The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (18-22-7-3) continued their three-game homestand Friday night with the first of two games against the Charlotte Checkers (28-21-3) at the PPL Center.
On Thursday, the Phantoms released forward Alexis D’Aoust from his PTO contract, and he signed with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Before the game started, the AHL suspended forward Hayden Hodgson for three games for an elbowing incident at Wednesday night’s game against Providence. In addition, forward Tanner Laczynski was out with an illness (non-COVID).
Hayden Hodgson and Tanner Laczynski joined Cooper Zech, Brennan Saulnier, Nick Lappin, Sam Ersson, Alex Kile, Tyson Foerster, and Kirill Ustimenko were out for the game.
The good news the Phantoms received was forwards Linus Sandin, German Rubtsov, and goalie Felix Sandstrom returned to action. Sandstrom started in goal with Pat Nagle as the backup. Spencer Knight started in goal for the Charlotte Checkers.
The Phantoms got off to a hot start three minutes into the first period when they were in Charlotte’s zone. Isaac Ratcliffe (9) had the puck and was right behind the goal net and found Matt Strome (4) for a one-timer past the left side of Spencer Knight for a 1-0 lead. Connor Bunnaman (5) earned the secondary assist.
Then, the Phantoms cooled off, and the Checkers caught fire. Two minutes after the Phantoms scored, Logan Hutsko (11) tipped Matt Kiersted’s (14) shot from the right slot that tied the game 1-1. Felix Sandstrom had traffic in front of him before the goal was scored, and Alexander True (19) earned the secondary assist. With 13:50 left, Lehigh Valley defenseman Adam Clendening was called for tripping, putting the Checkers on the power-play.
The Checkers capitalized on the power-play in a tic-tac-toe style when Owen Tippett (7) went to Scott Wilson (13) before finding Zac Dalpe (21) with a quick release and past the right slot of Sandstrom for a 2-1 lead.
Charlotte was doing a good job hustling for the puck and keeping Lehigh Valley on edge. With 9:14 left, Morgan Frost shot the puck, but it went over Knight. After that, the Checkers were in control and pounding Lehigh Valley’s zone.
The Phantoms had a couple of chances to tie the game on the power-play but could not score. With 1:13 left, Charlotte goalie Spencer Knight stopped Cal O’Reilly’s shot.
Then, made another great save with 21-seconds left, robbing Matt Strome’s shot with a diving save, keeping the game 2-1. The Phantoms trailed the Checkers 2-1 after one period, with the Checkers leading the shots 13-10.
Isaac Ratcliffe almost scored in the second period, but his shot went over Knight’s right shoulder and hit the top bar. Then, with 17:54 left, Henry Bowlby (10) rushed up toward Lehigh Valley’s zone from the left side before cutting across the ice and putting the puck past Sandstrom’s right side, extending Charlotte’s lead 3-1. The goal was unique because Bowlby had four Lehigh Valley players on him, and he still scored the goal.
The line changes, without Hodgson, and Laczynski’s presence affected the team. The Checkers kept pounding the Phantoms’ zone, and Felix Sandstrom had no help from the defense. Finally, with 12:43 left, Adam Clendening limped off the ice after blocking a shot but stayed in the game.
With 12:05 left, Charlotte forward Chase Priskie (5) had the puck and weaved around several Lehigh Valley players, and fired the puck past the left glove of Sandstrom for a 4-1 lead. The Phantoms were outplayed and outmatched.
With 3:44 left, Cal O’Reilly stole the puck and had a breakaway but missed the shot upstairs. That gave the Phantoms a little bit of momentum. Then with 1:48 left, Matt Strome (5) tipped Cam York’s (10) shot in from the left point, cutting the Checkers lead 4-2. The Phantoms trailed 4-2 after two periods, and the shots were 23-14 Checkers.
Felix Sandstrom stopped Scott Wilson’s shot three minutes into the third period. The Phantoms were aggressively chasing the Checkers, who were killing the clock.
When the Phantoms did get the puck, the Checkers’ players stepped up and gained control of the puck, making it harder for the Phantoms to get back into the game.
With 12:53 left, Charlie Gerard initially scored from the right side. However, his goal was denied for goalie interference on Cal O’Reilly.
The replay showed that Jacob Friend nudged O’Reilly into Spencer Knight. Unfortunately, the refs were not doing a good job officiating the game, which has been a problem all season long.
Wyatte Wylie, Cal O’Reilly, and Adam Clendening had chances to score, but Spencer Knight stopped their shots. With 3:25 left, Ian Lapierre pulled Felix Sandstrom for an extra attacker. Unfortunately, it backfired with a minute left when Cole Schwindt (14) got the puck from Max McCormick (11) and sprinted towards the empty net, and scored for a 5-2 win.
The Phantoms have now lost four straight games. They finished the game with 22 shots, 0/2 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom made 27 of 31 saves. The Phantoms and Checkers play game two today at 7:05 pm.
