Hershey Bears lose to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a shootout, 4-3

In a rematch of the opening game of the season, the Hershey Bears and Lehigh Valley Phantoms faced off as Hershey looked for their first win of the 2017-18 campaign.

After very little scoring to start the game, Chris Bourque found the back of the net for his second goal of the season off of a faceoff set piece.

Parker Milner would shine early and often making some spectacular saves throughout the first and second periods to keep the score 1-0 heading into the second intermission.

Scoring chances would come often in the opening five minutes for the Bears, but Lehigh Valley found the back of the net first. Philippe Meyers fired a wrist shot that squeaked through Milner’s five-hole to tie the game. The Bears would find themselves in a two-on-one situation moments later which would lead to another Lehigh goal by Nicolas Aube-Kubel to give them the 2-1 lead.

After another Lehigh Valley tally by Danick Martel to stretch their lead to 3-1, Jonas Siegenthaler found the back of the net, scoring his first AHL goal, cutting the Bears deficit to just one. Colby Williams would score late in the period on the powerplay to tie the game at three.

Three periods would not be enough as the game would head to overtime. Both Lyons and Milner would put on a show making great saves to keep the OT period going. Riley Barber would be called for a slashing penalty with 1:23 left in the overtime frame. The Bears PK held off the offensive attack from the Phantoms to force the shootout.

Neither team would score in the first two rounds of the shootout. Chris Conner would score in the third round to give Lehigh Valley the win, 4-3.