On Friday night at the CAA Arena, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2-5-1) made the trip north of the border to take on the Belleville Senators (4-4-1), the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators.
Before the game started, the Phantoms recalled goalie Pat Nagle from the Reading Royals. Sam Ersson was in goal for the Phantoms, and the scratches for the game were Adam Karashik, Linus Hogberg, Evan Barratt, Adam Brooks, Cooper Marody, and Alex Kile.
This game was filled with so many penalties committed by both teams. It started 43-seconds into the first period on a holding call against Senators forward Dillon Heatherington. The Phantoms got one shot off during the power play but were unable to score.
Next, Wyatte Wylie went to the penalty box for high-sticking, putting the Senators on their first power play. Luckily, Phantoms’ goalie Sam Ersson stopped four shots. However, Phantoms’ defenseman Kevin Connauton was called for high-sticking, and the Senators went on their second power play.
After this, the Senators never got a shot off before Scott Sabourin picked a fight with Garrett Wilson, slamming his head into the boards at the Phantom’s bench from behind. Wilson didn’t see it coming and after the hit, he was bleeding from the forehead. Sabourin was called for a game misconduct, fighting, and instigating, resulting in the Phantoms’ power play for seven minutes.
Unfortunately, it was the Senators who scored a goal when Ridly Greig (2) made a great no-look backhand pass to Rourke Chartier (5). He shot the puck over the glove of Ersson for a shorthand goal, making it 1-0 Bellville with 9:34 left.
The Phantoms did get some terrific shot opportunities by Jordy Bellerive and Ronnie Attard, but the Phantoms were unable to capitalize on the power play. Late in the first period, Jackson Cates went to the penalty box for tripping. During the Senators’ power play, Max Willman stole the puck and came close to tying the game, but Mads Sogaard denied the shot.
With less than a minute left, Ronnie Attard went to the penalty box for cross-checking, and Max Willman joined him on a ten-minute game misconduct for throwing his equipment, putting Bellville on its fifth power play. The Senators had 1:22 left of power play time to begin the second period up 1-0. The shots were 10-8 in favor of the Phantoms.
In the second period, the Phantoms went on their fourth power play at 4:51 after Jarid Lukosevicius hooked Jackson Cates. The Phantoms’ offense was doing a good job creating shooting opportunities, but could not find a way to put the puck in the net. Lehigh Valley had four chances on the power play and were now zero for four.
The Phantoms dominated the second period, getting ten more shots off, but Mads Sogaard stopped them all. Later in the second period, the Phantoms went on their fifth power play on an unsportsmanlike call on Cole Reinhardt. However, the power play quickly ended when Jackson Cates went to the penalty box for using a broken stick. In the rule book, if a stick is broken, players must drop the stick immediately, and Cates held on to it too long.
In addition, the Senators got a five-on-three penalty on a tripping call against Olle Lycksell. One second into the power play, the Senators took a 2-0 lead after Egor Sokolov (7) made a cross-ice pass to Rourke Chartier (6) for a one-time shot through the five-hole with 4:57 left. Cory Conacher (1) picked up the secondary assist.
Late in the second period, the Phantoms had four chances to get a goal. Two of those shots came from Ryan Fitzgerald, but Mads Sogaard continued to shut the Phantoms out. With seven seconds left in the second period, the Phantoms went on their sixth power play on a roughing call against Egor Sokolov. The Phantoms had 1:53 left of power play time to begin the third period down 2-0. The Phantoms continued to lead the shots 30-18.
A minute and 33-seconds into the third period, the Senators went on their seventh power play on a high-sticking call on Ronnie Attard. Twenty-one seconds later, Maxence Guenette (1) made it 3-0 shooting through the five-hole with assists from Jake Lucchini (8), and Ridly Greig (3).
Two minutes later, the Phantoms went on their seventh power play on a tripping call against Dillon Heatherington. After coming close to scoring throughout the game, the Phantoms finally got on the board with 15:35 left. Zayde Wisdom (1) made a nice pass to Olle Lycksell (1), who rushed toward Sogaard and shot the puck through the five-hole, cutting the Senators’ lead 3-1. It was Lycksell’s first career AHL goal, and Ronnie Attard (3) picked up the secondary assist.
Four minutes later, the Phantoms made it a one-goal game after Zayde Wisdom (2) got control of the puck and rushed towards Mads Sogaard. Then, he quickly passed the puck to Jackson Cates (2), who got the puck through the five-hole, and into the net from the center point. Olle Lycksell (4) picked up the secondary assist.
Late in the third period, the Phantoms pulled Sam Ersson twice for an extra attacker, but the Phantoms were unable to tie the game. The Phantoms lost to the Senators 3-2. Lehigh Valley is now on a two-game losing streak.
Penalties continue to hurt the Phantoms. However, in this case, the Senators seemed to be picking fights and the Phantoms engaged them. Sam Ersson was great in goal, making 28 saves. The Phantoms finished the night with 39 shots, one-for-eight on the power play, while the Senators had 31 shots and two-for-eight on the power play, and Mads Sogaard made 37 saves.
The Phantoms will wrap up their trip in Canada today at 3 pm against the Laval Rocket on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
