The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (6-11-4-2) three-game win streak ended Saturday night in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Rochester Americans (14-8) in front of 5,841 fans at the PPL Center.
This was the second meeting between these teams. Their last meeting happened on November 19th, when the Phantoms lost to the Americans 5-4.
Sam Ersson started in goal. It is his first start since sustaining a lower-body injury on October 29th, while Pat Nagle was the backup.
Scratches for the game were Cooper Zech, Mason Millman, Wade Allison, Nick Lappin, Kirill Ustimenko, and Tyson Foerster.
In the first period, Cam York made a pass to Connor Bunnaman. However, he was hesitant about shooting the puck and gave it back to Cam York. On the second try, York (7) had three Rochester players on him and found Bunnaman (3) as he flicked the puck top shelf for the goal that put the Phantoms up 1-0 with 11:45 left. Gerry Mayhew (6) also assisted Bunnaman’s goal.
Sam Ersson made some great saves, including the Americans shooting three times in one play, and he denied them. The Phantoms led 1-0 after the first period, and the shots were 11-7 Americans. The Phantoms got off to a slow start but picked it up as the period went along.
In the second period, the Americans rushed to the Phantoms’ zone. With 11:37 left, Sam Ersson stopped two shots with traffic around him, including landing on Garrett Wilson to keep the game 1-0.
Then, the Phantoms had three chances to add to their lead. First, Maksim Sushko ripped a shot that hit the pad of Aaron Dell, and Isaac Ratcliffe had two breakaway opportunities to score. However, Aaron Dell came away from his net to break up the first one, and Mattias Samuelsson got his stick in to knock the puck away from Ratcliffe.
With 9:06 left, Cam York passed the puck to Garrett Wilson for the shot, but Aaron Dell robbed him. At 10:44, the Phantoms went on the power-play after Michael Mersch was called for tripping. While on the power play, Peyton Krebs intercepted the puck for a shorthand breakaway, but Sam Ersson made a glove save.
At 14:30, the Americans went on their first power play on an interference call on Garrett Wilson. Then, shortly after the power-play expired, the Americans tied the game with 3:24 left on a tic-tac-toe goal. Arttu Ruotsalainen (2) sent the puck to Brandon Biro (8).
Biro’s shot hit Logan Day before Michael Mersch (13), who was on one knee, had an open net in front of him for the goal. However, Sam Ersson had traffic all over him and didn’t see the puck until it was too late.
The Americans had three more opportunities to break the tie; however, Ersson made those saves to keep the game tied 1-1 after two periods. The shots were 11-7 Americans. While the Phantoms had opportunities to add to their lead, the Americans were better offensively.
Before the third period started, Pat Nagle replaced Ersson. It was unknown why Ersson was pulled out of the game.
Forty-six seconds in the third period, off the faceoff, Charlie Gerard (1) made a cross-pass to Cal O’Reilly (7), whose shot was blocked before being rebounded by Maksim Sushko (4) as Sushko finished the play going top shelf to put the Phantoms back on top 2-1.
The Phantoms were dominating a good portion of the third period. Isaac Ratcliffe, Brennan Saulnier, Garrett Wilson, and Adam Clendening had chances to extend the lead. However, Aaron Dull was making some tremendous saves.
With 6:13 left, Connor Bunnaman took a shot from the blue line and almost went until Dull made a glove save falling down. With 4:44 left, Dull denied Linus Sandin’s shot.
The Americans were on the move with 3:23 left when Ethan Prow’s (11) pass to Michael Mersch (14), who scored down low for his second goal of the game that tied it up 2-2. Ryan MacInnis (7) also assisted Mersch’s goal.
Then with 1:20 left, the Americans took a 3-2 lead after Sean Malone (9) rebounded Michael Mersch’s (9) shot and scored down low to the right circle. Ryan MacInnis (8) also picked up the assist on Malone’s goal.
The Phantoms found a way to tie the game 3-3 with 50-seconds left when Adam Clendening (8) sent the puck that hit the stanchion and went in Garrett Wilson’s (6) direction before blasting the puck top shelf for the goal. The game went to overtime tied 3-3. The shots were 14-3 Phantoms.
Overtime did not settle the score, and the game went into a shootout. Matt Strome missed the first, then Arttu Ruotsalainen scored.
In round two, Gerry Mayhew scored, but so did JJ Peterka. Adam Clendening was the last hope for the Phantoms, and his shot went wide, and the Americans defeated the Phantoms 4-3.
The Phantoms finished the night with 30 shots and 0/2 on the power-play, while Sam Ersson played a great game, making 21 of 22 saves. Pat Nagle made 8 of 10 saves. The Phantoms power-play unit stopped three penalties. They are ranked ninth in the league (80.8%) in penalty kills.
The Phantom’s next game is on Tuesday, December 21st, from the PPL Center against the Hershey Bears at 7:05 pm.
