The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (26-30-7-4) played their fourth game in six days Monday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center against the Providence Bruins (33-20-4-6). This was the fourth meeting between these two teams, with Providence leading the season series 2-1.
Heading into this game, the Phantoms trailed the Bridgeport Islanders by six points for the final playoff spot.
There were a couple of lineup changes before the game. Hayden Hodgson did not play due to an injury. Meanwhile, Wyatte Wylie returned to the lineup, replacing Adam Karashik. Finally, Alex Kile returned from injury, and Charlie Gerard sat out for the game.
Pat Nagle (8-3-4, 2.63 GAA, .904 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms with Felix Sandstrom as the backup. The Bruins started Troy Grosenick (15-5-4, 2.06 GAA, .929 SV%).
Joining Hodgson, Karashik, and Gerard on the scratch list were Garrett McFadden, Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jackson Cates, Linus Sandin, Will Riedell, Sam Ersson, and Kirill Ustimenko.
A double-minor was called on Bruins’ forward Jesper Froden after hitting Isaac Ratcliffe two minutes into the first period. The Phantoms could not capitalize on the power play and went 0/2. With 14:31 left, Phantoms players Egor Zamula and Brennan Menell collided. Luckily, both players were not hurt and stayed in the game. There was a lot of back-and-forth action.
With 12:12 left, Victor Berglund held Cal O’Reilly, putting the Phantoms on their third power-play. Once again, the Phantoms could not score and were 0/3.
With 4:48 left, Matt Strome tripped Jakub Lauko, putting the Bruins on their first power-play. Adam Johnson got a shorthand breakaway during the power-play but was hooked by Aaron Ness, putting the Phantoms on their fourth power-play. Again, the Phantoms could not score and were 0/4.
Late in the first period, Phantoms’ forward Tanner Laczynski knocked the stick out of the hands of Jesper Froden. An interference penalty was called on Laczynski, and the Bruins went on their second power-play. The Bruins had 17-seconds left of power-play time to start the second period. The game was scoreless, and the Phantoms’ led the shots 15-10.
In the second period, the Phantoms killed the Bruins’ power-play. Off the faceoff with 16:33 left, the Bruins left Maksim Sushko (8) by himself. Isaac Ratcliffe (13) spotted this and passed the puck to Sushko. Sushko skated right in front of Bruins’ goalie Troy Grosenick and fired the puck past Grosenick’s right side and into the net for a 1-0 lead. Matthew Strome (10) got the secondary assist.
With 12:49 left, the Bruins charged towards the Phantoms’ zone. Lehigh Valley left Aaron Ness (3) all by himself, and Jesper Froden (18) noticed it. Froden quickly passed the puck to Ness, who hammered the shot under the five-hole of Nagle and into the net, tying the game 1-1. Oskar Steen (17) earned the secondary assist.
With 8:05 left, Phantoms’ defenseman Cooper Zech was boarded by Matt Filipe, and no call was made. The refs also missed Wade Allison getting tripped twice by Jesper Froden. However, they caught Froden tripping Allison the third time, and the Phantoms were going on their fifth power-play with 2:57 left.
For the fifth time, the Phantoms could not score and were 0/5 on the power-play. Then, with five seconds left, Adam Johnson tripped Samuel Asselin, putting the Bruins on the power-play for the fifth time. The Bruins had 1:55 left on the power-play to begin the third period tied 1-1. The shots were 21-19 in favor of the Phantoms.
Penalties were an issue in this game. The Phantoms had two penalties in the first period, while the Bruins were called for three. In the second period, the roles were reversed. The Phantoms had three penalties, while the Bruins only had two.
Nineteen seconds into the third period, the Bruins broke the 1-1 tie. They were in the process of setting up a shot when Oskar Steen (18) passed the puck to Victor Berglund (6). Berglund fired the puck past the right skate of Nagle and into the net for a 2-1 lead. Steven Fogarty (30) got the secondary assist.
The Phantoms went on their sixth power-play with 15:54 left after Victor Berglund interfered with Cooper Zech. However, the Phantoms could not capitalize and were 0/6 on the power-play.
Then, with 6:12 left, the Bruins came close to adding another goal. Jesper Froden had a breakaway opportunity and tried to use the backhand shot, but Nagle ended it with a glove save.
The Phantoms had plenty of chances to tie the game, but Bruins’ goalie Troy Grosenick stopped them. With 2:09 left, the Phantoms pulled Nagle for an extra attacker. However, the Bruins botched two opportunities to seal the game by missing an empty-net goal, giving the Phantoms a few more chances.
Nonetheless, the Bruins held on to a 2-1 win. After the game, there was a fight, but the refs quickly broke it up. With the loss, the Phantoms dropped two-straight games and remain six games back for the final playoff spot with nine games left in the season.
The Phantoms finished the game with 32 shots, 0/6 on the power-play, and Pat Nagle made 20 of 22 saves.
On Wednesday, the Phantoms return to the PPL Center against the Hershey Bears at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub.
