Bears “sloppy,” “disappointing,” against Lehigh Valley in Game Three , Fall 2-0
Coming off a dominating performance in game two the Bears had a chance to deliver a knock out blow in this series against the Phantoms and take a sweep into the next round.
Right from the puck drop it was apparent that would not be the case at the PPL Center. While Hershey looked good briefly five-on-five early on, the Phantoms had a little more burst in their skates and it didn’t talk long for them to capitalize as Hershey did not resemble anything of the hockey team we are used to seeing.
“The biggest thing was compete, lack of compete,” a quick lipped Head Coach Todd Nelson said immediately after the game amid the buzz of the Zamboni leaving the ice. “Nobody finished their checks out there, they just wanted to play the game expecting them to give it to us. We have to take it if we want to win the series.”
An early penalty on a little post whistle scrum in front of goalie Hunter Shepard gave Lehigh Valley a chance for positive momentum and they did not let the opportunity melt.
“It was a special teams game tonight,” Nelson explained. “We tried to push early and we didn’t really have an answer, which was disappointing.”
Lehigh Valley hit pay dirt twice on the power play in just under two minutes in the first frame. With captain Dylan McIlrath sitting for a roughing penalty after clearing the crease, Emil Andrae’s shot from the point found its way past a screened Shepard to make it 1-0 at 5:44. Just 1:21 later, the referees deemed Hendrix Lapierre guilty of hooking. Just 23 seconds later, Olle Lycksell doubled the advantage on a lucky bounce to make it 2-0. Shepard attempted to poke the puck away from the top of the crease, but the puck clicked off of a crashing Lycksell into the net.
The Phantoms conquered Hershey in every facet of the special teams game. As we explained in our preview of the Phantoms, the regular season’s third-most penalized team stayed hot by thwarting the Bears’ man advantage on all five of the Chocolate and White’s chances – making the locals 1-for-12 on the power play this series. While the Bears generated some good looks, the Phantoms clogged shooting lanes and minimized second and third chance plays.
Todd Nelson pretty much summed up the teams struggles in game three, ” We had a four minute power play and we didn’t generate a shot, it is fine to have structure and all that but we have to get pucks going to the net. “
As far as using taking moments from this game and using it as a spark, Nelson said after the game, ” I think so, I don’t think the guys need much more of a spark just look at what happened tonight. We played against a group of men that played like men and we played liked boys.”
Game Four puck drops Saturday night at PPL Center.
