The shorthanded Hershey Bears were unable to score for a second straight day, falling to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 1-0 in the shootout, Sunday.
The Bears have not lost back-to-back games since January 13 and 15, where they fell in the shootout both nights to the Phantoms and the Bridgeport Islanders. The Bears now have a 41-10-4 record.
Bears’ goaltender Clay Stevenson was the obvious positive in this game. Playing on his 25th birthday, Stevenson’s 18 saves between regulation and overtime earned him his seventh shutout, tying him with Nick Damore and Alfie Moore for the Bears’ franchise record of most shutouts in a single season.
Along with his league-leading seventh shutout, Stevenson leads the AHL in save percentage (.932) and goals against average (1.82).
After 65 minutes of physical play featuring 30 penalty minutes between the two teams, the game headed into a decisive shootout. As the home team, the Phantoms elected to shoot first.
Phantoms’ Jon-Randlal Avon shot first against Stevenson and scored. Bears’ Kevin O’Neil followed that up with a goal for Hershey.
Wade Allison shot for the Phantoms in the second round, where he also managed to beat Stevenson. Joe Snively shot second for the Bears but unfortunately did not score.
Lehigh Valley’s Samu Tuomaala and Hershey’s Alex Limoges shot in the third round where both forwards failed to hit the net, awarding Lehigh Valley the 2-1 shootout victory.
Here were the lines:
Today's projected lineup against the Phantoms📝
Bogdan Trineyev is tied for the active team scoring lead against the Phantoms with five points (2g, 3a)!
Catch today's broadcast:
🖥️ https://t.co/HaxQBmLCRZ
📻@FroggyValley, @foxsports1460am, @WOYK1350 pic.twitter.com/bwfhMtMB6o— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) March 3, 2024
The Bears are still missing four key players in Ethen Frank, Mike Sgarbossa, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Hendrix Lapierre. Between the four, they have scored 42 goals and 110 points during the 2023-24 season.
Below is the Bears’ press release:
STEVENSON MATCHES FRANCHISE RECORD, BUT BEARS SUFFER 1-0 SHOOTOUT LOSS TO PHANTOMS
Netminder earns seventh shutout of the season for Hershey to match Nick Damore and Alfie Moore
(Hershey, PA – March 3, 2024) – The Hershey Bears (41-10-0-4) were held off the scoreboard in regulation for the second consecutive game, but goaltender Clay Stevenson was credited with his seventh shutout of the season to tie a franchise mark as Hershey fell 1-0 in the shootout to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (23-22-5-2) on Sunday afternoon at PPL Center.
Hershey’s record against Lehigh Valley is now 6-2-0-2; the remaining two games in the regular season series against the Phantoms will be played on home ice at GIANT Center in April.
Despite the loss, Hershey’s Magic Number has been reduced to six points by extending the game past regulation and Springfield sustaining a 4-1 loss to Bridgeport. After falling 1-0 in regulation on Saturday night at home, the Bears are now 9-0-0-1 following a regulation loss.
Stevenson and Cal Petersen dueled through the entirety of regulation and overtime by stopping everything thrown their way, with Stevenson receiving credit for a 17-save shutout, and Petersen earning a 16-save clean sheet through 65 minutes.
Stevenson’s shutout marked his seventh of the season, tying Alfie Moore (1938-39) and Nick Damore (1944-45) for the franchise single-season mark, and adding to his record-setting club totals for a rookie netminder.
Lehigh Valley elected to shoot first in the penalty shot contest, and Jon-Randall Avon scored for the hosts. Hershey answered with a strike from Kevin O’Neil, but Wade Allison put the Phantoms ahead in the second round, and Joe Snively was unable to level the score. Stevenson kept Hershey’s hopes alive in the third round by stopping Samu Tuomaala, but Petersen stonewalled Limoges to prevent the Bears from extending the shootout.
Shots finished 18-16 in favor of Lehigh Valley. The Bears went 0-for-6 on the power play; the Phantoms went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
