On Sunday afternoon, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (7-6-1) concluded the three-day weekend at the MassMutual Center against the Springfield Thunderbirds (7-6) for the second time this year. In their first meeting, the Phantoms won 2-1. The Phantoms were aiming to win their sixth straight game.
Before the game, the Phantoms made some lineup changes. Ryan Fitzgerald, Evan Barrett, and Kevin Connauton replaced Tanner Laczynski, Artem Anisimov, and Linus Hogberg. They joined Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Adam Brooks, Olle Lycksell, and Hayden Hodgson on the scratch list.
Pat Nagle made his first start of the season after Sam Ersson made seven straight starts. It was nice for Ersson to get the day off after playing terrific in those last seven games.
Early in the first period, the Thunderbirds’ offense spent the majority of the time inside the Phantoms’ zone, getting six shots off. Then, Springfield took a 1-0 lead after Dmitrii Samorukov’s (3) shot hit Nagle’s left pad and Brady Lyle (1) rushed up towards the puck before firing it over Nagle’s right pad and into the net. Greg Printz (2) picked up the secondary assist.
After the goal, the Phantoms’ offense woke up. They had five chances to tie the game and came close. Afterward, Will Bitten went to the penalty box for tripping, putting the Phantoms on their first power play. Less than a minute later, Garett Wilson (3) got a piece of Alex Kile’s (2) shot over the left pad of Vadim Zherenko to tie the game 1-1 with 6:41 left.
Furthermore, the Phantoms got off two more shots after the goal. Then a fight broke out with Garrett Wilson fighting Greg Printz and Kevin Connauton traded blows with Anthony Angello. Late in the first period, the Phantoms generated a rush when Jordy Bellerive (5) drew three Thunderbirds players towards him before he passed the puck to Wyatte Wylie (1) and Wylie shot the puck through the five-hole for a 2-1 lead with 4:07 left. Evan Barratt (1) picked up the secondary assist.
Cal O’Reilly got off one more shot before the first period ended, and the Phantoms led 2-1. The shots were tied at 12 apiece. For the third straight game, the Phantoms got off to a slow start but made a nice recovery to get back into the game.
In the second period, the Phantoms came close to adding another goal when Cooper Marody blew by a Thunderbirds’ defender and nearly scored but Vadim Zherenko knocked the puck away. Later in the second period, Springfield tied the game 2-2 with 13:25 left when Anthony Angello (2) redirected Greg Printz’s (3) shot over Nagle’s glove and into the net. Jake Ryczek (1) got credit for the secondary assist.
Next, the Phantoms made it worse for themselves as Ronnie Attard (high-sticking) and Louie Belpedio (cross-checking) gave the Thunderbirds a five-on-three power play for a minute and forty-nine seconds. Seventeen seconds later, the Thunderbirds took a 3-2 lead on a slapshot power play goal by Martin Frk (3) through the five-hole with 8:16 left. Brady Lyle (4) and Jake Neighbours (3) assisted Frk’s goal.
The Phantoms did not get a shot off for ten minutes until Jackson Cates ended the drought with a goal. Tyson Foerster’s (7) shot was blocked by Vadim Zherenko before Cates (4) rebounded the puck and sent it over the right pad of Zherenko and into the net, tying the game 3-3 with 4:02 left. Cam York (7) picked up the secondary assist.
Late in the second period, Hugh McGing was called for holding, putting the Phantoms on their third power play. They had 36-seconds left of power play time tied 3-3 after two periods. The shots were 33-22 Thunderbirds.
In the third period, the Thunderbirds scored three goals all on power plays. First, Adam Ginning went to the penalty box for slashing, followed by roughing penalties on Garrett Wilson and Martin Frk. Frk was issued a roughing and game misconduct with abusing an official.
Matthew Kessel (8) made a cross-ice pass to Anthony Angello (3) as he shot through the five-hole for a 4-3 lead with 11:14. A fight broke out afterward after Pat Nagle got hit well after the goal. It was uncalled for and should have been a penalty.
Pat Nagle was getting abused by the Springfield players with them taking every hit they could even when there was a stoppage of play that led to the fights throughout the game.
Next, Anthony Angello (4) redirected Jake Neighbours’s (4) shot past Nagle’s right skate for a 5-3 lead with 11:14. Once again, there was more fighting after the goal.
After this, Luke Witkowski was called for hooking and the Phantoms pulled Nagle for a six-on-four power play. However, that power play came to an end when Tyson Foerster was called for cross-checking. Greg Printz (1) scored through the five-hole for a 6-3 lead with 56-seconds left and Matthew Highmore (13) assisted his goal.
Shortly after play resumed, Ronnie Attard (4) scored with 35-seconds left, cutting Springfield’s lead to 6-4 and Jackson Cates (3) assisted his goal. The Phantoms’ five-game winning streak came to an end with a 6-4 loss.
The Phantoms were in a handicap match. The officiating missed a lot of calls that should’ve gone against Springfield but they didn’t, including hitting Pat Nagle after the whistles were blown. Bob Rotruck announced that the referees from last night’s game, the same ones that referred this game, admitted to missing a goal the Phantoms had scored. Referees should not be the game like they did again in this game.
However, when the Phantoms committed penalties, the refs were quick to blow the whistle. While penalties have hurt the Phantoms this year, I can’t blame them on this one as they were defending Nagle, and the refs did a horrible job. Either let them play or call it down the middle. Favoritism is a bad look.
The Phantoms finished the afternoon with 41 shots, 1/6 on the power play, and Pat Nagle made 40 saves. He played a good game and made a couple of good glove saves. To play three games in a row is tough and the Phantoms should be proud to win two out of three games this weekend. On the other side, the Thunderbirds finished with 46 shots, 4/6 on the power play, and Vadim Zherenko made 37 saves.
The Phantoms will have one more road game next Friday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
