The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-25-7-3) played the first of two games at MassMutual Center Friday night against the first-place Springfield Thunderbirds (32-18-5-2). This was the fourth meeting between these teams, with the Thunderbirds up 3-0 in the season series.
Before the game, the Flyers made a couple of announcements as Tyson Foerster was loaned to the Barrie Colts (OHL) while waiving forward Ryan Fitzgerald. If Fitzgerald clears waivers, he will return to the Phantoms after being out all season due to hip surgery.
Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski returned to the lineup after missing last weekend’s games due to minor injuries. The scratches for the game were Maksim Sushko, German Rubtsov, Jackson Cates, Nick Lappin, Sam Ersson, Ryan MacKinnon, and Tyson Foerster.
Felix Sandstrom (10-14-3-1) started in goal with Kirill Ustimenko as the backup. Joel Hofer started in goal for the Thunderbirds.
Two minutes and three seconds into the first period, the Thunderbirds rushed the net with a two-on-one advantage. Nathan Todd (9) made a backhand cross-ice pass to Klim Kostin (1), who shot the puck past Sandstrom’s right side and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Wade Allison got hit on the right leg after Wyatte Wylie took a shot on goal. Allison briefly went to the locker room before returning to the game.
The Phantoms generated chances in the first period but were unable to find a way to score. They came close with 1:08 left in the first period when Matt Strome’s shot hit the right shoulder of Thunderbirds’ goalie Joel Hofer. After one period, the Phantoms trailed 1-0 but led the shots 9-5.
In the second period, it was all Phantoms. Springfield had a couple of chances early in the period, but Felix Sandstrom stopped the shots. Then with 18:57 left on the faceoff, Logan Day (9) made a pass to Adam Johnson (2), who rushed from the left side and sniped the puck past the right shoulder of Joel Hofer and into the net that tied the game 1-1. Wade Allison (4) got the secondary assist.
The Phantoms were aggressive and taking some good shots. With 15:20 left, a bad turnover by Cooper Zech led to a two-on-one play, and Felix Sandstrom made a great saved it with his right pad. Springfield were creating chances, and the Phantoms were ready for them.
Then with 6:50 left, the Phantoms rushed for a two-on-one play between Matt Strome (9) and Linus Sandin. Strome tried to pass the puck to Sandin, but Thunderbirds’ defenseman Calle Rosen blocked the shot. Egor Zamula (2), who was right behind them, made a slapshot past Hofer’s right shoulder and into the net for a 2-1 lead.
The refs made a bad call with 5:27 left as Brennan Saulnier made a clean hit on Griffin Luce but was called for boarding. It was the Thunderbirds’ third power-play of the game. Luckily, the Phantoms killed the penalty.
With 3:33 left, the Thunderbirds were on the rush, and Nathan Todd took a shot coming across in front of Sandstrom. Felix fell on his belly and kicked the puck with his right skate to save the goal.
Then with 1:59 left, Adam Clendening’s (26) shot from the right side was tipped in by Tanner Laczynski (3) past Hofer’s left side which went into the net for a 3-1 lead. Garrett Wilson (16) earned the secondary assist.
Late in the second period, Connor Bunnaman got caught tripping, and the Thunderbirds went on their fourth power-play. The Thunderbirds had 17-seconds left of power-play time to start the third period as the Phantoms led 3-1 after two periods. The shots were 19-17 Thunderbirds.
Hayden Hodgson got elbowed in the third period with 16:46 left by Josh Wesley. After the whistle, the refs decided to put Wesley in the box for elbowing Hodgson. They should’ve called the penalty right on the spot. Unfortunately, the Phantoms were unable to capitalize on the power-play.
With 8:11 left, Cal O’Reilly intercepted the puck and was one-on-one against Joel Hofer. However, he didn’t take the shot and instead passed it to Adam Johnson, who had no chance for a shot. Then with 5:53 left, Brennan Saulnier got caught hooking Will Bitten, putting the Thunderbirds on the power-play.
Springfield decided to pull Hofer with 5:28 left in the game. The Phantoms’ defense was having a hard time getting the puck out of their zone in order to get fresh players on the ice. With 2:04 left, Calle Rosen nearly made it a one-goal game, but his shot hit the top crossbar.
Once the Phantoms got the puck and cleared the ice, they still couldn’t change due to an icing call. Springfield kept pounding Lehigh Valley’s zone but were able to hang on for a 3-1 win. It was Lehigh Valley’s first win of the season against the Thunderbirds.
The Phantoms finished the game with 23 shots, 0/4 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom played a terrific game making 32 of 33 saves.
The Phantoms and Thunderbirds play game two at MassMutual Center tonight at 7:05 pm. Tickets can be purchased courtesy of our friends at StubHub.
