After a heartbreaking overtime loss to Bridgeport on Friday, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-30-13) played their fifth game in eight days Saturday night against the Providence Bruins (34-20-10) at the PPL Center. The Bruins have already clinched a spot in the playoffs.
Heading into this game, the Phantoms trailed the Islanders by five points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Phantoms got good news as Isaac Ratcliffe and Linus Hogberg returned from injuries. Pat Nagle (9-4-4, 2.49 GAA, .907 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms with Darion Hanson as the backup.
Meanwhile, the Bruins started Brandon Bussi, who made his AHL debut out of Western Michigan. With the Broncos, Bussi was 26-12-1, with a 2.55 GAA and a .912 SV%.
Scratched for the Phantoms were Garrett McFadden, Jackson Cates, Linus Sandin, Wyatte Wylie, Sam Ersson, Will Riedell, Charlie Gerard, Ryan MacKinnon, Hayden Hodgson, and Kirill Ustimenko.
The Bruins dominated early in the first period. With 14:10 left, they took a 1-0 lead when Georgii Merkulov (1) made a pass in front of Phantoms’ defenseman Adam Karashik to Chris Wagner (15). Wagner had an empty net in front of him. As he took a shot, Pat Nagle slid to try and block it. The puck hit his left skate and went into the net for the goal. Jakub Lauko (12) got the secondary assist.
The Phantoms had a couple of chances on the power-play to score in the first period. They missed their first opportunity but capitalized on the second power-play with 3:09 left. The Phantoms were setting up a shot inside the Bruins’ zone. Adam Clendening (33) made a cross-ice pass to Cal O’Reilly (20). O’Reilly sniped the puck from the left circle that hit the glove of Bruins’ goalie Brandon Bussi and into the net for a power-play goal, tying the game 1-1.
The Phantoms had momentum, and with 40-seconds left, they were in front of Bussi, scrambling to score but were unable to. The game was tied 1-1 after one period, with the Bruins leading the shots 10-7.
Two minutes and seven seconds into the second period, the Phantoms went on their third power-play after a high-sticking call was made against Bruins’ forward Georgii Merkulov. Unfortunately, the Phantoms were unable to take advantage of the power-play.
With 16:49 left, the Bruins were in the Phantoms’ zone. Adam Clendening slid to block Bruins’ forward Steven Fogarty’s shot, but Fogarty went down, and Clendening was called for tripping. It was a bad call by refs. Luckily, the Phantoms killed the power-play.
For most of the second period, there was a lot of back-and-forth action. Then, with 11:09 left, the Bruins went on their third power-play after Cooper Zech tripped John Beecher.
Then with 10:43 left, the Bruins took a 2-1 lead when Georgii Merkulov (2) made a cross-ice pass to Justin Brazeau (13). Brazeau quickly fired the puck past Nagle’s right side and into the net for a power-play goal. Victor Berglund (12) got the secondary assist.
The Phantoms had one more power-play opportunity with 6:07 left but could not score and were now 1/5. The Bruins led 2-1 after two periods and led the shots 20-15.
The Phantoms tied the game up a minute and twenty-four seconds into the third period. Tanner Laczynski (10) passed the puck to Wade Allison (10). Allison snipes the puck from inside the left circle through the five-hole and into the net, tying the game 2-2. Adam Clendening (34) got the secondary assist.
After the goal, both teams were fighting hard for possession. Finally, with 14:18 left, it appeared that the Phantoms had taken the lead on a goal by Wade Allison.
However, Allison made contact with the Bruins’ goalie Brandon Bussi, and the goal was waved off. In addition, Allison was called for interference, putting the Bruins on the power-play. For the fourth time of the night, the Phantoms killed the power-play.
Then, with 11:08 left, Phantoms’ forward Matt Strome blocked Steven Fogarty’s shot, keeping the game tied 2-2. After that, there was a lot of back-and-forth action for the rest of the game. After sixty minutes, the game was headed to overtime, tied 2-2. The Bruins led the shots 30-26.
Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds into overtime, a too many men penalty was called on the Bruins, putting the Phantoms on the power-play. Unfortunately, the Phantoms could not score. The Phantoms had four chances to end the game, but Bruins’ goalie Brandon Bussi denied them. No one scored in overtime, and the game went to a shootout.
In the shootout, Bruins forward Georgii Merkulov scored. Max Willman was the Phantoms’ last hope, but Bussi stopped his shot, and the Bruins won the game 3-2. The Phantoms are now 2-5 in shootouts.
The Phantoms played a hard-fought game. Playing five games in eight days is rough for any player. Now, they have a couple of days off to recover before their next game on Tuesday.
The Phantoms gained one point in the standings. Meanwhile, the Bridgeport Islanders lost to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 6-5. As a result, the Phantoms trail the Islanders by four points for the final playoff spot with six games left.
The Phantoms finished the game with 30 shots, 1/7 on the power-play, and Pat Nagle made 28 of 30 saves.
The Phantoms play the Bruins again on Tuesday from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in their final meeting of the season at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub.
