The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (0-5-1) remain winless Friday night in a 5-2 loss to the Utica Comets (4-0) at the Adirondack Bank Center. The Comets are an AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils.
Samuel Ersson started in goal. The scratches for the game were Cooper Zech, Mason Millman, Isaac Ratcliffe, Linus Sandin, Samu Tuomaala, and Ryan MacKinnon.
Both teams were steady in the first period, charging hard to the puck and taking shots. However, the game was scoreless after the first period ended with the shots 10-6 for the Phantoms.
In the second period, the game remained scoreless until the Phantoms broke through with 5:47 left. Off the faceoff, Linus Hogberg (1) was at center and got the puck to Wyatt Wylie (1), who then passed it to Germain Rubtsov (1) as Rubtsov blasted the shot into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Not long after the first goal, the Phantoms took a 2-0 lead with 4:17 left after Germain Rubtsov (1) passed the puck to Hayden Hodgson (1) for a chip-in goal under the left pad of Comets goalie Nico Daws.
With twenty-five seconds left in the second period, the Comets cut the Phantoms lead 2-1 after A.J. Greer (2) made a long pass to Nate Schnarr (2) for the breakaway goal. The Phantoms led 2-1 after the second period. Momentum looked to be shifting in the Comets favor even though the Phantoms had more shots, 10-7.
The Comets dominated the third period. At 1:08, the Comets tied the game 2-2 as Jesper Boqvist’s (2) shot was rebounded by Alexander Holtz (4) for the goal.
A little over two minutes later, the Comets took a 3-2 lead when Nikita Okhotiuk stole the puck then shot from an angle to score the goal. Then, at 12:56 in the third period, the Comets had a two-on-one play after the Phantoms were in the middle of changing lines. Chase De Leo (5) passed to Alexander Holtz (5) for his second goal of the game for a 4-2 lead.
With 3:55 left, the Phantoms pulled Ersson. Off the faceoff, Fabian Zetterlund (1) put the game away with a long-distance empty-net goal that made it 5-2. Unfortunately, the Phantoms were unable to keep up with the Comets and lost 5-2. The Phantoms remain winless this season. The third-period shots were 11-7 Phantoms.
While the Phantoms did win the battle in shots 33-22, they could not carry momentum late in the second period and all of the third. Samuel Ersson made 17 of 21 saves, and the Phantoms were 0-3 on the power play.
The Phantoms return home to the PPL Center tonight against the Syracuse Crunch at 7:05 pm.
