The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (10-12-6-2) closed out the weekend Sunday afternoon against the Toronto Marlies (17-10-1-1) at PPL Center. This was the Phantom’s third straight game and the second meeting with the Marlies this year.
The Marlies beat the Phantoms 3-2 on November 20th, and the Phantoms were looking to tie the season series. Before the game, Connor Bunnaman was recalled to the Flyers Taxi Squad.
Garrett Metcalf started in goal, and the scratches were Cooper Zech, Logan Day, Connor Bunnaman, Hayden Hodgson, Garrett Wilson, Tyson Foerster, Sam Ersson, and Pat Nagle.
Early in the first period, Cal O’Reilly and Brennan Saulnier had chances to score but were stopped by Erik Kallgren. Then, at 11:19, the Marlies went on the power-play after Adam Clendening was called for tripping. A minute later, Joseph Duszak (20) took a shot that hit the pad of Garrett Metcalf before Joey Anderson (11) rebounded the puck and scored the power-play goal for a 1-0 lead. Brett Seney (11) was credited with the secondary assist.
Forty-one seconds later, the Phantoms rushed to the Marlies zone. Brennan Saulnier skated with the puck behind the net and turned around to pass it to Nick Lappin, but hit the stick of Carl Dahlstrom for the goal that tied the game 1-1 with 7:05 left.
Both teams were hitting one another and taking shots. Then, with 1:48 left, Antti Suomela (4) had the puck and made a no-look, between-the-legs pass to Joey Anderson (12) for his second goal of the game and a 2-1 lead. The Phantoms trailed 2-1 after the first period with the shots 11-8 Marlies.
A minute and twelve seconds into the second period, Cal O’Reilly (14) intercepted the puck and found Wade Allison (2), who came across Erik Kallgren and flipped the puck into the net that tied the game 2-2. The Phantoms were looking for more. Charlie Gerard had a couple of chances to score but was denied by Kallgren.
With 11:34 left, Brennan Saulnier and Richard Clune fought like Tyson and Holyfield going at it. The Phantoms had two more chances to score, but it didn’t happen. Garrett Metcalf made some great saves, including robbing Jack Kopacka’s shot.
Late in the second period, the Phantoms went on the power-play Kristiāns Rubīns was called for interference. The Phantoms had 41-seconds left as the second period ended tied 2-2. The shots were 18-17 Phantoms.
Wade Allison, Alex Kile, and Max Willman had chances to score in the third period but were denied by Kallgren. With 6:29 left, Isaac Ratcliff, from behind the boards, finds Alex Kile cutting across the net and scores to give the Phantoms a 3-2 lead.
After that goal, the Marlies were on the attack. With 2:01 left, Brett Seney (13) had the puck, picked his shot with traffic in front of him, and scored to tie the game again 3-3. Garrett Metcalf was unable to see the puck with traffic in front of him. The score was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation with the shots 26-25 Marlies.
However, the Phantoms were up against the wall after Maksim Sushko was called for roughing, giving the Marlies a four-on-three advantage. In overtime, Alex Steeves (9) took a shot that hit Metcalf, who was trying to poke the puck out of play, but Joey Anderson (13) retrieved it and scored with a backhander that gave the Marlies a 4-3 win.
After the game, Brennan Saulnier and Richard Clune were fighting again, and both teams broke it up. The Marlies are on a six-game winning streak. The Phantoms finished the game with 25 shots, 0/3 on the power-play, and Garrett Metcalf made 23 saves.
The Phantoms begin a five-game road trip starting Wednesday, January 19th, against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:05 pm from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
