Lycksell’s Lightning Strikes Twice in Phantoms OT Win

Lehigh Valley beats Hershey 2-1 on Orange and Black Friday

November 29, 2024

Allentown, PA – Big hits, dazzling stops and overtime heroics. An Orange and Black Friday at PPL Center did not disappoint the hometown faithful as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms skated to a 2-1 overtime victory over the Hershey Bears.

Olle Lycksell (4th, 5th) opened and closed the scoring, and Cal Petersen made 27 saves including a multitude of sensational stops for the Phantoms. The overtime thriller marked the fourth sudden-death victory of the season, tied for top marks in the American Hockey League.

Bending but not breaking. Such was the story for Lehigh Valley in the opening stanza, largely in-part to 13 stops by Petersen on all 13 shots the netminder faced. The PPL Center crowd was also delighted to early fireworks when Rhett Gardner engaged in a spirited bout with Hershey’s Spencer Smallman at the 11:48 mark before both men received five-minute-fighting majors.

Midway through regulation, the Phantoms tallied first after a successful penalty kill led to a prime scoring chance. Remarkable work by Zayde Wisdom and Garrett Wilson while down a player allowed Lehigh Valley to kill-off a Hershey man-advantage for two minutes. But shortly after a Lycksell hooking minor expired, the speeding forward received a dime from Hunter McDonald moments after exiting the penalty box. Lycksell on the breakaway beat Clay Stevenson five-hole at 8:51 for the 1-0 lead.

In the second period, Lehigh Valley continued to lock windows and doors defensively with sound back-checking against Hershey’s transition opportunities. A prime example was Louie Belpedio tying the stick of a Bears’ attacker after an initial shot from Mike Sgarbossa was kicked out into the slot. Belpedio also dropped jaws later in the game a kicked-off the Teddy Bear Toss a week early. The bruising blueliner delivered a masterful hip-check against Hershey’s Brennan Saulnier that sent the opponent into orbit.

The Bears responded in the third period with a power-play equalizer from Ethen Frank at 2:48. On the team’s third power-play of the night, Frank fired home a shot from the left face-off circle after receiving a pass from Mike Vecchione along the opposite wing.

Lehigh Valley was poised to bounce back and answer before overtime became a necessity. With over a minute remaining, Anthony Richard made a power move to the net on a breakaway but saw his backhand attempt stonewalled by Stevenson.

Nonetheless, overtime was required for the ninth time this season to lead the American Hockey League. Hershey won the opening draw to begin sudden-death and nearly converted with a Sgarbossa-Vecchione combination, but Petersen’s stop set the stage for a counter attack.

Only 27 seconds into the sudden-death, Ben Gleason connected with an open Lycksell who wired home the game-winner past Stevenson’s blocker side. Lehigh Valley’s back-to-back overtime wins this week is the second time this month the club has garnered OT wins in consecutive games. Overall, it’s the fourth time in team history the Phantoms were victorious in OT in consecutive games.

Lehigh Valley will return to action on Saturday, November 30 to conclude November against the North Division-leading Laval Rocket. It’s Flyers Night at PPL Center with loveable Philadelphia mascot Gritty joining meLVin throughout the night. Ticket information is available online at PhantomsHockey.com.

SCORING SUMMARY

2nd 8:51 – LV, O. Lycksell (4) (H. McDonald) (2-0)

3rd 2:48 – HER, E. Frank (14) (M. Sgarbossa, A. Limoges) (PP) (1-1)

OT 0:27 – LV, O. Lycksell (5) (B. Gleason, R. Gardner) (2-1)

Shots:
LV 26 – HER 30

PP:
LV 0/3, HER 1/3

Goaltenders:
LV – C. Petersen (W) (29/30) (4-4-1)
HER – C. Stevenson (OTL) (24/26) (2-2-2)

Records:
Lehigh Valley (8-6-4)
Hershey (14-4-3)

UPCOMING

Saturday, November 30 – Phantoms vs. Laval Rocket – Flyers Night with GRITTY!

Wednesday, December 4 – Phantoms vs. Rockford IceHogs – Pregame Happy Hour

Saturday, December 7 – Phantoms vs. Hershey Bears – Teddy Bear Toss presented by Big Woody’s

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