After the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (7-5-1) snapped the Providence Bruins’ (10-2-1) five-game winning streak on Friday night. The two teams met again in a rematch Saturday night at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. This time, the Bruins were looking to return the favor and end the Phantoms’ four-game winning streak.
There was one lineup change before the game started with Linus Hogberg playing defense for Kevin Connauton, who was injured in Friday night’s game after blocking a shot that hit his foot. He joined Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Ryan Fitzgerald, Evan Barratt, Adam Brooks, Olle Lycksell, and Hayden Hodgson on the scratch list.
Meanwhile, Sam Ersson started in goal. It was Ersson’s seventh straight start, and the third time playing in back-to-back games. He was looking for his fifth win of the season.
The Bruins came out with a mission early in the first period. The Phantoms got off to a slow start as Providence was winning the puck battles and spending too much time in Lehigh Valley’s zone. Providence struck first with 13:59 left after Jakub Lauko (1) made a cross-ice pass to Marc McLaughlin (1), who shot the puck over the left shoulder of Ersson for a 1-0 lead. Nick Wolff (2) picked up the secondary assist.
Midway through the first period, the Phantoms’ offense started to get going. They were creating turnovers like Elliot Desnoyers stealing the puck with Cooper Marody with him for a two-on-one play. However, Bruins goalie Brandon Bussi knocked the puck away from Desnoyers as he was trying to pass it to Marody. In addition, they were winning puck battles and faceoffs.
Not long after that, the Phantoms came close to tying the game when several Phantoms players, including Artem Anisimov, Garrett Wilson, and Cooper Marody were trying to get the puck into the net. Then, Ronnie Attard rebounded Marody’s shot and fired the puck into the net before the whistle blew. The refs deemed it a no-goal and they reviewed the play. After several minutes, the referee called it a no-goal. However, on the instant replay, Attard did get the puck completely over the goal line, and it should’ve been a goal for the Phantoms.
Late in the first period, the Phantoms finally got on the board. Tanner Laczynski stole the puck and blew by two Bruins players before firing the puck past the left pad of Brandon Bussi to tie the game 1-1 with 3:34 left. Laczynski did a great job controlling the puck switching his stick from side to side before shooting the puck into the net. The game was tied 1-1 after one period with the Phantoms leading the shots 11-5.
In the second period, the Phantoms took the lead. Tyson Foerster (6) stole the puck near the right endboards and made a fantastic no-look backhand pass to Jackson Cates (3) who shot the puck through the five-hole for a 2-1 lead with 11:45 left. Tanner Laczynski (2) picked up the secondary assist.
With six minutes left, the Phantoms went on their third power play after Joona Koppanen was called for boarding. Unfortunately, the Phantoms could not add to their lead and were 0/3 on the night. Afterward, Isaac Ratcliffe went to the penalty box for interference, giving the Bruins their second power play.
Lehigh Valley goalie Sam Ersson made three incredible saves, including a glove save off Joona Koppanen’s shot. He was having another outstanding game. The Bruins had 26-seconds left of power play time to begin the third period with the Phantoms up 2-1. In addition, the Phantoms led the shots 23-17.
In the third period, the Phantoms had plenty of chances to add to their lead. As the period went along, Providence started to put pressure on the Phantoms. They were creating turnovers, hitting, and keeping the Phantoms on their toes.
Furthermore, they tied the game 2-2 with 6:43 left after Jack Ahcan’s (5) shot went off the edge of the glove of Ersson, and Vinni Lettieri (8) was there for the rebound with an open net in front of him as the tapped the puck into the net. Georgii Merkulov (9) picked up the secondary assist.
Afterward, Adam Ginning went to the penalty box for elbowing, putting the Bruins on their third power play. Luckily, the Phantoms prevented the Bruins from taking the lead. Late in the third period, the Phantoms had three chances to get the lead back but Brandon Bussi stopped those pucks. The game was tied and headed to overtime. For the Phantoms, this was their fourth overtime game this year.
The two teams were unable to settle it in overtime, and the game went into a shootout. This was the Phantoms’ first shootout of the season. Tanner Laczynski was up first and scored through the five-hot. On the other side, Sam Ersson made three stops, and the Phantoms won the game 3-2 in a shootout. The Phantoms’ winning streak is now at five games.
They put on another great performance against the first-place Bruins. Sam Ersson was spectacular with 30 saves, while the Phantoms had 46 shots, and were 0/4 on the power play. Meanwhile, the Bruins had 32 shots, 0/3 on the power play, and Brandon Bussi made 43 saves.
The Phantoms wrap up the weekend this afternoon against the Springfield Thunderbirds at 3:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
