The second round of the AHL playoffs kicked off for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Wednesday night. But Hershey was a bit too much to handle as the Bears shutout the Phantoms 3-0 at Hershey’s Giant Center.
The basics
First period: 9:16- Chase Priskie (Pierrick Dube, Jake Massie)
Second period: No scoring
Third period: 7:00- Spencer Smallman (Alex Limoges, Hendrix Lapierre), 18:49- Bogdan Trineyev (Mike Vecchione, Henrik Rybinski) (ENG)
SOG: 26 (LHV) – 27 (HER)
Some takeaways
Decent start
Hershey’s fourth line did a good job in the opening minutes but the Phantoms helped their own, getting the first shot of the game on a long wrister. Phantoms goalie Parker Gahagen made a good save in close three minutes in as the Bears, much like their big club affiliate, are a bigger, heavier team. But like most opening periods of game ones, there was a bit of a feeling out period between the two sides. Unlike the Penguins, the Phantoms realized early on the Bears are a different beast altogether.
Although Lehigh Valley had their problems trying to create any mojo in Hershey’s end, they were a bit more successful late in the first. After Hershey’s line iced the puck, the Phantoms started tiring the Bears out. But they couldn’t tie things up. A shot by Ethan Samson hit iron late in the first and Olle Lycksell’s high wrister was stopped by Bears’ goalie Hunter Shepard.
Discipline, discipline
Maybe the score or the missed opportunities caused the Phantoms to lose it a bit. In the third, after the second Bears goal, Lehigh Valley’s Hunter McDonald took a roughing minor. Just as they killed that one, Lycksell took a slashing minor, taking four minutes off the clock basically.
It was clear that Hershey was content to maintain possession over that four minutes, killing the clock and the Phantoms’ chances to squeeze out a late comeback.
Sutter slams Gardner
Early in the second period, Hershey forward Riley Sutter lowered the boom on Rhett Gardner, dropping him after a heavy check. Gardner got up and seemed okay. More importantly, the Phantoms didn’t seek revenge and end up with a needless retaliation penalty. Gardner had a great chance in front of Shepard minutes later in the slot but the bang-bang play didn’t tie things up.
Neither team was mustering much offensively as halfway through regulation the shots were 14-11. Lycksell had the Phantoms’ best two chances of the night, the latter a great wrist shot that Shepard got a piece of to keep Lehigh Valley scoreless.
Gahagen fighting it a little bit
It took some time for Gahagen to settle down, as he seemed to be fumbling a few rebounds early, rarely finding the puck cleanly to cover. Instead, it was becoming an adventure of sorts. Coincidental minors opened things up Alex Bump who almost made a full lap in the offensive zone before Lehigh Valley coughed the puck up. Unfortunately, after Hershey pulled the goalie on a delayed penalty to the Phantoms, scored. Gahagen made a save on the delayed call but wasn’t able to swallow the shot for a stoppage in play. It burned him and the Phantoms.
Chase Priskie gave Hershey a 1-0 lead moments ago on a delayed penalty call.
The Bears don’t look like a team coming in to Game 1 following a lengthy layoff.
Shots 11-4 HER with 6:00 left in 1st frame.@InsideAHLHockey pic.twitter.com/ILyjblqkuH
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) April 30, 2025
Another problem he was having was his decision making playing (or not playing) the puck. A few times he wasn’t able to clear or beat a Bears forward, nearly resulting in good scoring chances. This was painfully obvious in the second when he had ample time to make a play and still somehow looked lost at sea.
Not too chippy
Neither side had much vitriol after the whistles. The first power play Hershey had was courtesy of defenseman Adam Ginning. But Lehigh Valley created a few short-handed opportunities that didn’t materialize into something. Gardner took a dumb penalty late in the second, punching Hershey’s defenseman Nicky Leivermann in the kisser 200 feet from Gahagen’s net. Whether it was frustration or a brain cramp, the penalty could’ve been a backbreaker. And thanks to a wide-open net miss by Mike Vecchione in the dying seconds, the Phantoms left the ice still down only one after 40.
That chippy play reared its head in the third when the Phantoms’ Zayde Wisdom and Hershey’s Bogdan Trineyev got into it after Hershey tried to pry the puck loose from Gahagen. The scrum gave Lehigh Valley its first power play of the night. The ensuing power play led to another minor on Hershey as the puck was cleared out of play. A 78-second five-on-three was wasted as Alex Bump had a few chances but nothing got it done.
Which led to….
That opportunity bit the Phantoms big time as Spencer Smallman got an insurance goal to make it 2-0 seven minutes into the third. Or so most thought. However, because play never stopped, the Phantoms argued a shot earlier on their power play crossed the line. Officials had to go back to look at the replay to determine if Lehigh Valley tied it before Hershey made it 2-0. Literally a two-goal swing on one call.
Well that was hilarious.
Hershey’s goal by Spencer Smallman counts.
Referees reviewed a sequence during Lehigh Valley’s 5-on-3 that LV thought they scored on.
The ref said no-goal & pointed to LV’s bench. Fans at Giant Center got confused.
It’s 2-0 Hershey. @InsideAHLHockey pic.twitter.com/q4gXLQRQT3
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) May 1, 2025
The Hershey fans jeered the referees signalling no goal, but not realizing it was the Phantoms’ attempt they deemed was no goal. The public address announcer quickly told them what happened and all was well in Hershey again.
Jett sort of grounded
Jett Luchanko made the first pretty play of the evening, dodging a Hershey player before feeding a fine cross ice pass to an oncoming Phantom. The shot unfortunately missed the mark before Luchanko lost his neck guard. Luchanko was visible at times but seemed to be fighting things most of the evening. Sadly he wasn’t much of a factor in game one, getting a lone shot on goal and being on the wrong side of the plus/minus stat.
In the second, Luchanko won a foot race and had a short breakaway attempt, but roofed the puck over the net. Minutes later Shepard made another strong stop as Lehigh Valley started taking it to the Bears. Luchanko ended the night at -2. He wasn’t the worst however as Louie Belpedio ended the tilt at a -3.
Bump not grounded
Alex Bump couldn’t be blamed for Wednesday night’s result. Midway through the third Lehigh Valley had 23 shots on goal. Bump took eight of those! Although he couldn’t beat Shepard, he looked great most of the night, far more vital than Luchanko on this night in terms of trying to get something going. Not bad for his third professional playoff game!