The Lehigh Valley Phantoms mirror the Hershey Bears, or at least that’s their goal. They love to forecheck, play physical, and let the defense set up the offense. The problem is the Phantoms don’t do it well or nearly as well as the Bears, and it showed in Game 1. “They were calm, we weren’t. We turned the puck over, they didn’t,” head coach Ian Laperriere noted after the 3-0 loss.
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The thing is, the gap isn’t that big. The Phantoms barely made it to the playoffs, and the Bears are the reigning Calder Cup champions, yet this series is shaping up to be a close one following a tight first game. “It was a good hockey game tonight, both teams played well,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson mentioned after the game. The Phantoms can steal a few games and pull off the upset in the five-game matchup.
Disciplined Hockey Makes All the Difference
The big difference in Game 1 was the penalties. The Phantoms didn’t commit many while the Bears had a near-flawless game. The few mistakes the Phantoms made, the Bears took advantage of. The first goal of the game was scored on a delayed penalty with Chase Priskie firing the puck to the back of the net, and that goal set the tone for how things would play out. “We didn’t manage the puck properly,” Laperriere stated after the defeat.
The Phantoms must take advantage of the few opportunities they’ll receive in this series. To start the third period of the previous game, they had a five-on-three power play and failed to score. The Bears scored seconds later to put the game out of reach. Taking advantage of the man advantage is where the Phantoms will win this series.
Flyers Prospects Must Make Their Mark
The Phantoms look like a great team, notably in recent weeks, because of the youth movement. It’s not a coincidence that their strong play down the stretch and their ability to upset the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the previous series went hand in hand with a few prospect call-ups.
Jett Luchanko stepped up on the wing and was the best skater in the series against the Penguins, distributing four assists in the two-game sweep. Alex Bump is a scorer whom the Philadelphia Flyers are watching closely, someone who, after signing his entry-level contract in April, might start next season not in the American Hockey League (AHL) but on the NHL team. Throw that in with a young team with plenty of skaters still developing, and the Phantoms can still rebound in this series.
The Bears did a great job keeping the young skaters in check, preventing Luchanko from making passes or Bump from firing shots on the net. It’s why the prospects will learn to pivot, and the team will adjust for the rest of the series. “We have a young team, we need to learn and move forward,” Lapierriere noted.
Phantoms Can Play the Same Style
Both the Bears and Phantoms look to forecheck and set the tone off of it. They play two-way hockey and a physical game, and it explains why Game 1 saw plenty of scrums following the whistles. “We need to beat them at their own game,” Lapierriere stated, and the Bears play that game better than anyone else.
The only issue is in the minor details. The Bears forecheck with a mission and structure, while the Phantoms do it with chaos. The Bears backcheck and force turnovers in all three zones to set up the offense, while the Phantoms check hard but don’t chase down the play. It’s why this series, which can feature many close games, can still end up one-sided.
Gahagen vs Shepard
This series can easily become a goaltending duel. Hunter Shepard had a 27-save shutout while Parker Gahagen saved 24 shots in the first game. Gahagen was outdueled, but as he proved in the previous series, he can give the Phantoms an edge.
Gahagen had a great series against the Penguins, where he allowed only four goals on 89 shots. Likewise, Game 1 was a great night for him. The few mistakes he made ended up costing the Phantoms in a game where Shepard was flawless at the other end of the ice. However, if Gahagen keeps it up, he’ll steal a few games of his own.
The only question is if Shepard will be great throughout the series as well. He had an .891 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.80 goals-against average (GAA). However, the playoffs are here, and he’s ready to kick it into another gear and lead the Bears on another run, as he did in 2023 and 2024.
Why Hershey Still Has the Advantage
The Bears play the right way. It’s not just with the forecheck setting up the offense. It’s with how they move the puck. From their zone exits to their passes that start rushes to their passing within the offensive zone to find the open skater, the Bears play like a team that’s been together for years, even though the AHL is where rosters change all the time.
The Phantoms want to be what the Bears are. For them to get there, they still have to perfect their passing and ability to move the puck up the ice. The Phantoms will chip and chase regardless of the situation, while the Bears, if needed, will control the puck behind their net or handle it into the offensive zone. It’s the small details that separate the best from the middle of the pack, and in the playoffs, it’s what separates the Bears from the Phantoms.
