The Hershey Bears and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms are headed to PPL Center even at one game apiece. Lehigh Valley took a split on the road with a 3-1 win over Hershey on Friday night. Two shorthanded goals for the Phantoms told the story as they took the lead and clamped down for the win. Hunter Shepard took the loss with 12 saves while Parker Gahagen made 19 in the win.
Fierce Rivalry
The physicality picked up right where it left off after Hershey’s win in Game One. At times, it went over the line particularly when Garrett Wilson boarded Nicky Leivermann. Hershey’s defender would not return due to injury while Wilson was ejected from the game. The hit may warrant supplemental discipline from the league ahead of Game Three on Sunday in Allentown.
Both teams brought their best defensive efforts, with few shots reaching the two netminders for long stretches. This contest featured a lot of opportunities on special teams, which ultimately played a factor in the game. Although the Bears killed off a four-minute power play, the Phantoms held pressure in the offensive zone. Nikita Grebenkin threaded the needle with a pass to Anthony Richard, who beat Shepard late to break the ice.
Lehigh Valley scored the first goal, which has held a lot of value in the series to this point. The team that struck first won nine of ten games in the regular season, and the trend has carried over to the postseason. Much as it was in the regular season, the series is now even as a result.
Power Outage
Sometimes, there’s nothing worse than a game where the power play fails to connect or gain momentum. On Friday, the Bears found a way to make it worse as they allowed two shorthanded goals in this game. Both tallies were off the stick of Zayde Wisdom. Hershey’s power play, which featured five forwards, got burned as the difference-maker in this game.
“We’ll talk about personnel first, make some adjustments with that,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson said of the power play. “The bottom line is that you can’t give up two shorthanded goals and expect to win a game. That was the difference tonight, we got one goal on (the power play), but I thought they outworked us tonight.”
“It was a game where some of our skill guys thought it was going to be an easy game. (The Phantoms) ramped up their intensity, you’ve got to give them credit.”
“We’ll have to look at guys who want to put the work boots on. They came in determined right from the drop of the puck. We played too much in our own end as the result of losing puck battles.”
Hershey did net a power play goal of their own, with Alex Limoges netting his first goal of the playoffs. However, with the goal on the heels of the first shorthanded goal, it’s still a deficit rather than a tie game. The shorthanded goals were costly mistakes in an otherwise tightly played game.
Work Boots for Game Three
The stage is set for a pivotal Game Three in Allentown on Sunday evening. Nelson’s comments about personnel set some intrigue for the game as the coach looks for hard workers to set the tone. Hard-working, physical players like Garrett Roe, Dalton Smith, and Brennan Saulnier could be options to jump in the lineup. All three of those players have worn Phantoms colors in the past. Their additions could be the shot in the arm the Bears need, and playing the right way is the prerequisite.
“We have to go in there with a business-like attitude,” Nelson said. “We’ve done it all year; that’s one of our strengths this season on the road. The bottom line is that our go-to guys have to work to be successful, and tonight, they got outworked. It’s the main reason we didn’t score more goals on the power play.”
Fortunately, the Bears do have the advantage of several returning players from their last two championship teams. These players set the standard and know what it takes to win. One such player is captain Aaron Ness, who was setting the tone to his teammates in the wake of Friday’s loss.
“After the game was done, I was about to go in and address the team and tell them the plan for tomorrow,” Nelson explained. “I had to wait, I heard our captain having a chat with the whole team. I let them deal with it themselves, a lot of times it has to come from within the dressing room. That’s why Nesser is our captain.”
