The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (20-24-7-3) wrapped up a two-game homestand Saturday night at the PPL Center against the Hartford Wolf Pack (27-17-5).
This was the sixth meeting between these two teams, with the Phantoms leading the season series 3-2. The Phantoms were looking to build momentum after a come-from-behind win against the Laval Rocket Friday night.
Kirill Ustimenko started in goal with Felix Sandstrom as the backup. Keith Kinkaid started in goal for the Wolf Pack.
After a three-point game last night, plus extending his scoring streak to four games, Wade Allison sat out of the game after suffering a laceration on his arm. Charlie Gerard replaced him.
Allison joined Garrett McFadden, German Rubtsov, Jackson Cates, Brennan Saulnier, Nick Lappin, Sam Ersson, Ryan MacKinnon, Alex Kile, and Tyson Foerster scratched for the game.
Kirill Ustimenko made a glove save off Patrick Khodorenko’s shot from the left side in the first period. Then the Phantoms had a couple of chances from Connor Bunnaman and Adam Johnson. Both teams went back and forth for the first five minutes of the game.
In a span of 64-seconds, three goals were scored. Cal O’Reilly (15) tipped Charlie Gerard’s (5) shot from the right side past Kinkaid into the net that put the Phantoms up 1-0. Max Willman (4) earned the secondary assist.
Twenty-one seconds later, on the rush, Ty Ronning (13) had an empty-net in front of him and scored from the right side that tied the game 1-1 with 14:38 left.
After a high-sticking call against Phantoms forward Max Willman, the Wolf Pack were on the power-play. Off the faceoff, Zac Jones (5) skated right up to Ustimenko and fired the puck past his right side into the net that put Hartford up 2-1 with 13:55 left. At 8:38, Zac Jones tripped Max Willman, putting the Phantoms on the power-play.
With 11:00 left, the Phantoms were charging at Kinkaid. Kinkaid was on his belly while the puck was sitting behind him, and Cal O’Reilly (16) nudged it into the net for a power-play goal that tied the game 2-2.
At 10:45, Lehigh Valley forward Linus Sandin got caught holding Matt Lorito, putting the Wolf Pack back on the power-play.
With 7:55 left, Wolf Pack forward Lauri Pajuniemi (9) sniped a sharp-angle shot from the left side that went under the arm of Ustimenko and into the net for a 3-2 lead. Tanner Fritz (21) and Zac Jones (16) assisted the goal.
Hartford kept the pressure on and played good defense, while the Phantoms struggled with puck possession late in the first period.
With under two minutes left, Austin Rueschhoff (14) muscled his way towards Ustimenko and fired the puck over Ustimenko’s right shoulder into the net for a 4-2 lead.
With ten seconds left, Lehigh Valley defenseman Egor Zamula got caught with a hook, and Hartford went on the power-play for the third time to start the second period up 4-2 with 1:50 left on the power-play.
After the first period ended, Lehigh Valley players gave some encouragement to Ustimenko. The shots were even at 12 apiece.
Before the start of the second period, Felix Sandstrom replaced Ustimenko. The Phantoms killed the Wolf Pack power-play. Hartford spent several minutes in Lehigh Valley’s zone before the Phantoms got a hold of the puck.
With 16:19 left, Wolf Pack goalie Kevin Kinkaid made a nice diving save. Seven seconds later, Tanner Laczynski (2) tipped Logan Day’s (8) shot from the right point into the net, making it a one-goal game 4-3. Maksim Sushko (7) got the secondary assist. The Phantoms now had the momentum.
Hartford struggled with puck possession, and the Phantoms capitalized on it when Hayden Hodgson (17) stole the puck and fired it from the right point past Kinkaid’s left side that tied the game 4-4 with 13:00 minutes left in the second period.
The Phantoms had several chances to take the lead, including Wyatte Wylie finding Garrett Wilson for the breakaway, but Kevin Kinkaid made a glove save.
Then with 1:06 left, Isaac Ratcliffe (11) made a nice setup pass for Hayden Hodgson (18), who made a quick shot that went under the legs of Kinkaid on the left side into the net for a 5-4 lead. Cooper Zech (4) picked up the secondary assist. The Phantoms dominated the second period and led 5-4 after two periods with the shots 24-21 Lehigh Valley.
In the third period, both teams were battling for puck possession. Lehigh Valley had several chances to add to their lead. However, with 10:35 left, Adam Clendening took a shot that hit the top crossbar and out of play.
Halfway through the third period, the Wolf Pack started to put pressure again on the Phantoms. With 7:05 left, the Wolf Pack attacked, scrambling for the puck as Sandstrom tried to stop it. However, Matt Lorito (4) got a hold of the puck and fired down low on the left side, tying the game 5-5.
Three minutes later, the Phantoms responded when Linus Sandin (10) made a nice cross-ice pass to Logan Day (4) for a quick shot past Kinkaid’s right side for a 6-5 lead. Egor Zamula (17) got the secondary assist.
With 3:22 left, Hayden Hodgson got called for a high stick, putting the Wolf Pack on the power-play. To make matters worse for the Phantoms, Hartford pulled Kinkaid with 2:38 left, making it a 6-4 advantage. Again, the Phantoms defense stepped up and held on for a 6-5 win.
The Phantoms finished the game with 32 shots, 1/3 on the power-play, Felix Sandstrom made 22 of 23 saves, and Kirill Ustimenko made 8 of 12 saves.
The Phantoms start a six-game road trip today at 5 pm against the Hershey Bears.
