The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (13-11-3) were back on the road for the final time before the holiday break. They faced the Springfield Thunderbirds (11-13-5) from the MassMutual Center.
Both teams came into this game trailing the Hershey Bears by 16 points for first place in the Atlantic Division. In addition, both teams are 4-5-1 in their last ten games. This is the third time these two teams have met with the season series tied 1-1.
Since the Phantoms’ last game, defenseman Kevin Connauton left the United States to join Team Canada in the Spengler Cup. While he is away, the Phantoms called up defenseman Mason Millman from the Reading Royals. Millman has four goals and ten assists in 23 games.
However, Millman was scratched from this game. Joining Millman were Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Ryan Fitzgerald, Garrett Wilson, and Cooper Marody. Pat Nagle (0-2-1, 3.68, .893) started in goal with Nolan Maier backing him up.
Twenty-three seconds into the first period, the Phantoms took the lead. Tyson Foerster was chasing down a couple of Thunderbirds players for the puck. Then, Hugh McGing hit the puck that went off the skate of Luke Witkowski. As the puck was moving, Olle Lycksell (13) got control of it and made an in-between-the-legs pass to Artem Anisimov (10). Anisimov fired the puck through the five-hole and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
After the goal, the Phantoms did a great job playing both sides. The offense got off some great shots with some of them almost going into the net. Springfield had some chances to tie the game but the Phantoms’ defense disrupted their momentum to get the puck out of their zone.
Late in the first period, the Phantoms almost made it 2-0. Elliot Desnoyers stole the puck before passing it to Adam Brooks but he was offsides.
Pat Nagle made 12 saves in the first period. There were no penalties committed by either team, and the Phantoms led 1-0 after one period. The shots were even at 12 apiece.
Four minutes and one second into the second period. Louie Belpedio got called for roughing, putting the Thunderbirds on their first power play. The Phantoms’ defense blocked several Springfield shots to prevent them from scoring. The Thunderbirds went 0/1.
Later in the second period, Olle Lycksell appeared to have put the Phantoms up 2-0. However, the goal was waved off as he kicked the puck into the net with 9:31 left. For the second time in the game, the Thunderbirds went on the power play after Linus Hogberg was called for slashing. Once again, the Phantoms killed that power play, and the Thunderbirds went to 0/2.
After the power play expired, Pat Nagle made a right-pad save before getting hit by a Springfield player. Nagle received several cheap shots by Springfield in this game, leading to Lehigh Valley defending him.
The refs made no calls against Springfield for the cheap shots, and some of the Phantoms players let them know they were not happy about the no-calls. Had the refs made those calls, there wouldn’t be a lot of scuffles in this game.
Late in the second period, Kieffer Bellows went to the penalty box for tripping Matthew Kessel. It was a bad call by the refs. For the third time, the Phantoms killed off the power-play. The Phantoms led 1-0 after two periods. The shots were 21-19 for Springfield.
Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds into the third period. The Phantoms went on their first and only power play of the game after Brady Lyle high-sticked Tyson Foerster. The Phantoms could not take advantage and went to 0/1. Later in the third period, the Phantoms got an insurance goal.
Ronnie Attard was chasing a couple of Thunderbirds players toward the back of Springfield’s net. Steven Santini went to shoot the puck out of their zone when Cal O’Reilly (3) wrangled it away and fired it over the right pad of Vadim Zherenko and into the net. The score was now 2-0 with 7:32 left. Adam Brooks (2) and Ronnie Attard (8) assisted his goal.
With their backs against the wall, Springfield went on the attack. Keean Washkurak (2) had the puck and tried a turnaround shot but Nagle blocked it. Then, the puck went off Steven Jandric’s (4) stick before Mitchell Hoelscher (2) made a backhand shot past Nagle’s right skate and into the net. The Thunderbirds cut the Phantoms’ lead to 2-1 with 4:34 left. Steven Jandric (4) and Keean Washkurak (2) assisted his goal.
Afterward, the Thunderbirds pulled Zherenko for an extra attacker. The Phantoms prevented Springfield from generating any chances and held on for a 2-1 win. This was a great game by the Phantoms. They did a nice job executing plays, shooting, and playing defense. Nagle picked up his first win in the AHL this year.
The Phantoms finished the night with 23 shots, 0/1 on the power play, and Pat Nagle made 30 saves. On the other side, the Thunderbirds had 31 shots, 0/4 on the power play, and Vadim Zherenko made 21 saves.
The Phantoms will be back in action next Wednesday against the Bridgeport Islanders at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
