Bears Take Down Phantoms 4-2 to Jump Into First Place

November 30, 2022

Mike Sgarbossa led the way with a three-point outing as the Hershey Bears (14-4-2-0) picked up a 4-2 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (8-7-1-1) on Wednesday night at the PPL Center, giving Hershey its fourth consecutive road victory and fifth straight win overall.

The win, coupled with a 4-3 loss by the Providence Bruins at the Bridgeport Islanders, moves the Bears into first place in the Atlantic Division standings and the entire American Hockey League.

BOX SCORE

Hershey opened the scoring late in the first period when Bobby Nardella kept the puck in the Lehigh Valley zone following a face-off, and dished the puck ahead to Henrik Rybinski, who darted to the right side of the slot before sliding it back across to Hendrix Lapierre, who tapped in his fifth of the season past Samuel Ersson at 16:57.

Olle Lycksell tied the score at 1-1 for the Phantoms in a similar tic-tac-toe fashion at 9:19 of the second period.

Connor McMichael then put the Bears ahead 2-1 with a wrist shot from the left circle for a power-play marker at 12:43 that gave the forward his second of the season. Nardella and Sgarbossa earned the assists.

The Phantoms netted their second of the frame at 18:45 when Garrett Wilson stuffed the puck past Zach Fucale to knot the score at 2-2.

Hershey re-took the lead at 3:28 of the third period when Dylan McIlrath’s shot banked in off Sgarbossa as the Bears forward crashed the net, giving Sgarbossa his fourth of the season and the Bears a 3-2 edge. Ethen Frank gained the secondary assist.

Frank then capped the scoring with an empty-net tally from Aaron Ness and Sgarbossa at the 19:00 mark for his sixth of the season.

Shots finished 35-20 favoring the Bears. Fucale went 18-for-20 for Hershey, while Ersson was 31-for-34. The Bears were 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Phantoms went 0-for-1 with the man advantage.

Hershey continues the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, when the Bears return to GIANT Center for David A. Smith Printing Team Photo Night (featuring a copy of the team photo for the first 6,000 fans in attendance) and Team Autograph Night, against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.