The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (23-17-5) concluded their second road game on Friday before returning home. They took on the Hartford Wolf Pack (19-18-9) from the XL Center. It was the Phantoms’ first game since the All-Star break. This was the second meeting between these teams. Harford won the first game 3-2 on December 7th.
There were some minor lineup changes before the game. Cal O’Reilly remained out of the lineup due to an illness, and Hayden Hodgson was banged up and sat out for the game. Meanwhile, Linus Hogberg was released on Thursday and went back to Sweden, and Elliot Desnoyers returned from injury. Desnoyers was on the second line.
Sam Ersson (14-10-1, 2.68 GAA, .910 SV%) started in goal with Pat Nagle backing him up. In addition to O’Reilly and Hodgson, Troy Grosenick, Ryan Fitzgerald, Isaac Ratcliff, and Wyatte Wylie were out for the game.
The Phantoms had five shots in the opening five minutes of the first period. Hartford, who’ve been 5-4-1 in their last ten games controlled the early part of the first period. They had ten shots and the Phantoms were losing the one-on-one battles. Hartford made some good stick work to force turnovers.
Then, the Phantoms started to get their act together. They for the most part tighten up coverage, forced turnovers, started shooting, and did a better job in one-on-one battles. The Phantoms made five additional shots before getting on the board.
Louie Belpedio (13) made a nice play to get the puck to Bobby Brink (6) Brink skated near the left boards with Willman not far from him. Then, Brink made a quick pass to Max Willman (5) with a nice backhand flip past the stick side of Louis Domingue and into the net. The Phantoms led 1-0 with 3:26 left.
With under two minutes left. The Phantoms went on their first power play as Jonny Brodzinski tripped Cooper Marody. The Phantoms had 21 seconds left of power play time to start the second period. Lehigh Valley led 1-0 after one period. They also led the shots 13-12.
The Phantoms could not score on the power play and went 0/1 to start the second period. Lehigh Valley continues to have problems leaving too much room for Hartford to shoot. The Wolf Pack had five shots in the first four minutes of the second period.
After coming close several times. Hartford tied the game. As the Wolf Pack was getting set up for a shot opportunity. Matthew Robertson (14) made a pass to Austin Rueschhoff (9). The Phantoms chased the puck and left one man open. That man was Turner Elson (11). Rueschhoff made a cross-ice pass to Elson and he fired the puck past Ersson’s left skate and into the net. The game was tied 1-1 with 10:49 left.
A minute and eleven seconds later. The Phantoms retook the lead. Jackson Cates (10) made a pass to Max Willman (6) on the rush. Willman went around Zac Jones heading toward Louis Domingue and whisked the shot off the camera inside the goal net. The refs ruled it a no-goal but after they went to replay awarded the goal to Willman. It was now 2-1 Phantoms with 9:38 left.
That goal gave a spark to the team needed. They started to play better for the rest of the second period. The Phantoms played with a purpose, attacking, winning the faceoffs, and staying out of the penalty box.
Twenty-seven seconds after the goal. The Phantoms went on their second power play after Jackson Cates was hooked by Zach Giuttari. Despite not getting a goal on the power play. The Phantoms extended their lead twelve seconds after the power play expired.
Cooper Marody (11) did a dump and chase off the endboards and hustled toward it. He beat a Wolf Pack player to get the puck. As Marody was going around the goal net. He made a backhand pass. The puck went off the right skate of Matthew Robertson before bouncing off the glove of Louis Domingue, and into the direction of Elliot Desnoyers (12). Desnoyers could not get a shot off with a Hartford player on him but Zayde Wisdom (2) came from behind with a nice backhand shot through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 3-1 Phantoms with 7:10 left.
Lehigh Valley had one shot for the remainder of the second period. They led 3-1 after two periods but Hartford led the shots 23-21.
In the third period. The Phantoms slacked off. Harford had four shots in the first eight minutes of the third period. The Phantoms did a good job staying out of the box until Jackson Cates got called for hooking with 9:59 left.
Hartford took advantage. Twenty-three seconds into the power play. Tim Gettinger (9) found Tanner Fritz (21). Fritz drew a couple of Phantoms players to him, leaving Zac Jones (7) wide open. Fritz passed the puck to Jones and he made a slapshot through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 3-2 Phantoms with 9:36 left.
The Phantoms were awful for the majority of the third. When they did touch the puck. They were killing time rather than attempting to put the game away. It wasn’t until the game’s last four minutes that play picked up. The Phantoms scored two goals. First, Cooper Marody (12) passed the puck to Bobby Brink (7). Brink showed his quickness with a nice cross-ice pass to Elliot Desnoyers (15). Desnoyers jammed the puck through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 4-2 with 3:44 left.
Finally, Hartford pulled Louis Domingue with a little over two minutes left. Olle Lycksell put the game away by shooting from the Phantoms’ blue line and into the net for an empty net goal. It was Lycksell’s second empty-net goal of the season. The Phantoms defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack by the final score of 5-2.
With the win, the Phantoms trail the Springfield Thunderbirds by two points for fourth place in the Atlantic Division. Lehigh Valley finished the night with 24 shots, 1/3 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 33 saves. On the other side, Hartford had 35 shots, 1/1 on the power play, and Louis Domingue made 19 saves.
The Phantoms return home to the PPL Center on Saturday night. They take on the Bridgeport Islanders at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
