On Saturday night at the PPL Center, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2-3-1) wrapped up a four-game homestand against the Bridgeport Islanders (5-1-1). After a disappointing loss to the Penguins on Friday night, the Phantoms needed to get back on the winning track, but costly penalties hurt their chances to win the game.
Early in the first period, the Phantoms were not playing badly. Lehigh Valley had four chances to get on the board. Late in the first period, the Phantoms went on their first power play on a tripping call against Dennis Cholowski. Unfortunately, the Phantoms could not take advantage.
Then, with five seconds left, Jackson Cates got caught tripping and the Islanders went on their first power play. The game remained scoreless 0-0, and Bridgeport had 1:55 of power play time left to begin the second period. The Phantoms led the shots 12-6, which was an improvement.
Fifty-four seconds into the second period, Bridgeport took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by former Phantom Andy Andreoff (4). The Islanders did a good job passing the puck around before Chris Terry (4) made a pass to Andreoff, who chipped the puck past the right skate of Grosenick. Samuel Bolduc (6) picked up the secondary assist.
The Phantoms battled back two minutes later when Wyatte Wylie (1) came near the right boards and fired the puck over Cory Schneider’s glove for the goal, tying the game 1-1. Garrett Wilson (4) did a good job blocking Schneider’s view, and Elliot Desnoyers (2) picked up his second assist of the season.
After this, the Islanders took over the game. First, Cole Bardreau (2) redirected Samuel Bolduc’s (7) shot into the net for a 2-1 lead with 16:12 left. Ruslan Iskhakov (6) picked up the secondary assist. Then, two penalties by the Phantoms led to two more goals. Alex Kile got caught holding, putting the Islanders on their first power play. Aatu Raty (1) shot the puck through the five-hole for a 3-1 lead with assists from Dennis Cholowski (4) and Hudson Fasching (3).
Three minutes later, Louie Belpedio went to the penalty box for tripping, putting the Islanders on their second power play. Then, Ruslan Iskhakov (4) shot the puck that went off Troy Grosenick’s glove and into the net for a 4-1 lead. Samuel Bolduc (8) and Arnaud Durandeau (4) assisted Iskhakov’s goal.
The Islanders led 4-1 after two periods, but the Phantoms led the shots 25-15. It was great to see the Phantoms getting off shots, but they needed to convert those shots into goals.
Twenty-five seconds into the third period, the Phantoms went on their second power play after Grant Hutton was called for hooking. The Phantoms took advantage. After several passes, Cam York (1) riffled the puck from center-point over the left shoulder of Schneider, cutting the lead in half, 4-2.
After this, the Islanders scored two more goals. Jordy Bellerive went to the penalty box for tripping, putting Bridgeport on their fourth power play. This led to another power-play goal by Arnaud Durandeau (1) through the five-hole for a 5-2 lead with 17:04 left. It was the Islanders’ fourth power-play goal of the night.
Next, Seth Helgeson (1) tipped the puck into the net off Andy Andreoff’s (6) shot for a 6-2 lead with 11:14 left. Finally, Tyson Foerster (2) made a couple of nice moves to score his second goal with 33-seconds left, cutting the Islanders’ lead in half, 6-3 with assists from Garrett Wilson (5) and Adam Ginning (1).
The Phantoms ended their four-game homestead with a 6-3 loss. The Phantoms led the shots 38-20. Lehigh Valley was aggressive, but multiple penalties will kill any team, and the Islanders took advantage of those penalties. The Phantoms were one-for-four on the power play, and Troy Grosenick made 14 saves. Meanwhile, Islanders’ goalie Cory Schneider made 35 saves.
The Phantoms conclude the weekend at the Giants Center today at 5 pm against the Hershey Bears on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
