Phantoms Lineup

Ryan Fitzgerald – Cal O’Reilly – Zayde Wisdom

Max Willman – Tanner Laczynski – Wade Allison

Garrett Wilson – David Kase – Tyson Foerster

Isaac Ratcliffe – Chris Mueller – Ralph Cuddemi

Egor Zamula – Logan Day

Tyler Wotherspoon – Derrick Pouliot

Samuel Morin – Chris Bigras

Alex Lyon – Zane McIntyre

Eamon McAdam, Linus Hogberg, Tanner MacMaster, Mason Millman, Maksim Sushko, Matthew Strome, Linus Sandin, Brennan Saulnier, Wyatte Wylie, Pascal Laberge

Kirill Ustimenko (hip surgery), Wyatte Wylie (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

After an exciting overtime win on Sunday when they hosted the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Phantoms were back on home ice tonight to welcome their other state rivals: the Hershey Bears. Chris Bigras made his return to the lineup from injury, and Samuel Morin and Garrett Wilson also drew back in.

The big change for the Phantoms came in the crease, where Alex Lyon got the start after being sent down by Philadelphia for conditioning. This season, Lyon has only played one period worth of hockey in the game against Binghamton two weeks ago which was suspended after 20 minutes of play.

First Period

Although there was no scoring to report on in the opening period, it was a good 20 minutes of play for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. They came out with a quick pace, high energy, and a strong forecheck which put the Bears a bit on their heels.

Hershey was chasing the game so much in the period, that they committed quite a few errors which put them in the penalty box (three times) and even awarded Egor Zamula with a penalty shot, which he missed.

The Phantoms weren’t able to convert any of their man advantage opportunities, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Logan Day, who recently signed an AHL contract extension with Lehigh Valley, had Bears netminder Phoenix Copley down with an open net but rang the puck off the crossbar.

On another power play, Wade Allison found iron on a scoring chance of his own. If it had connected, it would have been the rookie’s third goal in as many career pro games.

Speaking of rookies, they got plenty of work on special teams, with Scott Gordon relying on Allison, Tyson Foerster, Tanner Laczynski, and Zamula quite a bit.

Second Period

The pendulum swung in the complete opposite direction for the second period, as the Phantoms made some costly mistakes and dug themselves a deep hole. It started with Lehigh Valley successfully killing off a David Kase interference penalty, but on their next power play chance it was Hershey who lit the lamp shorthanded. Shane Gersich took advantage of a blueline turnover by the Phantoms to go top shelf on Lyon.

Next, a point shot by Paul LaDue appeared to have been knocked in by a high stick, but the officials saw things differently and allowed the goal. The Lehigh Valley bench was irate at the call, particularly when moments later Tyler Wotherspoon was sent to the box on a high-sticking call. Hershey potted a power play goal as a result and, with his team down 3-0, Garrett Wilson then dropped the gloves with Kale Kessy to try and spark something.

Defensive breakdowns proved costly again just minutes later when, after Morin effectively worked his coverage along the wall, Linus Sandin lost his man a bit and wasn’t able to tie up Brian Pinho‘s stick before the Bears forward potted a fourth goal for Hershey.

Things were looking pretty dire for Lehigh Valley as the minutes ticked down toward intermission, but a fifth power play opportunity presented itself 96 seconds before the horn sounded. The Phantoms repeatedly throughout this game had prime scoring chances that just wouldn’t get in the net, including on this power play, but with just two seconds on the clock Derrick Pouliot dished the puck in front to Ryan Fitzgerald who quickly shot it through Copley.

Third Period

Hershey added to their tally early in the final frame when Matt Moulson scored on another Phantoms defensive breakdown. To their credit, the Phantoms kept pushing and were finally rewarded on the power play when Pouliot fired a point shot on net and Zayde Wisdom deflected it past Copley.

Gordon took an aggressive approach to hopefully build on that momentum and pulled Lyon with about five minutes left in the game. Despite a six-on-five advantage for that length of time, the Phantoms just couldn’t get anything through to the net and the Bears capped off the night with an empty-netter.

What’s Next?

Zamula left the game early with an apparent injury, but Gordon told media after the game that he hadn’t yet consulted with the trainer for an update on the defenseman’s status. It also sounded like Lyon could potentially start again this week for the Phantoms when he told reporters, “See you on Friday!” as he left the press call.

You can hear full audio of post-game interviews conducted by our AHL Report team and other members of the media below. Scroll down to hear from Lyon, Pouliot, and Gordon.

Plus / Minus

▲  Tyson Foerster, Derrick Pouliot, Samuel Morin

▼  Linus Sandin, Logan Day