The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-30-12) returned to the PPL Center Friday night for a crucial game against the Bridgeport Islanders (30-28-11). This wasn’t just any ordinary home game. It felt like a playoff game.
The Phantoms needed to beat the Islanders for a chance to move closer to Hartford by one point for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
However, if Bridgeport won, they would take the sixth seed. This was the sixth meeting between these two teams, with Bridgeport leading the season series 4-2.
Felix Sandstrom (15-18-3, 2.96 GAA, .901 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms with Pat Nagle as his backup. Sandstrom missed Wednesday’s game as he started in goal for the Philadelphia Flyers. Meanwhile, the Islanders started Cory Schneider (12-10-4, 2.68 GAA, .922 SV%).
There were some lineup changes as Hayden Hodgson once again was out with an injury, along with Isaac Ratcliffe, who was injured in Wednesday’s game against Hershey. The good news the Phantoms’ got was the return of Ryan Fitzgerald. He missed a couple of weeks due to injury.
Joining Hodgson and Ratcliffe on the scratch list were Adam Karashik, Linus Hogberg, Jackson Cates, Linus Sandin, Sam Ersson, Darion Hanson, Will Riedell, and Kirill Ustimenko.
Three minutes into the first period, Phantoms’ defenseman Garrett Wilson and Islanders’ defenseman Mike Cornell dropped the gloves and brawled. There was plenty of pushing and shoving throughout this game.
The Phantoms dominated early in the first period with a 7-0 shot advantage. Bridgeport did not register a shot until nine minutes left.
With 6:14 left, the Islanders were knocking on the door. Islanders’ center Jeff Kubiak took a shot that hit the left post. Then, Islanders’ forward Kyle MacLean rebounded the puck and appeared to have put Bridgeport up 1-0 with a goal past Sandstrom’s left pad.
However, the refs reviewed the play and determined that MacLean kicked the puck forward into the net, and the goal was waved off, keeping the game scoreless.
Then, with a minute left in the first period, the Phantoms attacked the Islanders’ zone. Max Willman (7) was skating with the puck and started to go behind the net before finding Maksim Sushko (10). Sushko took a shot that went off Islanders goalie Cory Schneider.
Nevertheless, Sushko went with a backhand shot on second effort, sending the puck past Schneider’s right pad and into the net for a 1-0 lead. Logan Day (10) got the secondary assist. The Phantoms led 1-0 after one period and led the shots 10-4.
Five minutes and forty-six seconds into the second period, Phantoms’ forward Adam Johnson had a breakaway opportunity, but Cory Schneider denied his shot. There was a lot of back-and-forth action early in the second period.
The Phantoms had a couple of chances on the power-play to extend their lead but could not score. With 3:41 left, the Islanders had a two-on-one play heading into the Phantoms’ zone. Simon Holmstrom (29) made a backhand pass to Otto Koivula (12), who fired the puck past Sandstrom’s left pad, tying the game 1-1. Paul Thompson (8) got the secondary assist.
The Phantoms had 21 shots in the second period, but the game remained tied 1-1 after two periods and dominated the shots 31-12.
In the third period, the Islanders dominated. They were aggressive inside the Phantoms’ zone and spent a lot of time there. As a result, the Phantoms’ defense were gassed. Luckily, Felix Sandstrom did a good job blocking the shots that came his way. The Phantoms had five shots on goal but could not break the tie.
With 6:38 left, Phantoms’ defenseman Cooper Zech almost broke the tie after rebounding his shot off the end boards, but Islanders goalie Cory Schneider was there to stop it. The game remained tied 1-1 heading into overtime.
Twenty-six seconds into overtime, the Islanders won the 2-1. First, Islanders forward Otto Koivula (33) got the puck for a two-on-one play. Then, he made a backhand pass to Austin Czarnik (12), who had an empty net in front of him, and fired the puck past Sandstrom’s right side and into the net for the game-winning goal. Mitchell Vande Sompel (15) had the secondary assist.
As a result, the Bridgeport Islanders moved into the sixth seed after Hartford lost to the Toronto Marlies 4-1. The Phantoms came away with one point in the standings but trail the Islanders by five points with seven games left in the regular season. Lehigh Valley played hard and gave them everything they had.
The Phantoms finished the night with 36 shots, 0/2 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom made 19 of 21 saves.
The Phantoms host the Providence Bruins tonight a 7 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub.
