laughton drop-pass from the near side faceoff dot over the shoulder of Hershey’s netminder. With the goal, Akeson tied Paul Healy and Jonathan Matsumoto for fifth on the teams’ all-time goal list with 81. Lehigh Valley closed out the scoring with 55 seconds left on rookie forward Danick Martel’s first professional goal. Oliver Lauridsen cleared the puck from the defensive zone and Martel beat a Hershey defender to the other end. Tripped coming to the circles, Martel put the puck into the empty net from his stomach, sealing the victory for the home team. Notes: D Brandon Manning left in the middle of the first with back spasms. “Back spasms”, Murray said. “Nothing else. He’s coming back from playing in the NHL and it just tightened up on him. He gave a couple hits and took a couple hits along the boards. It just flared up on him.” They said it: Goumas, on being able to help spoil what looked to be a certain Hershey East Division Championship: “It feels good. Obviously, we don’t have much to play for. We can play against this team and spoil their hopes of home ice, it’s fun.” Terry Murray on Martel: “You know what? He had a pretty good game. I though he played well in the first game. Good speed, he digs in. He doesn’t go away from the heavy going, and he played well here tonight.” 3 Stars: 1) LV-Rob Zepp (39 saves) 2) LV-Scott Laughton (Goal and an assist) 3) LV-Kevin Goumas (Assist)
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