The Hershey Bears look to take a 2-0 series lead against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tonight at GIANT Center in Game 2 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals.
Hershey Bears (1-0) vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2-1)
May 4, 2024 | 7 p.m. | GIANT Center | Hershey leads series, 1-0
Referees: Morgan MacPhee (43), Jack Young (24)
Linespersons: Brandon Grillo (79), J.P. Waleski (14)
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch, AHL Hall-of-Famer Mitch Lamoureux, and in-arena host Jim Jones on the call
TELEVISION: Monumental Sports Network (Washington, D.C. market)
RADIO: WFVY-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, Capitals Radio, SportsRadio 98.9-FM & WOYK 1350-AM (joined in-progress), In-Arena on 88.9 FM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream, Caps Radio 24/7
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m., Television coverage starts at 7 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears and Phantoms opened the series on Wednesday, with Hendrix Lapierre striking at 3:29 of the first period to put Hershey up 1-0. Henrik Rybinski added a goal at 17:17 of the second period to make it 2-0. Tanner Laczynski scored late in the third period to get Lehigh Valley on the board, but Hunter Shepard shut the door the rest of the way to finish with 30 saves and secure a 2-1 victory for the Bears in Game 1.
HEAD-TO-HEAD FACTS:
Hershey is a lifetime 15-11 against the Phantoms in postseason play following Wednesday's Game 1 victory. Historically, the Bears have an 11-4 series record when winning the opening game of a best-of-five series and have a 10-1 series record when taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five series.
DANDY DEBUTS:
A handful of players who were on Hershey's Calder Cup-winning roster last season but did not see a single game of postseason action finally made their Calder Cup Playoffs debut on Wednesday, as Henrik Rybinski netted the game-winning goal, with Matt Strome earning an assist to commemorate their first career playoff points. Bogdan Trineyev also assisted on Rybinski's goal for his first career AHL playoff point after suiting up in two games during the 2022 playoffs and serving as a Black Ace during the 2023 run. Hershey was 12-2-0-1 in the 2023-24 regular season when Rybinski got on the scoresheet, while the Bears posted a record of 14-0-0-1 when Strome tallied a point, and 11-1-0-1 when Trineyev recorded a point.
SHEP CONTINUES CLIMB:
By playing between the pipes on Wednesday, Hunter Shepard made his 21st career playoff appearance for the Chocolate and White, moving him past Justin Peters and into a tie with Ed Chadwick for seventh in franchise history for playoff games by a goaltender. Shepard's 30-save performance netted him his 15th career playoff victory for Hershey, moving him past J.F. Labbe for sole possession of sixth on the franchise's postseason wins list.
BEARS BITES:
With playoff power play/penalty kill records accurately dating as far back as the 1980 postseason, Wednesday's game marked the first time that neither team was awarded a chance with the man advantage...Aaron Ness is the only player on either team to have played in the most recent series between Hershey and Lehigh Valley, appearing in two games in the 2017 Atlantic Division Semifinals series won by Hershey in five games...Wednesday's win was the first home playoff victory over the Phantoms since April 24, 2009, when the franchise was based out of Philadelphia...Wednesday's pair of goals gives Hershey an all-time postseason goals scored count of 2,002...Hershey's victory on Wednesday marked the 60th postseason win on GIANT Center ice since the building opened prior to the 2002-03 campaign.
ON THIS DATE:
May 4, 2007 - With the Bears trailing the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-0 in the second period in Game 2 of the East Division Finals, Alexandre Giroux took over to help the Bears erase the deficit, assisting on Matt Hendricks' goal midway through the stanza to get Hershey on the board. After David Steckel pulled the Bears to within a goal early in the third period, Giroux found the tying marker at 12:31, and capped the night by scoring on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Nolan Schaefer at 5:57 of the second overtime to lift Hershey to a 4-3 double-OT win, giving the club a 2-0 lead in the series.
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