On Saturday night, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (0-3) had their home opener at the PPL Center against the Hartford Wolf Pack (3-1). Felix Sandstrom started at goal.
In the first period, the game seemed to be going the Phantoms way. Felix Sandstrom was making good saves, and the play was aggressive. With under a minute left in the first period, center Morgan Frost intercepted the puck before passing it to Max Willman.
Max Willman (1) was on the breakaway and scored under the right skate of Wolf Pack goalie Adam Huska for a 1-0 lead with thirty-six seconds left. Morgan Frost (1) assisted Willman’s goal. The Phantoms led 1-0 after the first period. The shots were 12-8 Wolf Pack.
In the second period, the Wolf Pack tied the game 1-1. Wolf Pack right-winger Ty Ronning was attempting to pass the puck to right-winger Tanner Fritz. Instead, the puck hit Sandstrom’s pad before Phantoms left-winger Garrett Wilson kicked it in the net, and the goal went to Ty Ronning (1). The assists went to Lauri Pajuniemi (1) and Tanner Fritz (1).
With 11:59 left, Wolf Pack left-winger P.C. Labrie and Phantoms forward Brennan Saulnier traded punches, and both went to the penalty box. Late in the second period, Phantoms Isaac Ratcliffe was called for high-sticking and went to the penalty box. The Wolf Pack had 1:49 left on the power play to start the third period tied 1-1. The shots were 12-7 Wolf Pack.
The Wolf Pack were unable to score on the power play in the third period. Then they almost broke the tie with 7:26 left, but Felix Sandstrom got to the puck in time, keeping it from going into the net.
With 5:02 left in the third period off the faceoff in the Phantoms zone, Wolf Pack right-winger Anthony Greco attempted to take the puck away from the Phantoms. Instead, Wolf Pack right-winger Jonny Brodzinski (1) got control of the puck and scored to break the tie 2-1. Anthony Greco (2) and Tim Gettinger (1) assisted Brodzinski’s goal.
Late in the third period, Phantoms forward Brennan Saulnier went to hit Jonny Brodzinski and missed. Then, Wolf Pack defensemen Anthony Bitetto delivered a cheap shot to the head of Brennan Saulnier, sending him to the ice where he hit his head hard.
Saulnier was stunned and slowly got up but had to be helped off the ice. The Phantoms went on the power play after Bitetto was called for interference.
Then, the Phantoms pulled Felix Sandstrom for a 6-4 power play. However, they made a mistake by passing the puck too much and not enough shooting. When the power play was over, Ty Ronning (1) made a long pass to Anthony Bitetto (1), who was by himself and scored the empty-net goal for a 3-1 lead with thirty-three seconds left.
After the goal, Phantoms left-winger Garrett Wilson jumped Bitetto and threw several good punches. However, Wilson was called for fighting (five minutes), misconduct (five minutes), and a game misconduct instigator (ten minutes).
Because Wilson was called for game misconduct instigator, he will be suspended for today’s game because the penalty happened with under five minutes left in the game. The Wolf Pack defeated the Phantoms 3-1. The shots were 17-7 Wolf Pack.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms goalie Felix Sandstrom had a good night, making 38 of 40 saves. The Phantoms were 0-3 on the power play. The total shots were 41-22 Wolf Pack.
The Phantoms return to the PPL Center today at 3:05 pm against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
