The Hershey Bears fell to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 2-1 Wednesday night at the PPL Center in Allentown. The loss drops the Bears record to 33-28-5-4 (75 points) on the season.
The Bears struck first on a backhander from Mike Vecchione early in the first frame for a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Following a scoreless middle frame, the Phantoms added a pair of goals in the third period for the 2-1 victory.
STARTERS
The Bears started goaltender Pheonix Copley (17-9-5-2, 2.36 GAA, .914 sv %) in net while the Phantoms countered with Pat Nagle (8-4-4-1, 2.59 GAA, .904 sv%). The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Injuries: Brian Pinho (shoulder surgery), Matt Moulson (back surgery) and Riley Sutter (upper-body injury).
Scratches: Jake Massie, Macoy Erkamps, Christopher Brown, Drake Rymsha, Eddie Whittchow and Clay Stevenson.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring midway through the first frame on Mike Vecchione’s 16th goal of the season at 11:17 of the period. Brett Leason (6) had the lone assist.
Mike Vecchione shovels the backhander for his 16th goal of the season. Brett Leason with the primary. Bears lead 1-0 midway through the first. #HBH#ALLCAPSpic.twitter.com/NAPxtQCn2X
The remainder of the period would go scoreless. The Phantoms led in shots 15-10 in the first frame. Lehigh Valley was 0 for 2 on the power play while the Bears did not have a man advantage in the first 20 minutes.
Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
Photo: Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Phantoms second goal is a head-scratcher. Did they rule the Bears knocked the goal off, thus it was a good goal?