Photo: Nina Weiss/Flyerdelphia
Monday night, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms traveled to Chocolate Town, USA to take on the Hershey Bears. The game was supposed to be played Saturday, but due to Winter Storm Jonas, the game was moved to Monday. Perhaps the extra rest paid off.
Cole Bardreau had two goals, including one shorthanded, and Taylor Leier had a goal and two assists. All of that led to a wild 6-5 shootout victory.
In an evenly played first, it was Lehigh Valley that tallied first. With Danick Martel in the penalty box for high sticking, Davis Drewiske sprang Leier and Bardreau on a two-on-one. Leier's shot from the right circle was stopped, but Bardreau was there to put in the rebound past Justin Peters at 19:12. Shots in the period favored Hershey, 9-8
In the second, the Bears came roaring back. Mike Moore got his fourth at 7:11, Madison Bowey his third 90 seconds later and Paul Carey added his 13th at 10:15. If you're keeping score at home, that's three goals in 3:04.
Then things got weird.
The Phantoms came flying back with three in a row to regain the lead before the period ended. Bardreau collected his fourth of the year and second of the night when he buried the rebound off a Colin McDonald attempt at 13:19. Four minutes later, Davis Drewiske got his second of the season when he finished off a Chris Conner feed at the top of the crease and, just like that, the contest was tied.
The game wasn't tied for long, as the Phantoms weren't done. On the power play just 1:13 later, Leier fired a shot from the slot off of a Conner rebound to regain Lehigh Valley the lead. Defenseman Adam Comrie, who was recalled from the ECHL's Reading Royals last week, collected the secondary assist to earn his first AHL point of the season.
Colin McDonald got another on the power play at 4:14 of the third, and suddenly, the Phantoms had a two-goal lead.
However, in typical Hershey fashion, the Bears weren't dead. Tyler Boyd's ninth of the year got Hershey back to a one-goal deficit at 13:06 with assists from Sean Collins and Connor Carrick. 1:01 later, Chris Bourque knotted the game with his 20th of the season on the power play, as Sam Morin was off for holding.
There was no more scoring in the final frame, and neither team could convert in the 3-on-3 overtime, so the game headed to a shootout.
In the shootout, Bourque tallied for Hershey, while All-Star Anthony Stolarz denied Boyd and Christian Djoos. On the other side, Justin Peters couldn't stop Nick Cousins, and Taylor Leier used a nifty backhand move to secure the extra point for the visitors.
Game Notes: With his third-period marker, Chris Bourque became the second player in the league to reach 20 goals this season, joining Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Scott Wilson. Neither Andrew MacDonald or Tim Brent played Monday, as both are dealing with minor injuries. Taylor Leier wore the second Alternate Captain's "A" in Brent's place. With the victory tonight, Lehigh Valley moved to 6-3 this season versus Hershey, including 3-1 at GIANT Center.
Up Next: Lehigh Valley returns to PPL Center Wednesday night at 7:05 to face the Binghamton Senators.
3 Stars: 3) HER-Madison Bowey (Goal, Assist, +2) 2) HER-Scott Gomez (3 Assists) 1) LV-Cole Bardreau (2 Goals)
Brent Baldwin is Lehigh Valley Phantoms beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @BBFlyerdelphia.
