The Hershey Bears and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms are set to collide in the Atlantic Division Semifinals. It marks the sixth time the two teams have met in their storied histories. Hershey begins their postseason after earning a bye from the first round as the top seeded team in the league. Lehigh Valley finished sixth in their division and upset the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in two games.
Regular Season Series Recap
Hershey took the regular season series between the two teams with a record of 8-2-0-2 over 12 games. Four of those games went beyond regulation, with a fifth decided by one goal. Hershey’s Pierrick DubĂ© led all skaters in scoring with eight points (six goals, two assists) in 11 games played. Lehigh Valley’s Cooper Marody led his team in the season series with six points (two goals, four assists) in 10 games.
Among the highlights in the regular season, the teams dueled in Hershey’s Teddy Bear Toss on January 7. The Bears made a remarkable comeback with Alex Limoges tallying in overtime for a 3-2 win. Former Phantom Mike Vecchione leads the regular season series in goals with four. He tallied the goal in overtime in Game Seven of the Calder Cup Finals last time Hershey played postseason hockey.
Series Schedule
The series gets underway with the first two games at the Giant Center in Hershey. Game One kicks off at 7:00 PM EST on Wednesday, May 1 with Game Two at the same time on Saturday, May 4. The series shifts to Allentown on Wednesday, May 8 for Game Three. If necessary, the teams would be back for Game Four on Saturday, May 11. One game could decide it all, if necessary, on Sunday, May 12 back in Hershey.
Bears, Phantoms Go Way Back
The two teams became instant rivals when the Phantoms joined the AHL in 1996. It started when the Philadelphia Flyers moved into the new Wells Fargo Center (then the CoreStates Center). With their previous home, the Spectrum, suddenly without a tenant, the Flyers created an AHL team in their backyard. The team losing their affiliate as part of the deal was the Hershey Bears.
Both teams won playoff series against each other on their way to Calder Cups in 1997 and 1998. They’d face off in two other playoff series in 2000 and 2009, both won by Hershey. When the Spectrum was torn down in 2009, the Phantoms briefly set up shop in New York as the Adirondack Phantoms. In 2014, the PPL Center was complete, and the Phantoms moved back to Pennsylvania.
Since then, the two teams have only met up once in the playoffs. Back in 2017, the visiting team won every game of the five-game series. Nathan Walker and Chris Conner had overtime goals for both teams on the way to a decisive Game Five. Colby Williams had the game-winning goal to lift the Bears to a 3-2 decision in the game and the series.
Full Power
Both teams feature bolstered lineups from their NHL affiliates. The Flyers assigned Ronnie Attard, Bobby Brink, Adam Ginning, and Olle Lycksell after their season ended. All four players chipped in points during the team’s first round series against Wilkes-Barre. Many of the Phantoms’ top scorers in that series played in Philadelphia at some point in the season. With the Flyers’ top brass in attendance in the series, it never hurts to impress.
Meanwhile, Hershey is set to gain a lot of reinforcements after the end of the Washington Capitals’ season. The Caps have six players eligible to return to the Bears, including a lot of their defensive group. Dylan McIlrath, Lucas Johansen, Vincent Iorio, and Hardy Haman Aktell all spent significant time on Hershey’s blue line this season. Adding Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko up front should only bolster what’s been a lethal forward group. Lapierre tallied his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal on Sunday in memorable fashion.
The Path to Victory
It will take all the Phantoms have to steal a win in this series. Lehigh Valley will likely need some clutch performances and finding some goals in the greasy areas around the crease. Those battles led to penalties drawn and precious energy used. Winning in a five-game series will be difficult, but imposing their will early and capitalizing on their momentum will be key. Cal Petersen will need to be excellent in goal in order to make that happen. Anything subpar will not be enough to advance.
For Hershey, it’ll be all about picking up right where they left off. The Bears were able to handle the Phantoms in the regular season series. It’ll be a good test of the team’s character, with the Bears jumping in cold after a bye in the first round. The break served the team well, but the challenge will be to jump straight into action and keep their foot on the gas. Hunter Shepard will need to be at his MVP status early and often in this series.
