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Some takeaways from Phantoms’ 4-2 gutsy win over Hershey

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Cal Petersen came in relief and stopped 15 shots, Nikita Grebenkin had a game-winning bomb, and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms flustered the visiting Hershey Bears for a thrilling 4-2 win Sunday at PPL Center. The Phantoms now lead the best-of-five series two games to one.

The basics

First period: 11:23- Jacob Gaucher (Unassisted) (SHG)

Second period: 3:03- Andrew Perrott (Matt Strome, Alex Limoges), 4:27- Ivan Miroshnichenko (Luke Philp), 13:09- Garrett Wilson (Jett Luchanko, Anthony Richard) (PPG), 15:51- Nikita Grebenkin (Emil Andrae, Anthony Richard)

Third period: 14:09- Olle Lycksell (Emil Andrae)

SOG: 26 (LHV) – 32 (HER)

Some takeaways

Phantom penalties a plus

The Phantoms didn’t score on their first power play, but then gave up two power plays to Hershey, who seemed to gain some momentum from the kill. The Bears had a two-on-one nixed by Adam Ginning but a somewhat iffy tripping call led to another short-handed situation. And as has been the case the last two games, another Phantoms short-handed goal.

Jacob Gaucher broke up a play and got in on Hunter Shepard, then beating him with a nifty little play to give Lehigh Valley an important 1-0 lead. It was just Lehigh Valley’s third shot of the game as both teams had a tougher than usual time hitting the net.

The effectiveness of the penalty kill has to be renting some rooms in the psyche of Hershey, whose power play prowess against Lehigh Valley makes this past season’s Philadelphia’s power play look like the Gretzky-led Oilers power plays of the ’80s.

Perhaps the biggest kill came late in the second period when the Phantoms closed ranks and gave Cal Petersen (more on him later) some much needed help with some shot blocks and crisp clears. Clearly it was frustrating the hell out of Hershey who botched another power play in the third.

Chippy chippy

The Phantoms and Bears got some hate built up in game two, and didn’t take long to show that vitriol towards each other early. With both teams starting their fourth lines, the Phantoms threw their weight around before a small scrum started after the first whistle. Lehigh Valley’s first power play came courtesy of a strong shift by Givani Smith and his linemates, getting a good shot against Shepard who made the stop.

Bears show brawn early in second

Hershey tied things up on an Andrew Perrott shot early in the second. The shot looked relatively innocent but Gahagen didn’t get it.

Hershey seemed to kick into another gear that the Phantoms simply didn’t match for the first half of the second. Ivan Miroshnichenko beat Gahagen on the glove side on what looked to a shot that deflected off something. Lehigh Valley needed some quality shifts in response. Hershey outshot the Phantoms 7-2 and needed a spark to get back into the game.

Olle Lycksell (who had a great quasi-breakaway in the second) nearly delivered but Shepard was up to the challenge. Meanwhile seconds later Hershey’s golden chance was denied by an excellent stop by Gahagen who got enough of it. But the save was costly, as Gahagen (who accidentally flopped earleir in the second that looked more comical than hurtful) injured something possibly in his lower body that caused him to leave the game with 8:48 to go in the second. Cal Petersen was brought in cold and given an extremely difficult position.

Peterson comes in and holds steady

Cal Petersen was forced into the game following an injury to Gahagen. Petersen had a shooting gallery at times in his own end, particularly after Lehigh Valley tied it. Petersen (who had played since April 18) wasn’t pretty but he kept things tied which is all you could ask for. He stopped all seven shots he faced in the middle frame as the Bears were outshooting the Phantoms 24-17.

Fortunately, Petersen remained healthy for the remainder of the tilt as Lehigh Valley have fewer goalie options than most with injuries. He also made an incredible diving stop with just under four minutes to go which energized the already high-octane crowd.

Petersen did almost a similar acrobatic stop with Hershey playing six-on-four with Shepard pulled and the Phantoms (you guessed it) killing another penalty.

Grebombkin!!

Nikita Grebenkin had the crowd at PPL Center abuzz with an absolute cannon of a shot. The one-timer gave the Phantoms an improbable 3-2 lead in the closing minutes of the second.

Hershey, who were outshooting the Phantoms, began to lose their cool, especially late in the second when Aaron Ness was given a 10-minute misconduct seconds after Vincent Iorio clocked a Phantom.

Luchanko lights out, Bump more bumpy

Two of the Flyers’ brighter prospects were on the same line to start game three. Both were on the power play and had some good looks, particularly Jett Luchanko who drove to the dirty area but couldn’t drive it home. However by the middle of the second period, Luchanko’s chance was the lone shot on goal between the two players. Alex Bump had a pretty quiet start to the contest and had a clean sheet through 40 minutes (except for being -1 in +/-). He also took a dumb minor two minutes into the third.

Minutes after Gahagen’s injury, the Phantoms delivered a huge goal. Jett Luchanko’s sharp angle shot was stopped by Shepard but Garrett Wilson buried the rebound to tie it 2-2. A huge boost!

Luchanko’s biggest chance came early in the third on a breakaway. Sadly he didn’t make hay as Shepard stoned him cold. Anthony Richard had a breakaway with about seven minutes to go in regulation that couldn’t provide Lehigh Valley an important insurance goal. However, Lycksell provided that fourth goal almost a minute later, using the Bears defender as a screen to beat Shepard with a fantastic wrist shot.

A gutsy relief appearance from Cal Petersen and the Phantoms are now a win away from knocking off the defending two-time Calder Trophy champions Hershey Bears.

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