Tucker Terrific in Overtime

Robertson Finishes Bears in Thriller

January 24, 2026

Allentown, PA – Tucker Robertson raced up ice for a fabulous overtime-winning goal to down the Hershey Bears 4-3 on Saturday night putting the finishing touches on one of the most exciting games of the year.

From the opening seconds to the final rush of overtime, the Keystone rivalry delivered everything fans could have asked for and more. After two fights in the opening 13 seconds set the tone, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms erased an early deficit, battled through a frantic third period, and ultimately prevailed in overtime against in a fierce rivalry battle on Saturday night at PPL Center.

The victory was sealed when Tucker Robertson struck at 3:13 of overtime, capping a dramatic back-and-forth contest and sending the home crowd into a frenzy after the Phantoms had seen a late third-period lead slip away in the final moments of regulation.

“I just tried to take it hard to the net,” said Robertson. “I had some speed, checked to see if help was coming, and once I saw I had a lane, I knew I could get it off quick. When you work hard, good things usually happen.”

The Phantoms trailed 2-0 to start, then led 3-2 after striking for a trio of goals just 3:20 apart in the second period, then saw the Bears equalize with just 18 seconds left, before turning the tables and snagging the victory.

“The game is a bunch of sequences, and how do you keep it in your favor,” head coach John Snowden said. “We get a big save, we stack it with a goal, then we stack it with good shifts after that. We don’t want it easy — we want it hard. And that was a game we had to earn.”

The intensity was immediate and unmistakable. Just seven seconds into the game, Roman Schmidt and Justin Nachbauer dropped the gloves. And six seconds later, Sawyer Boulton and Dalton Smith followed suit, igniting the rivalry with back-to-back massive fights before most fans had settled into their seats.

After the early fireworks, Hershey struck first. Ilya Protas opened the scoring at 11:50 of the first period, converting on a rebound after Carson Bjarnason made the initial save from between the circles. The Bears added another while skating four-on-four at 9:08, when David Gucciardi finished into an open net following a neutral-zone breakdown, giving Hershey a 2–0 lead despite Lehigh Valley holding its own in shots.

The Phantoms flipped the game in a span of just over three minutes in the second period. Zayde Wisdom jumpstarted the comeback at 8:35, racing in on a 2-on-1 and beating Garin Bjorklund with a smooth forehand-backhand move after a perfect setup from Garrett Wilson. The building erupted again moments later when Karsen Dorwart tied the game at 10:27, finishing from down low after Helge Grans and Adam Ginning worked the puck D-to-D along the blueline followed by Ginning’s wide shot perfectly caroming off the endboards where Dorwart was ready for the fortuitous bounce.

Lehigh Valley wasn’t finished. Just 1:28 later, Robertson zoomed in on the rush, off a terrific pass by Wisdom from the left boards, and snapped a low-glove-side shot past Bjorklund at 8:05, giving the Phantoms their first lead of the night and forcing Hershey to call timeout as the momentum fully swung.

The third period became a test of poise and patience. Lehigh Valley simplified its game, kept pucks deep, and limited quality chances as Bjarnason saw only sporadic action early in the frame. Hershey’s push intensified late, and Bjarnason delivered his biggest moment with an unbelievable save with 2:52 remaining diving to his left to get a glove on Andrew Cristal’s effort from the bottom of the right circle, preserving the one-goal lead as the Bears pressed.

After multiple icings and defensive-zone draws with Hershey skating six-on-five and its net empty, the Bears finally broke through when Brett Leason tied the game with 18 seconds remaining, silencing the crowd and forcing overtime.

The drama carried into three-on-three, where Bjarnason denied former Phantom Louie Belpedio on a quality chance with a sparkling save before the Phantoms struck for the winner. Robertson finished the night the same way he helped spark it earlier, burying the overtime game-winner at 3:13 to clinch the thrilling victory.

Bjarnason stood tall down the stretch and into overtime, while Wilson added two assists and Dorwart continued his strong play with his eighth goal of the season.

“We needed this one bad,” said Wisdom, who recorded a goal and an assist. “We just stuck to our game — blue-collar work, stacking shifts, putting pucks behind them. Wins like that build character, and we’re going to build off it.”

It was Lehigh Valley’s fourth win in overtime and Lehigh Valley improved to 8-4 in decisions after regulation including 4-2 in OT and 4-2 in shootouts. The Phantoms improved to 3-2-2 against the Bears this season and moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Atlantic Division after Hershey had briefly tied them in the standings. Lehigh Valley is 3-1-0 against the Bears at PPL Center. Lehigh Valley’s eight wins in overtimes and shootouts combined is tied for the most in the AHL with Cleveland, Ontario and San Jose.

The Phantoms return to action Friday night at the Springfield Thunderbirds and return to PPL Center for a pair of games on Saturday against the Bridgeport Islanders and Sunday at 3:05 p.m. against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on meLVin Youth Jersey Day presented by Reilly Children’s Hospital, Service Electric and Velaspan.

The post Tucker Terrific in Overtime appeared first on Lehigh Valley Phantoms.