The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (22-25-7-3) returned to MassMutual Center for game two against the Springfield Thunderbirds (32-19-5-2). The Phantoms looked for the weekend sweep after beating the Thunderbirds 3-1 Friday night.
Before the game, the Philadelphia Flyers waived Gerry Mayhew with the hopes of him returning to Lehigh Valley. At the same time, Ryan Fitzgerald was activated and loaned to the Phantoms. Fitzgerald was not in tonight’s lineup.
Also, Connor Bunnaman and German Rubtsov were not in the lineup. They were part of the Claude Giroux trade to the Florida Panthers for Owen Tippet, a 2024 1st round pick, and a 2023 3rd round pick.
Felix Sandstrom (11-14-3-1) started in goal with Kirill Ustimenko as the backup. Charlie Lindgren started in goal for the Thunderbirds. The scratches for the game were Ryan Fitzgerald, Maksim Sushko, German Rubtsov, Connor Bunnaman, Jackson Cates, Nick Lappin, Sam Ersson, and Alex Kile.
Linus Hogberg got drilled from behind by Tanner Kaspick and headed to the locker room in the first period. He did not return for the rest of the game. After Josh Wesley tripped Isaac Ratcliffe, the Phantoms went on their first power-play with 10:58 left.
With 10:23 left, Adam Clendening (27) took a shot from the right point that was deflected by Isaac Ratcliffe (6) past the right side of Charlie Lindgren and into the net for a power-play goal 1-0. The Phantoms were playing good defense, preventing the Thunderbirds from scoring.
Adam Clendening blew by three Thunderbirds’ players with a minute left in the first period. He nearly extended the Lehigh Valley’s lead, but Lindgren blocked his shot.
Meanwhile, the Phantoms were going on a five-on-three power-play three seconds later. First, Springfield’s Hugh McGing was called for interference with 2:38 left. Then, Tanner Kaspick slashed Adam Clendening with 57-seconds left in the first period.
Not long after play resumed, Wade Allison tripped Matthew Peca to make it a four-on-three Phantoms’ advantage. It was a bad call as Peca slipped while Allison barely touched him.
The Phantoms could not score with the man advantage. Hayden Hodgson left the game late in the first period with an equipment issue. The Phantoms led 1-0 with 64-seconds left of a four-on-four play before the Thunderbirds had six seconds of power-play time. The shots were 7-4 Phantoms.
Hayden Hodgson returned to the ice to start the second period. With 17:55 left, Felix Sandstrom made a nice glove save after Nikita Alexandrov tried the backhand shot, but Sandstrom made the save. Forty seconds later, Adam Clendening was briefly hurt after blocking a shot that hit his right foot.
Then with 16:40 left, the Thunderbirds generated a rush when Tyler Tucker (13) dumped the puck towards the Phantoms’ zone. The puck took a lucky bounce in the direction of Tanner Kaspick (4), who retrieved the puck and made a backhand shot over the right shoulder of Sandstrom into the net that tied the game 1-1. Steven Santini (14) got the secondary assist.
After the goal, the Thunderbirds were back on the power-play with 15:45 left after Hayden Hodgson was called for tripping Josh Wesley. Once again, this was a bad call as Josh Wesley ran into Hodgson while both players were chasing the puck. Luckily, the Phantoms killed the power-play.
With 8:49 left, Cal O’Reilly (24) found Wade Allison (5) for the breakaway. Allison’s first shot hit the right pad of Lindgren, but he rebounded his shot and scored past Lindgren’s right side into the net for a 2-1 lead.
With 6:41 left, the Thunderbirds were going on their third power-play after Charlie Gerard hooked Klim Kostin. Once again, the Phantoms killed the power-play.
Then with 3:12 left, Egor Zamula (18) found a wide-open Tanner Laczynski (4) for a breakaway. However, Laczynski’s first shot hit Lindgren’s right pad. Then Laczynski retrieved the puck from behind the net and flipped it over Lindgren’s left pad into the net that extended the Phantom’s lead 3-1.
With 2:05 left, Matt Strome got caught with a cross-check, and the Thunderbirds were back on the power-play for the fourth time. They were able to take advantage when Sam Anas (32) found James Neal (10) for a shot that went past Sandstrom’s right side and into the net, cutting the Phantoms lead 3-2 with 1:31 left.
Late in the second period, Logan Day was slashed by Thunderbirds’ center Dakota Joshua, putting the Phantoms on the power-play. The Phantoms had 1:15 left of power-play time to begin the third period up 3-2. The Thunderbirds led the shots 22-20.
Thirty-three seconds into the third period, Wade Allison (6) took a shot that hit the right pad of Charlie Lindgren. However, Cal O’Reilly (17) rebounded the puck and slapshot it past Lindgren’s left side into the net for a 4-2 lead.
With 19:04 left, the Thunderbirds were rushing towards Felix Sandstrom, and he made a nice sliding save. However, Logan Day was called for interference, and the Thunderbirds were back on the power-play for the fifth time. But, once again, the Phantoms killed the power-play.
The Phantoms continued to create chances as Garrett Wilson took a shot, but Lindgren blocked it. Then with 13:34 left, the Thunderbirds were rushing towards the Phantoms’ zone.
Steven Santini made a no-look pass toward Adam Johnson (7), who touched the puck before Cal O’Reilly (18) intercepted it. Cal fired the puck from inside the left circle over Lindgren’s right shoulder for a 5-2 lead.
With 5:49 left, the Thunderbirds gambled by pulling Lindgren for a man advantage. It worked, as Matthew Peca (30) made a cross-ice pass to James Neal (11), who buried the shot past Sandstrom’s side into the net that cut the Phantoms lead 5-3.
Not long after the goal, the Thunderbirds pulled Lindgren again. This time, the Phantoms were ready as Wade Allison (6) scored an empty-net goal for a 6-3 lead with 3:43 left.
A couple of Thunderbirds’ players tried to block the shot. However, Allison found a way to score. Adam Johnson (8) and Egor Zamula (20) assisted Allison’s goal.
With 1:18 left, Felix Sandstrom made a diving glove save, robbing James Neal’s shot to keep it 6-3. The Thunderbirds kept Lindgren on the bench.
Then, Charlie Gerard (6) scored another empty-net goal for a 7-3 lead with under a minute left. Linus Sandin (11) and Brennan Saulnier (3) assisted the goal.
The Thunderbirds scored one more goal with 26-seconds left as Keean Washkurak (7) found Will Bitten (10) for the breakaway. Bitten scored from Sandstrom’s left side and into the net, cutting the Phantoms lead 7-4.
The Thunderbirds made one last attempt to add another goal but ran out of time, and the Phantoms completed the weekend sweep in Springfield with a 7-4 win.
The Phantoms finished the night with 29 shots, 2/5 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom made 35 of 39 saves. Sandstrom had another good game.
Wade Allison had a four-point night, scoring two goals and two assists, while Cal O’Reilly had a three-point night scoring two goals and an assist.
The Phantoms next game is against the Hershey Bears at the Giant Center on Wednesday night at 7:05 pm. Tickets can be purchased courtesy of our friends at StubHub.
