The Hershey Bears defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-0 Saturday night in the Bears’ final game of 2023. The Bears now hold an 11-point lead in the AHL standings and will end the calendar year with an incredible 27-6-0 record.
Bears goaltender Clay Stevenson started in net for the second night in a row and played a critical role in the win, making a whopping 37 saves against the Phantoms to earn him First Star of the Game honors. With five spotless games this season, Stevenson leads all AHL goaltenders in shutouts.
Brick. By. Brick. 🧱
Mud’s got a share of a Bears rookie goalie record! pic.twitter.com/jq5I4paxPp
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 31, 2023
Stevenson started both games of the Bears back-to-back weekend after Hunter Shepard received a call-up to the Capitals early Saturday morning. While technically serving as Hershey’s ‘backup’ netminder, Stevenson has started in 17 of the Bears’ 33 games this year, as a plethora of Caps netminder injuries left Shepard up in Washington.
Stevenson faced a season-high 37 shots from the Phantoms, including 15 in the third period, stopping all of them to help his team get the win. He has won three of four matchups against Lehigh Valley this year, recording a shutout each time.
Playing in his first full season in the AHL, Stevenson has proven one of the league’s top goaltenders. Not only does he lead the league in shutouts, but his .937 save percentage and 1.70 goals against average also top the AHL charts.
Stevenson’s perfect performance Saturday also tied him for the Bears’ record for most shutouts by a rookie. He shares the honor with former Bears goaltenders Vitek Vanecek and Ron Hextall.
Meanwhile, defenseman Lucas Johansen might have scored the wildest goal of the AHL season so far, rainbowing a puck behind the goaltender from the defensive zone for his second straight game with a goal.
THAT’S what happened 🤯@LucasJohansen97 is credited with his second of the season on the flukiest goal we’ve seen this year!
🍎Day https://t.co/on1Ud8qUBj pic.twitter.com/0JuFqGri0a
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 31, 2023
Other highlights from the game included Matt Strome scoring twice for his first goals of the season, with Jake Massie also scoring his first of the year.
Here are the full game highlights provided by the Phantoms:
Below is the full game recap via press release:
BEARS CLOSE OUT 2023 WITH 4-0 WIN OVER PHANTOMS
Strome scores twice for Hershey, Stevenson earns league-leading fifth shutout and third against Lehigh Valley
(Allentown, PA – Dec. 30, 2023) – A fluky goal, a pair of tallies from Matt Strome, and a 37-save night from Clay Stevenson gave the Hershey Bears (27-6-0-0) a 4-0 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (13-12-4-1) on Saturday night at PPL Center. Hershey closed out the 2023 portion of the season calendar with its eighth consecutive win and sits atop the American Hockey League standings, and is now 4-1-0-0 against Lehigh Valley in head-to-head action.
Stevenson’s shutout was his league-leading fifth of the season, which tied a Bears single-season rookie record, previously shared between Ron Hextall (1985-86) and Vitek Vanecek (2016-17). All three of Stevenson’s wins against Lehigh Valley have come via shutout; he has a 3-1-0 record against the Phantoms with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .964 save percentage.
In addition to their 27 wins so far, the Bears’ 54 points in the standings is also the most by the club through its first 33 games of any season in its 86-year history of play in the AHL.
After playing through a 0-0 first period, the Bears struck first on a bizarre play in the middle frame when Lucas Johansen’s breakout pass from the defensive zone was ramped into the air off a Lehigh Valley skater in neutral ice and arched into the air before dropping through the legs of Cal Petersen and into the net at 3:44 for Johansen’s second of the season. Logan Day earned the lone assist on the goal.
Strome then nabbed his first of the season early in the third period when Johansen moved the puck from the left point across to Vincent Iorio, who threw the puck off the end boards at the right side of the cage, where Strome lifted the puck and then batted it in underneath the crossbar at 3:10.
Strome bagged his second of the evening at 7:58 from Bogdan Trineyev and Riley Sutter. For Strome it was his second career two-goal game in the AHL, while Sutter earned his 13th point of the season, establishing a new personal single-season high.
Jake Massie capped the scoring with his first of the season at 11:26 when he forced a turnover against Ronnie Attard at the Hershey blue line and raced up ice with the puck before beating Petersen.
Shots finished 37-17 in favor of the Phantoms. Stevenson stopped all 37 shots – a new AHL career-high for the netminder – to earn his 12th victory of the season for the Bears; Petersen took the loss for Lehigh Valley with a 13-for-17 effort. Hershey went 0-for-2 on the power play; the Phantoms went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
Headline Photo: Hershey Bears / Tori Hartman
