The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (26-29-7-4) returned to the Total Mortgage Arena Sunday afternoon against the Bridgeport Islanders (29-28-7-4). The Phantoms beat the Islanders one week ago in a 4-3 win at the Total Mortgage Arena in their last meeting. The season series was tied at two apiece.
Lehigh Valley entered the game trailing the Hartford Wolf Pack by three points for the final playoff spot. In the last ten games, Hartford is 1-8-1. Because of Hartford’s slump, the Penguins moved to the fifth spot in the Atlantic Division.
There was a change in the lineup as Hayden Hodgson was out. He was recalled by the Flyers and played in last night’s game against Anaheim. Hodgson was sent back to the Phantoms before the game started. Meanwhile, Adam Karashik (UConn/ Notre Dame) was making his Phantoms debut.
Felix Sandstrom (15-17-3, 2.96 GAA, .901 SV%) started in goal with Pat Nagle as the backup. The Islanders started Cory Schneider (11-10-4, 2.70 GAA, .921 SV%).
Scratches for the game were Garrett McFadden, Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jackson Cates, Linus Sandin, Wyatte Wylie, Will Riedell, Hayden Hodgson, Alex Kile, Sam Ersson, and Kirill Ustimenko.
There was a lot of back-and-forth action early in the first period. At 13:03, it looked like the Phantoms took a 1-0 lead. Tanner Laczynski blew by two Islander players to set up a shot for Max Willman. Willman went with a backhand shot, but Islanders goalie Cory Schneider kept the puck out of the net. Willman thought he had a goal, and play continued.
With 8:15 left, the Islanders were rushing towards the Phantoms’ zone. From the left circle, Islanders forward Robin Salo (15) took a shot that hit the stick of Chris Terry (27) before bouncing off Sandstrom’s right pad. Then, the puck went in the opposite direction, right in front of former Phantom Andy Andreoff (17). Andreoff’s shot went past Sandstrom’s right side and into the net for a 1-0 lead. Robin Salo (15) earned the secondary assist.
After the goal, the Phantoms were pressuring the Islanders’ zone. They had five chances to tie the game, and once again, Cory Schneider denied them. The Islanders led 1-0 after one period and led the shots 12-11.
The Phantoms almost tied the game a minute and eighteen seconds into the second period. Max Willman had the puck and was skating on the Islanders’ right side. He took a shot that hit the far-left post. The Phantoms pressured the Islanders’ zone and had several chances to tie the game but continued to have difficulty getting the puck past Cory Schneider.
With 12:38 left, the Islanders went on the power-play after Adam Clendening slashed Simon Holmstrom. However, the Phantoms killed the power-play.
Meanwhile, Phantoms’ goalie Felix Sandstrom made some great saves, including a glove save with traffic in front of him with 7:49 left. Then, at 5:18, the Phantoms went on their first power-play after Paul Thompson boarded Logan Day. There was a scuffle afterward, and no one else went to the penalty box.
The Phantoms spent the power-play setting up a shot. Wade Allison and Max Willman took shots that Islanders goalie Cory Schneider stopped. The Phantoms were unable to capitalize and were 0/1 on the power-play.
With 2:21 left, the Islanders’ attacked the Phantoms’ zone. They were setting up a shot and eventually added an insurance goal.
First, Austin Czarnik made a pass to Parker Wotherspoon (18). Then, Wotherspoon passed the puck back to Austin Czarnik (11). Czarnik shot the puck that deflected off the stick of Phantoms’ defenseman Adam Karashik and over the right pad of Felix Sandstrom, and into the net for a 2-0 lead. Michael Dal Colle (13) earned the secondary assist.
Late in the second period, the Phantoms had four chances to cut the Islanders’ lead but could not score. The Islanders led 2-0 after two periods. However, the Phantoms led the shots 25-20.
The Islanders went on their second power-play in the third period with 14:32 left after Matt Strome tripped Kyle MacLean. During the Islanders’ power-play, Phantoms’ forward Adam Johnson stole the puck from Lehigh Valley’s zone and skated toward Islanders’ goalie Cory Schneider. He tried to use the backhand shot, but Schneider shut the door with a right pad save.
Nevertheless, Adam Johnson would get his goal with 6:44 left. The Phantoms were setting up a shot inside the Islanders’ zone. Egor Zamula (25) made a pass to Brennan Menell (8). Menell took a shot that was deflected by Adam Johnson that went over the left shoulder of Schneider and into the net, cutting the Islanders’ lead 2-1.
Momentum seemed to have shifted towards the Phantoms. With 2:58 left, a delay of game was called against Bridgeport forward Michael Dal Colle. Unfortunately, the Islanders scored during the Phantoms’ power-play.
With 1:43 left, Islanders forward Kyle MacLean stole the puck. Wade Allison and Adam Clendening were trying to clear the puck away from MacLean. MacLean got away from both players, found an opening past Sandstrom’s left skate, and put the puck into the net for a 3-1 lead.
With 36-seconds left, there was a pileup in front of Islanders’ goalie Cory Schneider. Garrett Wilson (16) scored the goal that made it a one-goal game, 3-2. Max Willman (6) and Cal O’Reilly (29) assisted Wilson’s goal.
However, with four seconds left, the Islanders put the game away with an empty-net goal by Simon Holmstrom (10) for a 4-2 win.
The Phantoms finished the game with 44 shots, 0/3 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom made 23 of 26 saves. Meanwhile, the Hartford Wolf Pack beat the Charlotte Checkers 4-3. As a result, the Phantoms trail the Wolf Pack by five points for the final playoff spot.
The Phantoms head to Providence, Rhode Island, against the Bruins tonight at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub.
