Phantoms Top Bears 4-1 to Force Decisive Game 5

April 29, 2017

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms earned a 4-1 victory over the Hershey Bears on Saturday night, forcing a decisive Game 5 of the Atlantic Division Semifinal series. The Phantoms secured a second consecutive victory at the Giant Center to tie the series, 2-2. The rivals will decide the best-of-five series tomorrow night at the PPL Center in Allentown at 5:05 p.m.

The Phantoms opened the scoring at 16:51 of the first period after Hershey failed to clear the puck. Lehigh Valley's Andy Miele cut off a clearing attempt at the left point. The forward centered a pass to Danick Martel in the slot. Martel walked around Copley, lifting a shot over the fallen goaltender to make it 1-0. 

Lehigh Valley would double its lead just 4:25 into the middle frame. Mark Zengerle scored on an odd-man rush for the Phantoms to make it 2-0. The forward walked down the right wing into the Hershey zone. He cut to the slot, and snapped a shot under Copley's right pad for his first goal of the playoffs. 

Hershey would cut the lead to 2-1 on a goal from forward Chandler Stephenson. The forward collected a loose puck at the blue line and skated into the Phantoms' zone. In his first game back from Washington, Stephenson snapped a shot off the near-post that darted past Ouellette's blocker at 15:01. 

Hershey started the third period on the cusp of tying the game, but Lehigh Valley's Scott Laughton scored a backbreaking goal to make it 3-1 Phantoms. He split the Hershey defense and chipped a shot over the right shoulder of Copley at 4:48. 

The Bears generated 15 shots in the third period, but Ouellette stymied Hershey's offense. Laughton notched an empty net goal to seal the win, tallying at 19:48. 

The Phantoms outshot Hershey 38-28. Hershey and Lehigh Valley both went 0-for-3 on the power play. With the Lehigh Valley win, the road team has won each game in the series. 

The series will be decided in a winner-take-all Game 5 tomorrow night at the PPL Center. The puck drops at 5:05 p.m. and the game may be heard on the Bears Radio Network and viewed on AHL Live.