The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-7-2) visited Dunkin’ Donuts Center for the first time Friday night against the Providence Bruins (5-4-1-1).
Kirill Ustimenko made his first start of the season in goal. The scratches for the game were Adam Clendening, Mason Millman, Jackson Cates, Linus Sandin, Wyatte Wylie, Sam Ersson, Charlie Gerard, and Tyson Foerster.
Early in the first period, the Phantoms showed aggressiveness. Center Cal O’Reilly had a breakaway, but his shot missed wide left. The Bruins went on the power play 55-seconds in the game after Connor Bunnaman was called for high-sticking.
During the power play, Kirill Ustimenko retrieved the puck, but the Bruins were pouncing on him. Samuel Asselin (5) stole the puck before finding a wide-open Matt Filipe (1) with an open net in front of him to go up 1-0.
Then, the Bruins went on another power play, and the Phantoms killed it. At 11:26, Morgan Frost headed to the penalty box for tripping, giving the Bruins their third power play of the first period.
At 7:03, the Bruins took a 2-0 lead after Urho Vaakanainen (2) passed the puck to Steven Fogarty (4), who flipped the puck past the left skate of Ustimenko. At 13:58, the Phantoms went on their first power play Matt Filipe was called for high-sticking. However, the Phantoms were unable to capitalize on it and trailed the Bruins 2-0. The Bruins had a 17-6 shot advantage.
In the second period, the Phantoms cut the Bruins lead with 15:33 left after Egor Zamula’s (5) shot was tipped in by Garrett Wilson (2). A minute later, the Phantoms had a miscommunication and were sloppy with the puck. The Bruins got the puck by Steven Fogarty (5) and passed it to Zach Senyshyn (2), who faked Ustimenko as he fell and Senyshyn scored a shorthanded goal for a 3-1 lead.
With 6:53 left, Brennan Saulnier nearly had a goal, but Jon Gillies made the save. Then the Bruins were on the rush. Jesper Froden (6) drew a couple of the Phantoms’ players with him before sending the puck to Zach Senyshyn (3) for his second goal of the game 4-1.
Late in the second period, Garrett Wilson (6) rushed for the puck and took control of it. He sent the puck to Gerry Mayhew (6), and with no one around him, he buried the shot to the right slot that cut the Bruins lead 4-2. The score remained 4-2 after two periods with the shots 15-8 Phantoms.
In the third period, Felix Sandstrom replaced Ustimenko. A minute into the third period, Brady Lyle (2) made a turnaround backhand pass to Jack Studnicka (2) for the snipe to the bottom left circle for a 5-2 lead.
Midway through the third period, Matthew Strome (1) found Brennan Saulnier (1) for a shot to the bottom right circle, making it a two-goal game 5-3. The Phantoms were playing with urgency and were fighting to get back into this game.
However, with two minutes left, Felix Sandstrom was pulled. The Bruins retrieved the puck by Jesper Froden (7) with a long pass to Jake Senyshyn (4) for an empty-net goal to complete the hat trick 6-3.
The fourth fight broke out between the two teams by Hayden Hodges and Nick Wolf. Not much else happened afterward, and the Phantoms lost 6-3. The shots in the third period were 15-13 Bruins.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms goalie Kirill Ustimenko had a rough first start, making 21 of 25 saves. Felix Sandstrom made 13 of 14 saves, and the Phantoms were 0 and 5 on the power play.
The Phantoms return to the PPL Center tonight at 7:05 pm against the Springfield Thunderbirds.
