Hershey has the playoff reputation, but there is very little separating the Bears and Lehigh Valley this season heading into tonight’s win-or-go-home Game 5 at Giant Center.
The best-of-five Atlantic Division semifinal series is tied 2-2. Opening face-off is at 5 p.m.
The underdog Phantoms, who defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton two games to none in an opening-round playoff series while Hershey rested, have caused the Bears problems at times with their speed and size.
But Lehigh Valley could not close out the defending Calder Cup champions in Game 4 in Allentown on Friday night, losing 6-4 to a Hershey team that made some serious lineup tweaks.
Todd Nelson, who guided the Bears to their last two Calder Cup titles, made a bold move in replacing Hunter Shepard in goal.
Shepard’s replacement, Clay Stevenson, responded with 28 saves in Game 4 as Hershey built a 6-2 lead before the Phantoms scored a pair of late goals.
Having watched his team allowe three shorthanded goals in consecutive defeats in Game 2 and Game 3, Nelson dressed seven defensemen on Friday.
Nelson then inserted one of them, Brad Hunt, on a power play that produced two goals. Hershey had scored just one in the first three games.
Nelson also replaced veteran forward Mike Sgarbossa, who was minus-5 in the first three games, with another veteran, Garrett Roe.
If you include the regular season, Hershey and Lehigh Valley have met 14 times. The Bears are 7-6-1-0 vs. the Phantoms.
Hershey won 3-0 at Giant Center in Game 1.
Lehigh Valley prevailed 3-1 at Giant Center in Game 2.
Again, there isn’t much separating these teams heading into tonight.
NOTES: Hershey has won eight consecutive playoff series and this will be the 103rd home playoff game at Giant Center, where the Bears are 67-35. … Hershey forward Hendrix Lapierre, the team’s MVP in last season’s Calder Cup playoff run after amassing 22 points (seven goals, 15 assist), has yet to score a goal in this series. Lapierre has three assists. … Bears forward Alex Limoges leads the team in postseason scoring with a goal and three assists. … Keep an eye on Lehigh Valley forwards Zayde Wisdom and Jacob Gaucher, who have combined for five goals in the series and all three of the Phantoms’ shorthanded goals. Both players are +5 in the series.
