Hershey continues their three in three weekend, fresh off a 2-1 win last night in Upstate New York against the Syracuse Crunch, with a battle in Allentown against the Phantoms.
It’s the third of ten matchups this season between Hershey and Lehigh Valley, with the Bears taking the last one, a 4-3 Hershey shootout win.
The Bears came into the night looking to continue their road momentum. Hershey has won their last four games on the road, putting their record away from Giant Center 4-1 on the year. That one loss though? A 5-4 loss in Allentown on Oct. 24.
Three changes for the Bears from last night. From the forward group Luke Toporowski slides in for Dalton Smith on the fourth line. On defense, David Gucciardi comes in for Jon McDonald to be paired with Louie Belpedio.
Garin Bjorklund got the start in goal, taking over for Clay Stevenson, who got the start and win last night in Syracuse.
Postgame Takeaways
- The Phantoms came out flying in the first. It was only thanks to Garin Bjorklund the Bears survived the first heading out with a tie.
- Hershey had their own chances in the first though, with the third line of Bitten-Rybinski-Clarke having the best chances. I liked that line combination a lot tonight.
- The Phantoms would continue to pile on early in the second. At one point, they held a 22-7 advantage in shots over the Bears.
- Coach King did say postgame that he thought the Bears did not skate well. He admitted it can be tough with the travel from Syracuse last night, but that was no excuse for the effort at times tonight from Hershey.
- Thanks to Bjorklund though, Hershey would be the ones to break through. Matt Strome would convert from in front, thanks to a lovely pass from Corey Schueneman.
- It would only be five minutes later that Hershey would convert on a power play. And it was all set up by Garin Bjorklund, who did everything but score. Watch the pass from Bjorklund to catch the Phantoms changing on the PK, which breaks Bogdan Trineyev and Andrew Cristall on a 2 on 0, which Trineyev converts.
- The Phantoms would finally break through in the third. Lehigh would put up at least 13 shots each period tonight, which is not a key to success.
- Ilya Protas would continue his offensive hot streak, putting home the Bears third. That goal goes with an assist tonight, making that Ilya’s second straight multi-point game.
- After tonight, Protas is now tied with Matt Strome and Bogdan Trineyev for the team lead in points with nine.
- It would be penalty problems that would kill Hershey late in the third. The Bears would take three penalties in 5:22 of game time. The Phantoms would convert on two of them to tie the game at three.
- It won’t show up on the scoresheet as a positive for Grant Cruikshank, but he forced a penalty by the Phantoms while on the last PK by skating. That was the play that saved the Bears tonight.
- Finally, Matt Strome. Not enough has been said about the year he has been having. He would deflect a Brett Leason shot home for his second of the night (and Leason’s first point back as a Bear), with 12.6 seconds left in the third to claim all two points for Hershey.
- That’s the Bears 5th straight win on the road, putting them at 5-1 on the season away from Chocolatetown.
The Chocolate Roar 