The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-10-5) returned home to PPL Center Saturday night against the Bridgeport Islanders (6-11-3).
Heading into this game, the Phantoms were on a six-game losing streak, while the Islanders were on a seven-game losing streak.
Jon Gillies made his Phantoms debut in goal. He signed a PTO contract earlier this week. An hour before game time, Max Willman was recalled by the Philadelphia Flyers and was scratched for the game.
Joining Willman were Mason Millman, German Rubtsov, Linus Sandin, Sam Ersson, Pat Nagle, Wes Michaud, Ryan MacKinnon, Cam York, and Tyson Foerster. Cam York is out under COVID protocol.
In the first period, the Phantoms started strong. Brennan Saulnier set up Hayden Hodges for a shot but was stopped by Cory Schneider. At 11:41, the Phantoms went on the power play after Jeff Kubiak was called for interference.
The Phantoms took a 1-0 lead with eight minutes left after Jackson Cates (3) made a cross pass to Cal O’Reilly (3), who scored from the backdoor before crashing into the wall. Gerry Mayhew (3) also assisted on O’Reilly’s power-play goal. So far this season, the Phantoms have gotten on the board first but cannot hold the lead.
At 16:39, the Islanders went on the power play after Isaac Ratcliffe was called for slashing. The Islanders capitalized on the power play when Chris Terry (8) found Austin Czarnik (4) and scored from the lower left circle that tied the game 1-1. The game remained tied 1-1 after the first period, with the shots even at eight apiece.
Four minutes into the second period, the Islanders took a 2-1 lead on a tic-tac-toe goal from the left circle between Mitchell Vande Sompel (7), Austin Czarnik (7), and Paul Thompson (1). Thompson scored the goal while Sompel and Czarnik assisted the goal.
Brennan Saulnier, who earlier went to the locker room after getting hit by a puck while blocking a shot. He was also involved in a couple of fights. The first one was when he fought Parker Wotherspoon, and they both ended up with roughing penalties. Saulnier tried to start a fight with Jeff Kubiak, but Kubiak wouldn’t engage with him, leading to an unsportsmanlike penalty on Saulnier, giving the Islanders another power play.
Luckily for Saulnier, the Islanders did not score as the Phantoms’ penalty-killing unit did its job. The Phantoms are the fourth-best in the AHL (82.4%) at killing penalties. The game remained tied 1-1 after two periods. The shots were even at six apiece.
In the third period, the Phantoms’ offense was aggressive. They were controlling the puck, a little bit of passing, and shooting. However, some of their shots were wide left and right of the net. The Phantoms were creating chances to tie the game but were not able to finish the plays.
With 1:55 left, Ian Laperriere made a mistake by pulling goalie Jon Gillies for the extra attacker. Fourteen seconds later, Austin Czarnik (5) stole the puck and from the blue line scored his second goal of the game on an empty-netter for a 3-1 lead.
Ian Laperriere made another poor decision with 1:15 left by pulling Gillies again. Once again, The Islanders put the game away 4-1 when Simon Holmstrom (3) scored another empty-net goal with a backhand shot. Chris Terry (9) and Parker Wotherspoon (6) assisted the goal.
The Phantoms lose to the Islanders 4-1 and have now lost seven straight games. The shots in the third period were 12-7 Phantoms.
The Phantoms finished with 26 shots, 1/5 on the power-play, and Jon Gillies made 17 of 19 saves.
Shortly after the game, the AHL announced that tomorrow’s game against the Hershey Bears is postponed due to COVID protocol affecting the Bears. In addition, the Phantoms’ game on Wednesday against the Bears has also been postponed.
The Phantoms’ next game is at the PPL Center on Friday, December 3rd, against the Charlotte Checkers at 7:05 pm.
