Hershey Bears Beat Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-0; Ilya Samsonov Shuts Out Phantoms

Photo: Tori Hartman

The Hershey Bears beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-0 Saturday night in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The win raises the Bears record to 16-20-0-2 on the season. The Bears return to action Sunday evening when they host the same Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Giant Center in Hershey. Puck drop is set for 5:00 PM.

After a scoreless opening frame, the Bears would break the seal on the scoring early in the second period with a goal from Ryan Sproul at 2:58. Riley Barber would add goals at 11:27 and 16:15 for a 3-0 Bears lead at the second intermission. The final frame would go scoreless.

Ilya Samsonov recorded his first career AHL shutout, making 18 saves. The Bears ended a 170:57 stretch with no goals versus the Phantoms. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak at the PPL Center, which dated back to Apr. 5, 2017.

Photos from the game are here.

STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (5-11-0, 3.82 GAA, .861 sv%) started between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Alex Lyon (8-7-1-1, 2.81 GAA, .911 sv%) got the start in goal for the Phantoms. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

O’Brien – Sgarbossa – Barber
Gersich– Megna – Pinho
Malenstyn – Pilon – Walker
Kammerer– Gustafsson – Ikonen

Ness – Lewington
Leach – Sproul
Geisser – Hobbs

Scratches: Colby Williams (upper body), Lucas Johansen (upper body), Kris Bindulis (upper body) were the injury scratches. Steve Johnson, Cliff Watson, Mason Mitchell, and Steve Whitney were the healthy scratches.

FIRST PERIOD
The Bears would dominate play in the first 20 minutes, but just couldn’t find a way to dent the twine. The Bears outshot the Phantoms 15-5 for the opening frame. The Bears were 0 for 2 and the Phantoms 0 for 1 on the man advantage.

As a result, the Bears scoreless drought at Lehigh Valley was increased to 167:59 since their last goal in Allentown.

SECOND PERIOD
The Bears would open the scoring with a nifty rush, finished by Ryan Sproul at 2:58 of the middle frame. Juuso Ikonen (7) and Max Kammerer (7) were credited with the helpers.

The Bears would stretch their lead to 2-0 with a 4-on-4 wrap-around-goal by Riley Barber at 11:27 of the second period.

The Bears would stretch their lead to 3-0 with another 4-on-4 goal by Riley Barber at 16:15 of the middle frame. The goal was unassisted.

The second period would end with the Bears hanging on to a 3-0 lead. The Bears outshot the Phantoms 12-4 in the second period, and led 27-9 after 40 minutes of play. The Bears were 0 for 5 and the Phantoms 0 for 1 on the power play after two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD
The Bears and Phantoms would skate to a scoreless third period. The Bears would hang on for the 3-0 win.