Twenty-four hours removed from their win on Saturday night. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (25-20-5) concluded a two-game homestand on Sunday evening against the Hartford Wolf Pack (21-20-9). This was the third meeting of the season between these teams.
Before the game, there was one minor lineup change. Adam Brooks was on the fourth line replacing Charlie Gerard. Gerard joined Cal O’Reilly, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jordy Bellerive, Cooper Marody, Wyatte Wylie, and Jacob Gaucher that were out for the game. Pat Nagle (1-7-1, 3.81 GAA, .877 GAA) started in goal with Troy Grosenick as the backup.
The Phantoms had problems getting the puck away from Hartford in the first period. The Wolf Pack dominated most of the first period in faceoff wins, winning the one-on-one battles, and shots on goal. The Phantoms’ defense could not contain Hartford’s offense and they dominated the ice in front of Nagle.
Hartford had nine shots before they got on the board. Ty Emberson (11) took a shot from the left side and the puck bounced off of Nagle and he lost sight of it. Then, Gustav Rydahl (5) rebounded the puck as Nagle spun around looking for it but Rydahl fired it into the net. It was 1-0 Hartford with 7:18 left.
In the last five minutes, the Phantoms committed two penalties. They had trouble staying out of the penalty box. After Artem Anisimov was called for hooking, Hartford had 1:25 left of power play time to begin the second period. For Anisimov, it was his first visit to the penalty box in the 35 games he’s played this year. Hartford led 1-0 after one period and led the shots 12-8.
The Phantoms killed the penalty to start the second period. It was one of three they killed in this game. Shortly after the Phantoms killed the power play, they tied the game. Elliot Desnoyers (14) stole the puck away from Hartford goalie Louis Domingue before he could get a glove on it. He then passed the puck to Artem Anisimov (11) and there was a scramble in front of the net before Garrett Wilson (6) jammed the puck in. The game was tied 1-1 with 18:21 left.
Later, Gustav Rydahl hooked Artem Anisimov and the Phantoms went on their third power play. Seven seconds later, the Phantoms took the lead. Elliott Desnoyers won the faceoff draw inside the Wolf Pack zone. Then, there was a traffic jam behind the goal net. Ronnie Attard (15) and Isaac Ratcliffe (2) fought for the puck before Attard got it out of there and toward Elliot Desnoyers (18). Desnoyers squeezed the puck just past Domingue’s left skate and into the net for a power play goal. It was now 2-1 Phantoms with 14:40 left.
The Phantoms tighten up their coverage, not allowing Hartford to do much offensively. In addition, Lehigh Valley was executing plays and making smart decisions with the puck. Six minutes and fourteen seconds later, the Phantoms struck again.
Elliot Desnoyers (15) got the puck to Bobby Brink (9) as they were leaving their zone. Brink made a short pass to Garrett Wilson (7) and he turned on the jets skating around Zach Giuttari before making a backhand shot over Domingue’s left pad and into the net. It was now 3-1 Phantoms with 7:26 left.
The Phantoms had four more shots on goal before the second period ended. They led 3-1 after two periods but Hartford still led the shots 21-19.
Seven minutes and four seconds into the third period, Zayde Wisdom went to the penalty box for holding. The Phantoms continue to have problems staying out of the penalty box.
Twelve seconds later, the Wolf Pack made it a one-goal game. Hartford won the faceoff inside the Phantoms’ zone. Tanner Fritz (24) took command of the puck as the Wolf Pack got set up. Fritz passed the puck to Ryan Carpenter (12) who drew a couple of Phantoms players toward him leaving Will Cuylle (16) all alone. Carpenter directed the puck to him and he fired it over Nagle’s left pad and into the net. It was now 3-2 with 12:44 left.
Two minutes and eight seconds later, the Phantoms got the goal back. Bobby Brink (10) fought for the puck behind the goal net before getting it out of there and into the direction of Elliot Desnoyers (16). Once again, there was another scramble in front of Louie Domingue and Garrett Wilson (8) poked the puck through the five-hole and into the net for a 4-2 lead with 10:36 left. Wilson completed the hat trick. It was the first hat trick in two years since Brennan Saulnier did it on May 9th, 2021.
After that goal, the Phantoms collapsed. Hartford pressured Lehigh Valley to force turnovers and win one-on-one battles. The Phantoms could not keep up and looked blindsided. The momentum completely shifted in favor of Hartford. The Wolf Pack scored three goals in a span of five minutes led by Gustav Rydahl’s (6, 7) two goals that got him a hat trick, tying the game 4-4 with 4:28 left. Then, Libor Hajek (1) scored, putting Harford in the lead 5-4 with two minutes left.
Shortly after the Phantoms pulled Pat Nagle for an extra attacker, Hartford put the game away with an empty net goal by Turner Elson (12). The Phantoms went on to lose the game by the final score of 6-4.
After the game, head coach Ian Laperriere said the team stopped playing, did not kill plays when they needed to, and they need to learn and move on. On the plus side, Garrett Wilson and Elliot Desnoyers had three points in this game, while Bobby Brink had two.
The Phantoms finished the evening with 26 shots, 1/2 on the power play, and Pat Nagle made 26 saves. On the other side, the Wolf Pack had 32 shots, 1/4 on the power play, and Louis Domingue made 22 saves.
The Phantoms start a four-game road trip beginning on Wednesday night. They take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
