The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (5-11-4-1) won their first shootout of the season Sunday afternoon against the Hartford Wolf Pack (12-4-2-1) at the PPL Center.
The Phantoms were coming off ending an eight-game losing streak Saturday night. Jackson Cates returned to the Phantoms and was in the lineup. Meanwhile, Felix Sandstrom left Saturday’s game with a non-COVID illness, and Kirill Ustimenko was the backup to Pat Nagle.
The scratches for the game were Cooper Zech, Linus Sandin, Brennan Saulnier, Sam Ersson, Felix Sandstrom, and Tyson Foerster.
The Phantoms picked up where they left off Saturday night, taking more shots and fewer passes. With 8:38 left in the first period, Gerry Mayhew nearly put the Phantoms on the board with a wrap-around net, but Adam Huska secured the puck.
Then at 18:40, the Phantoms went on the power play after Jonny Brodzinski was called for hooking. Off the faceoff, Gerry Mayhew (9) snipes a shot to the upper right corner for the power-play goal that put the Phantoms up 1-0. Adam Clendening (7) and Garrett Wilson (8) assisted the goal.
The Phantoms led 1-0 after the first period, leading the shots 14-5. They did a great job communicating with one another and took more shots than passes.
Early in the second period, the Phantoms were in the Wolf Pack’s zone, taking shots when the opportunity presented itself.
However, the Wolf Pack tied the game 1-1 with 17:37 by Morgan Barron (7). The Wolf Pack and Phantoms fought for the puck, blocking Pat Nagle’s vision. Then, Barron got the puck and had an angle on his shot for the goal. Tim Gettinger (6) and Braden Schneider (8) assisted Barron’s goal. The Wolf Pack gained momentum after the goal.
Both teams were trading shots, grinding, and exhausted. Then, in tic-tac-toe fashion, the Phantoms broke the tie with 11:31 left after Gerry Mayhew (4) went to Jackson Cates (4), before finding Garrett Wilson (5), who blasted the shot to the right side for the goal and a 2-1 lead.
The Phantoms kept pounding the Wolf Pack’s zone. With 6:44 left in the second period, Hayden Hodges poked the puck away for Isaac Ratcliffe (3) to steal it on the breakaway, going top shelf for a 3-1 lead. Hayden Hodgson (4) and Wyatte Wylie (2) assisted the goal.
Then, with 1:12 left in the second period, the Wolf Pack set up in the Phantoms zone as Tarmo Reunanen (8) made a cross pass to Austin Rueschhoff (2) for a tap in goal to the left circle, cutting the Phantoms lead 3-2. After two periods, the score remained 3-2, with the Phantoms leading the shots 11-6.
While the Phantoms had a good first period, they pulled back, allowing Hartford in the game. Between both teams, they were fatigued and making mistakes with puck control.
This is expected when these teams haven’t played in over a week. However, the rest helped the Phantoms as their play improved.
Both teams had scoring chances in the third period but were denied by both goalies. Pat Nagle made some great saves to keep it a one-goal game. However, late in the third period, the Phantoms committed their first penalty on an elbowing call against Hayden Hodges.
The penalty gave the Wolf Pack life, and with 2:48 left, Zac Jones (4) went between Cam York and Jackson Cates, took a shot then rebounded his own shot, and scored from the right corner that tied the game 3-3. The game headed to overtime tied 3-3 with the shots in favor of the Wolf Pack 6-3. Unfortunately, the Phantoms let the Wolf Pack hang around, and it cost them. They need to do a better job putting games away.
Late in overtime, Cal O’Reilly had a chance to end the game, but Zac Jones blocked the shot; thus, the game went into a shootout. Wade Allison was first for the Phantoms to score.
Pat Nagle denied Zac Jones and Tim Gettinger. Then, finally, Adam Clendening scored to seal a 4-3 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The Phantoms finished the afternoon with 30 shots, 1/2 on the power-play, and Pat Nagle played a great game, making 18 of 21 saves.
The Phantoms will be back at PPL Center this Wednesday, December 15th, against the Belleville Senators at 7:05 pm.
