The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (16-13-5) returned to the PPL Center on Friday night. They took on the Bridgeport Islanders (15-14-7) in a rematch from Wednesday night.
This was the fourth meeting between these teams. The Phantoms came into the game 4-4-2 in their last ten games, while the Islanders were on a 11-game losing streak at 0-8-2-1.
Before the game started. The Phantoms sent goalie Pat Nagle to the Reading Royals (ECHL) to get playing time, and Nolan Maier returned to Lehigh Valley to backup Felix Sandstrom.
Linus Hogberg was inserted into the lineup as Egor Zamula was out with an illness. In addition to Zamula. Troy Grosenick, Ryan Fitzgerald, Isaac Ratcliffe, and Hayden Hodgson were scratched for the game.
Bridgeport came right out of the gate in the first period with four shots in a minute and three seconds into the game. Three minutes and five seconds later, Tyson Foerster stole the puck and nearly put the Phantoms up but Cory Schneider denied him with a pad save.
It took the Phantoms twelve minutes and six seconds into the game to score the first goal. Kevin Connauton (4) led the Phantoms’ rush into the Islanders’ zone. He made a pass to Olle Lycksell (17) who skated with the puck behind the goal net. Then, Lycksell found Tyson Foerster (10), who shot it over Schneider’s left shoulder and into the net. The Phantoms led 1-0 with 7:54 left.
Late in the first period, Ronnie Attard was tripped by Robin Salo that put the Phantoms on their first power play. During the power play, the Phantoms made too many passes and not enough shooting. They need to stop second-guessing themselves and just shoot the puck.
The Phantoms had fifteen seconds left of power play time. They led 1-0 after one period and Felix Sandstrom stopped all ten shots by the Islanders. The Phantoms had nine shots.
In the second period, the Phantoms were unable to score on the power play and went to 0/1. Bridgeport started to get themselves together which led to their first goal a minute and eighteen seconds into the second period.
Chris Terry (24) led the Islanders’ rush inside the Phantoms’ zone. He passed the puck over to Arnaud Durandeau (17). Then, Durandeau found Andy Andreoff (19) as he shot the puck past the stick side of Sandstrom and into the net. The game was tied 1-1 with 18:42 left. Less than two minutes later. The Islanders struck again.
Seth Helgeson (5) stole the puck just as the Phantoms were entering the Islanders’ zone. Helgeson passed the puck to Cole Bardreau (7). Just ahead of Bardreau was Jeff Kubiak (5). As Bardreau was passing the puck to Kubiak, Ronnie Attard got down to try and block the pass but was nowhere near the puck. Kubiak got the puck for the breakaway before zipping it past Sandstrom’s left skate and into the net. The Islanders led 2-1 with 16:25 left.
Four minutes and thirteen seconds later. The Phantoms tied the game. Tyson Foerster was knocked down by Andy Andreoff as Bridgeport entered the Phantoms’ zone. Then, Olle Lycksell (18) stole the puck and made a long pass to Foerster for a breakaway. Foerster (11) went toward Cory Schneider and flipped the puck over Schneider’s left pad and into the net. The game was tied 2-2 with 12:12 left.
Eight minutes and two seconds later. The Phantoms took the lead. Jordy Bellerive (11) cleared the puck out of their zone and Adam Brooks (5) chased it. Next, Brooks reached the puck and did a spin-around pass to Jackson Cates (7). Cates pelted the puck through the five-hole and into the net. The Phantoms led 3-2 with 4:10 left.
The Phantoms had four more shots afterward before the second period ended. The Phantoms led 3-2 but Bridgeport led the shots 21-19. The Phantoms did a terrific job winning the faceoffs, aggressively getting to the puck, creating shooting chances, and the defense protected Sandstrom better.
Four minutes and eleven seconds into the third period. Max Willman cut across the ice inside the Islanders’ zone and nearly extended the Phantoms’ lead but Cory Schneider denied him. A minute and six seconds later. Wyatte Wylie tripped Chris Terry to put Bridgeport on their second power play. A minute and thirty-eight seconds later. Bridgeport tied the game.
The Islanders had two shots by Chris Terry and Dennis Cholowski before Dennis Cholowski (17) rebounded the puck and found Otto Koivula (8). Koivula jabbed the puck past Sandstrom’s left skate and into the net. The game was tied 3-3 with 13:17 left.
The puck was bouncing all over the place in this game. The playing surface had its issues. The PPL Center held Indoor Auto Racing last weekend. In addition, the players on both teams were losing their footing and tripping without contact. The Phantoms had six shots in the third period and the game remained tied 3-3 heading into overtime.
Two minutes and thirty seconds into overtime. Kevin Connauton almost ended the game but was denied by Cory Schneider. William Dufour (11) got control of the puck and made a pass to Aatu Raty (6) for the breakaway. Raty wrister the puck over Sandstrom’s right pad and into the net. The Islanders ended an eleven-game losing streak and Robin Salo (3) picked up the secondary assist. The Phantoms lost 4-3 in overtime.
Despite the loss, the Phantoms played a well-balanced game. They did all the right things minus a couple of hiccups. Felix Sandstrom put on a strong performance with 23 saves.
If the Phantoms can play like this again against Syracuse on Saturday. They have a chance to win that game. The Phantoms had 28 shots and went 0/2 on the power play. Bridgeport had 27 shots, 1/3 on the power play, and Cory Schneider made 25 saves.
The Phantoms play the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
