The Hershey Bears and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms met up in Game Two of the Atlantic Division Semifinal. The Bears held off the Phantoms for a 2-1 win in the first game of the series. Taking the second game would be a strangle hold 2-0 in a best-of-five series. In the sequel, the Bears capitalized on their chances while Hunter Shepard turned aside 30 shots in a 5-1 win.
Frank Lights the Lamp
Bears head coach Todd Nelson shuffled his lines ahead of Game Two. Hershey’s bench boss rolled out new combinations on three of his four lines, and it paid off. Just under five minutes in, Joe Snively sprang Ethen Frank on a breakaway. The fastest man in hockey pulled the puck to his backhand and beat Cal Petersen to open the scoring.
Frank, who didn’t tally until the Calder Cup Finals a year ago, doubled his count only a few minutes later. Chase Priskie got the puck low to Snively, who was able to thread the needle to Frank on the other side. Frank slid the puck into the net and immediately pointed to Hershey’s leading point scorer in the regular season.
Phantoms Stay Alive
Lehigh Valley didn’t go away in this game, outshooting Hershey in all three periods and a 31-16 margin overall. The Phantoms cut the deficit to one late in the first period on Hunter McDonald’s first AHL goal. It’s a prototypical goal for Ian Laperriere’s squad, getting the puck low into the slot and finding the net through the chaos.
It’s been a whirlwind couple months for McDonald, who joined the Phantoms in late March. He joined the Phantoms after completing his season with Northeastern University. The defender was selected in the sixth round, 165th overall in 2022. He’s been a regular since his arrival and was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers to a two-year, entry level contract on April 15. For all their efforts, the Phantoms were within a goal after one period. Petersen did his part with a sweeping glove save on the goal line in the first period.
Bears Roar for More
The only line Nelson did not change was the checking line comprised of Matt Strome, Henrik Rybinski, and Bogdan Trineyev. Their fingerprints were all over this game, with the trio all factoring in on Rybinski’s second goal in as many games. This time, Rybinski made a big play to maintain possession in the offensive zone. Trineyev would take the shot, and Rybinski deflected it past Petersen.
Hershey was only credited with five shots on goal in the second period but made them count. After neither team was awarded a power play in the duration of Game One, Hershey had seven opportunities a man up. They’d cash in once with a perfect passing play to Alex Limoges to deflect to the back of the net.
Despite the lopsided shot count, the Bears did their part to limit the danger of shots to reach Shepard. The biggest moment of Shepard’s night was a penalty shot in the third period for Bobby Brink after the Bears were ruled to have covered the puck in the crease. Shepard made the save in a big moment for the Bears. The Phantoms had three chances with a power play, with those checking line players first over the boards to kill the penalties for the Bears.
“It’s been our backbone all year,” Strome said of the special teams unit. “We didn’t get a chance in the first game, but when we were called upon late in the third and stepped up huge, it helped secure the win. It’s a lot of fun being on the penalty kill, I know you have to block shots but when you clear a puck and the crowd is cheering for you, it feels so good.”
History of Hatred
The two teams have a long history of heated playoff battles dating back to 1996-97. It wouldn’t be complete without some rough stuff and frustration boiling over a bit. After Hendrix Lapierre scored a hardworking empty net goal with 3:30 to play, it left enough time for some tempers to flare. Louie Belpedio was set to head to the box after hitting Pierrick Dubé up high. Instead, he turned and hit Dubé again, drawing the ire of the line on the ice in a heated scrum.
All ten skaters on the ice would be issued ten-minute misconducts. Ronnie Attard and Jimmy Huntington would each be assessed the same penalties with three seconds to play. All told, the two teams accrued 158 minutes in penalties by the time all was said and done. The Bears took a 5-1 final score and a 2-0 series lead as the scene shifts to Allentown for at least Game Three. Hershey can punch their ticket to the Atlantic Division Final with a win.
“They came at us hard tonight,” Nelson said. “They hemmed us in our zone quite a few times for an extended period. We have to find a way to kill that. We were opportunistic tonight burying our chances. Looking at the shots, I’m not that concerned about it because with their style, they throw everything at the net from everywhere. We’re more selective with our shots but all in all, it was a good sixty minutes.”
Roaring in Hershey
Bears fans showed up in droves to take in Saturday’s win, with an announced crowd of 10,520 at Giant Center. The mark is the largest crowd for a first or second round game in the 86-year history of the Chocolate and White. The crowd roared their approval of the team’s efforts on Saturday with the team on the ice taking notice.
“They were already into the game at the start,” Nelson said. “It was nice scoring a couple in the first to get the fans going. It was pretty electric, felt like the Eastern Conference Finals.”
The series will shift to Allentown for at least Wednesday’s Game Three. If the Phantoms win, they’ll get another home game on Saturday night. The Bears need one more win to advance, with the winner of this series taking on either the Providence Bruins or the Hartford Wolf Pack.
