It was a special night for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (11-9-2) on Saturday night at the PPL Center. They celebrated their 2,000th game. The Phantoms are the ninth team in AHL history to reach this milestone. Their opponent was against the Charlotte Checkers (12-9-3).
There was good news before the game as forward Artem Anisimov signed a contract with the Phantoms for the remainder of the season. He has made a big impact since joining the Phantoms on a PTO contract scoring three goals and one assist in six games. Tonight, he celebrated that contract in a big way. However, Anisimov can opt out of the contract should he get an NHL opportunity.
There was one change in the lineup as Zayde Wisdom returned and Isaac Ratcliffe was scratched for the game. Ratcliffe joined, Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Ryan Fitzgerald, Cooper Marody, and Wyatte Wylie. Sam Ersson started in goal with Nolan Maier as the backup.
Early in the first period, Charlotte had three chances to take the lead but Sam Ersson stopped them. Charlotte was disrupting plays, fighting for the puck, and creating turnovers. The Phantoms were not doing a good job with man-to-man coverage, giving Charlotte plenty of room to take a shot.
Lehigh Valley went on their first power play with 14:08 left after Henry Bowlby hit Louie Belpedio with a high stick. The Phantoms were sloppy with puck possession and only got one shot off. Lehigh Valley went to 0/1. Then, Hayden Hodgson nailed Patrick Giles and the two of them fought with 10:52 left. In addition to fighting, Hodgson got an elbow tacked on and Kieffer Bellows served the penalty, putting Charlotte on their first power play.
The power play quickly came to an end when former Phantom Connor Bunnaman hit Elliot Desnoyers for an interference call. The Phantoms had 1:27 left of power play time. Charlotte was undisciplined in this game, committing too many penalties.
The Phantoms went 0/2 but got another chance after Xavier Cormier high-sticked Kevin Connauton. This time, the Phantoms took advantage. The Phantoms were setting up a shot opportunity before Olle Lycksell (10) made a cross-ice pass to Artem Anisimov (4) and Anisimov tipped the puck past Jean-Francois Berube’s right skate and into the net. The Phantoms led 1-0 and Garrett Wilson (6) picked up the secondary assist.
A minute and eleven seconds later, the Phantoms extended their lead to 2-0. The Phantoms prompted a rush into the Checkers’ zone. Linus Hogberg (2) took a shot that hit off the glove of Berube. Kieffer Bellows (2) was positioned for the rebound and shot the puck that hit Berube’s leg and into the net with 3:35 left. Elliot Desnoyers (3) earned the secondary assist.
With under a minute left in the first period, the Phantoms went on their fourth power play on a high-sticking call against Zach Uens. Fifteen seconds later, the Phantoms added another goal. Olle Lycksell (11) got the puck away from Anthony Bitetto and it sailed toward Artem Anisimov (2). Then, Anisimov drew Berube away from his net before making a pass to Tyson Foerster (8) who buried the shot into the top right corner for a 3-0 lead with 33 seconds left. The Phantoms led 3-0 after one period and led the shots 9-6.
Three minutes and thirty-four seconds into the second period, the Phantoms went on their sixth power play on a slashing call against Michael Del Zotto. Just as time was set to expire, the Phantoms scored another power-play goal. The Phantoms set up for a shot inside the Checkers’ zone. Linus Hogberg ripped the shot past Berube’s left skate and into the net for a 4-0 lead with 13:33 left. Jordy Bellerive (7) and Zayde Wisdom (6) assisted Hogberg’s goal.
Later in the second period, Charlotte got hit with another penalty. This time, it was an elbowing call on Anthony Bitetto. During the power play, Artem Anisimov (3) made a pass to Olle Lycksell (5) and Lycksell fired the puck over Berube’s right pad and into the net for a commanding 5-0 lead with 5:39 left. Egor Zamula (2) picked up the secondary assists.
During the celebration, Adam Brooks was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty. This put Charlotte on their second power play. Charlotte got off four shots but still could not get one past Sam Ersson. The Phantoms led 5-0 after two periods. Lehigh Valley continued to lead the shots 16-12.
Seven minutes and ten seconds into the third period, the Phantoms added another goal. Adam Brooks (1) stole the puck to start a breakaway. Then, as Brooks got closer to Berube, he left the puck for Artem Anisimov (5) and drew Berube away from his net and Anisimov scored, making it 6-0 with 12:50 left.
The Phantoms committed five penalties in the third period with one of them leading to a Charlotte goal. That goal came with 10:08 left as Riley Nash (8) tipped Grigori Denisenko’s (8) shot past Ersson’s right skate, ending the shutout bid 6-1. Santtu Kinnunen (10) got the secondary assist.
The Phantoms had two more shots for the rest of the game. Late in the third period, Hayden Hodgson was issued a ten-minute game misconduct for abusing officials with 2:37 left. Nevertheless, the Phantoms did a good job to come away with a 6-1 win, sweeping Charlotte in Allentown. This was the Phantoms’ largest victory of margin this year.
Artem Anisimov (2 G, 2 A) had a four-point night, while Olle Lycksell (1 G, 2 A) had three points, Linus Hogberg (1 G, 1 A) and Garrett Wilson (2 A) had two points.
The Phantoms finished the night with 20 shots, 3/7 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 21 saves. It’s Ersson’s eighth win this year. On the other side, Charlotte had 22 shots, 1/6 on the power play, and Jean-Francois Berube made 14 saves.
Next weekend, the Phantoms will have a home-and-home series against the Providence Bruins beginning on Friday from the Amica Mutual Pavilion at 7:05 pm, and on Saturday at 7:05 pm from the PPL Center. Then, the Phantoms close out next weekend against the Hershey Bears at 5 pm from the Giant Center. Tickets for these games can be purchased on StubHub.
