April 30, 2017
TONIGHT'S GAME NOTES
ATLANTIC DIVISION SEMIFINALS: GAME 5
BEST-OF-FIVE SERIES TIED, 2-2#3
Hershey Bears (Playoffs: 2-2, Regular Season: 43-22-8-3 , 97 points, 3rd in Atlantic) at
#2 Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Playoffs: 2-2, Regular Season: 48-23-5-0, 101 points)
Sunday, April 30, 5:05 pm
PPL Center
REFEREES: Pierre Lambert (47), Evgenii Romasko (39)
LINESMEN: Ryan Daisy (81), Francois Dussureault (60)
Broadcast Information (Pre-game 4:35 PM)LISTEN ON: WQIC-100.1 FM, Fortress 1230 WKBO, the Bears app
via WHP 580,
Caps Radio 24/7WATCH: AHLLive.comBEARS AT PHANTOMS: The
Hershey Bears and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms will decide their Atlantic Division Semifinal series tonight with a decisive Game 5 in Allentown. The road team has won all four games in the series thus far, with the Phantoms claiming back-to-back victories at the
Giant Center to force Game 5. The winner of tonight’s contest advances to the Atlantic Division Finals versus the winner of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence series.
2016-17 SEASON SERIES VS LEHIGH VALLEY (5-5-1-1), PLAYOFFS (2-2)October 30 LEHIGH VALLEY
Giant Center W, 3-2
November 13 LEHIGH VALLEY
Giant Center L, 3-1
December 2 At Lehigh Valley PPL Center W, 4-3
December 3 LEHIGH VALLEY
Giant Center OTL, 3-2
December 16 At Lehigh Valley PPL Center SOL, 3-2
December 26 At Lehigh Valley PPL Center W, 5-2
January 13 At Lehigh Valley PPL Center L, 6-2
January 14 LEHIGH VALLEY
Giant Center W, 6-4
January 22 LEHIGH VALLEY
Giant Center L, 5-1
March 10 At Lehigh Valley PPL Center L, 3-2
April 2 LEHIGH VALLEY
Giant Center L, 4-2
April 5 At Lehigh Valley PPL Center OTW, 3-2
Apr. 21 At Lehigh Valley-Game 1 PPL Center OTW, 1-0
Apr. 22 At Lehigh Valley-Game 2 PPL Center W, 5-4
Apr. 26 LEHIGH VALLEY-Game 3
Giant Center OTL, 2-1
Apr. 29 LEHIGH VALLEY-Game 4
Giant Center L, 4-1
BEARS vs. PHANTOMS - SPECIAL TEAMS, 2017 PLAYOFFSHERSHEYPower Play 0-for-10 (0%)
Penalty Kill 9-for-11 (81.8%)
Lehigh ValleyPower Play 2-for-11 (18.2%)
Penalty Kill 10-for-10 (100%)
BEARS vs. PHANTOMS - SPECIAL TEAMS, 2016-17 REGULAR SEASON OVERALL:HERSHEYPower Play 66-for-319 (20.7%) – 5th in AHL, 4 SHGA
Penalty Kill 265-for-322 (82.3%) – 14th in AHL, 4 SHGF
Lehigh ValleyPower Play 73-for-353 (20.7%) –6th in AHL, 13 SHGA
Penalty Kill 242-for-288 (84.0%) – 5th in AHL, 7 SHGF
BEARS vs. PHANTOMS – TEAM LEADERS, 2017 PLAYOFFS
HERSHEYGoals C. Bourque, Galiev (2)
Assists Riley Barber (3)
Points Stanislav Galiev (4)
Plus/Minus Bowey, Labrie (+3)
Wins Pheonix Copley (2)
Goals-Against Average Pheonix Copley (2.19)
Save Percentage Pheonix Copley (.932)
Lehigh ValleyGoals Carey, Laughton (2)
Assists Chris Conner (3)
Points Chris Conner (4)
Plus/Minus Four Tied (+2)
Wins Martin Ouellette (2)
Goals-Against Average Martin Ouellette (1.80)
Save Percentage Martin Ouellette (.935%)
BEARS vs. PHANTOMS – TEAM LEADERS, 2016-17 REGULAR SEASON OVERALL:
HERSHEYGoals Christian Thomas (24)
Assists Travis Boyd (47)
Points Travis Boyd (63)
PIMs Tyler Lewington (142)
Plus/Minus Stanislav Galiev (+21)
Power-Play Goals Christian Thomas (12)
Shorthanded Goals Dustin Gazley (1)
Game-Winning Goals Liam O’Brien, Jakub Vrana (4)
Wins Pheonix Copley (26)
Goals-Against Average Pheonix Copley (2.25)
Save Percentage Pheonix Copley (.924)
Lehigh ValleyGoals Greg Carey (28)
Assists Andy Miele (44)
Points T.J. Brennan (60)
PIMs Samuel Morin (129)
Plus/Minus Scott Laughton (+17)
Power-Play Goals Greg Carey (17)
Shorthanded Goals Scott Laughton (4)
Game-Winning Goals Brennan, McDonald (5)
Wins Alex Lyon (27)
Goals-Against Average Alex Lyon (2.74)
Save Percentage Alex Lyon (.912%)
BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:Apr. 28 ADD C Chandler Stephenson Returned on loan by Washington (NHL)
Apr. 21 DEL C Chandler Stephenson Recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
Apr. 18 DEL D Mattias Backman Removed from playoff roster
Apr. 17 DEL LW Beck Malenstyn Released from ATO
Apr. 17 DEL C Garrett Pilon Released from ATO
BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:Apr. 28 ADD G Mark Dekanich Recalled from loan to Reading (ECHL)
Apr. 25 ADD D Reece Willcox Reassigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Reading (ECHL)
Apr. 25 ADD F Connor Bunnaman Signed to ATO
Apr. 22 ADD D Philippe Myers Reassigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)
BEARS NEWS AND NOTES:
WINNER TAKE ALL: For the second straight year, and for the fourth time in the last six seasons, the
Hershey Bears will play a decisive Game 5 in the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Last season, Hershey overcame a 2-1 series deficit to beat the Portland Pirates, 3-2, in the opening round. Hershey sealed the series with a 2-1 win in Game 5 on May 1. Ryan Stanton had the game-winning goal. Hershey also played in a Game 5 in 2013, falling at Providence 3-2, and in 2012, losing at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 2-1.
DECISIVE WIN: The last time Hershey played a decisive playoff game was during the Atlantic Division Finals versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season. The Bears and the Penguins met at the
Giant Center on May 15 for Game 7 of the second round series. Hershey scored a 3-2 victory in overtime to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Travis Boyd tallied the winning goal at 10:57 of the extra session to earn Hershey the series win.
THROWING IT BACK: The last time the Bears and Phantoms played a decisive playoff game was in 2000. Hershey took down the Philadelphia Phantoms in the best-of-five opening round playoff series, 3-2. Much like this year, it was the Phantoms who forced Game 5 with a victory away from home. Philadelphia scored a 6-3 victory at
Hersheypark Arena in Game 4 on Apr. 19 to send the series to a winner-take-all contest. In Game 5, it was Hershey who came up with a 4-0 victory on the road at the First Union Center to claim the series win. Hershey and Philadelphia also played a decisive Game 7 in the second round of the playoffs in 1997. The Bears won Game 6 at
Hersheypark Arena, 3-2, in triple overtime to force Game 7 at the CoreStates Spectrum. Hershey closed out the series with a 3-2 win in Game 7 on May 14. The Bears would go on to claim the Calder Cup that season.
PREVENTING AHL HISTORY: The
Hershey Bears will look to prevent the Lehigh Valley Phantoms from adding to a rare piece of AHL history. The Bears/Phantoms series was the 99th series in AHL history to start 2-0, and only 11 times has the team up 2-0 lost the series. Additionally, only three teams have lost the first two games at home and come back to win the series. Hershey is one of those teams, defeating Pittsburgh in 1954. The Bears were also involved on the losing ending in 2013. Hershey bolted out to a 2-0 series lead on Providence, only to fall to the Bruins in five games.
WELCOME BACK STEVO: On Friday, the Washington Capitals announced that forward Chandler Stephenson was re-assigned to the Bears. It didn’t take long for the center to make an immediate impact. Saturday night, Stephenson scored the lone goal in Hershey’s 4-1 loss in Game 4. The forward scored 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists) in 72 games this season with Hershey. He ranked fifth on the team in assists, and seventh overall in points. He has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 28 career playoff games.
ROAD WARRIORS: Dating back to the regular season, Hershey has won three straight games at the PPL Center, and all three contests have been one-goal games. Hershey closed the regular season series with Lehigh Valley on Apr. 5, claiming a 3-2 overtime win versus the Phantoms. Riley Barber tied the game in the third period, and Travis Boyd ended the affair in overtime. In Game 1, the Bears also claimed an overtime win in Allentown, as Nathan Walker struck 7:38 into the extra session to give the Bears a 1-0 win. In Game 2, Chris Bourque’s goal with 33 seconds left pulled the Bears ahead and gave the visitors a 5-4 win.