Bears ghosted as they fall 3-0 to Lehigh Valley

Saturday night, the Hershey Bears got back to the Giant Center after the All-Star Break and a 4-1 win against Bridgeport to take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

With the start of the first period, the Bears came out with a lot of energy. Four minutes into the game, the Phantoms scored to put them on the board 1-0. After two late delays of game penalties from each side, the period ended with Lehigh Valley leading by one goal.

The second period started with the Bears on the leftover powerplay from the first. The Bears couldn’t convert but later got another chance as the Phantoms got called for slashing Beck Malenstyn. After the two minutes were over, Chris McCarthy got whistled for hooking. The period ended with the same score as the first LV leading 1-0.

The Bears struggled with stringing passes together and creating useable chances throughout the entire game, which had a toll on all parts. “We have a level and a standard that has to be met, and when we don’t get there, whether it’s as a whole or individually, we won’t have success,” Head Coach Spencer Carbery said during the postgame interview.

The Bears killed the McCarthy penalty as they entered the third but turned around and went onto another PK as Tyer Lewington was sent to the sin bin for holding, this penalty was killed. A couple more penalties later, the Phantoms increased the lead 2-0. Vitek Vanecek left the goal crease and Leigh Valley grabbed an empty netter to seal the deal. Hershey fell 3-0 to the Phantoms to close out the weekend.

The Bears are next in action on Friday the 7th as they head up I-81 to take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.