The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-22-6) returned to the PPL Center on Saturday night against the first-place Toronto Marlies (37-16-3) from the North Division. This was the second meeting of the season coming into this game with Toronto leading the season series 1-0.
There was one minor lineup change as Alex Kile was a healthy scratch and Zayde Wisdom was slotted into the fourth line. Sam Ersson (17-11-2, 2.66 GAA, .907 SV%) started in goal with Nolan Maier backing him up. Joining Kile on the scratch list were Troy Grosenick, Cal O’Reilly, Ryan Fitzgerald, and Jordy Bellerive. For Toronto, this was a new roster as many of their players were either traded, out with an illness, or were called up.
The first period was uneventful. The Phantoms had a couple of chances to score on the power play but could not capitalize. Both teams were not organized, not in their positions, hesitant to shoot, and made a ton of shots missing the target. The Phantoms had seven shots on goal, including a great pass by Adam Brooks to Zayde Wisdom coming off the bench but Erik Kallgren stopped it.
Late in the first period, Garrett Wilson tripped Joseph Blandisi with 19 seconds left. Toronto had three shots on goal in the first period and had a minute and forty-one seconds of power play time to start the second period. The game remained scoreless after one period.
The Phantoms killed the power play to begin the second period. Five minutes and nine seconds into the second period, the Phantoms scored. Garrett Wilson (18) made a backhand pass to Kevin Connauton (8). Connauton took a shot that went off of Kallgren’s right pad, popped up in the air, and Elliot Desnoyers (20), with tremendous hand-eye coordination, swatted the puck waist down past Kallgren’s left leg and into the net. It was 1-0 Phantoms with 14:52 left.
A minute and thirty-nine seconds later, the Phantoms added another goal. Tyson Foerster (18) made a cross-ice pass to Ronnie Attard (17). Attard took a shot that went off of Kallgren’s left pad and Artem Anisimov (16) was there for the rebound and jammed the puck past Kallgren’s right skate and into the net. It was 2-0 Phantoms with 13:14 left.
Shortly after the second goal, Cooper Marody went to the penalty box for tripping. Toronto took advantage and made it a one-goal game when Pontus Holmberg (5) shot a one-timer through the five-hole and into the net for a power-play goal. It was 2-1 Phantoms with 10:12 left. Nick Abruzzese (25) and Alex Steeves (26) assisted with his goal.
Late in the second period, Adam Ginning got called for holding and went to the penalty box. The Marlies had 40 seconds left of power play time to begin the second period. The Phantoms had nine shots in the second period and led 2-1 after two periods.
One thing the Phantoms continue to do is be vulnerable near the boards. They set themselves up to get whacked and Toronto easily got turnovers because of it. However, the Phantoms showed a lot of grit out there and were playing a good physical game, winning most of the one-on-one battles.
Five minutes and twenty-three seconds into the third period, the Phantoms went on their third power play after Radim Zohorna tripped Adam Ginning. Less than a minute later, the Phantoms capitalized when Olle Lycksell’s (26) pass went off a Marlies defender and Garrett Wilson (11) was there to jab the puck past Kallgren’s left skate and into the net for a power play. It was now 3-1 Phantoms with 13:45 left and Artem Anisimov (12) got the secondary assists.
There was a lot of push and shoving on both sides. Some got out of hand, while others were quickly halted to prevent fighting. Hayden Hodgson and Marshall Rifai went at it and both headed to the penalty box. Hodgson is a good teammate looking out for his guys. With 4:10 left in the game, Toronto pulled Erik Kallgren for an extra attacker. Shortly after, Louie Belpedio went to the penalty box for roughing.
Toronto won the faceoff and pulled Kallgren again for a five-on-three power play. They made it a one-goal game with 3:19 left on a one-timer by Noel Hoefenmayer (11) past Ersson’s right skate and into the net for a power play goal. It was now 3-2 Phantoms. Nick Abruzzese (26) and Alex Steeves (27) assisted with his goal.
Toronto pulled Kallgren again and the Phantoms took advantage as Olle Lycksell (10) sprinted toward the puck with a Toronto player chasing him and he made a sharp angle shot into the net for an empty-net goal. It was 4-2 Phantoms with 54 seconds left.
Toronto would get one more goal in the game when Kyle Clifford’s (11) shot was deflected by Marc Johnstone (9) over Ersson’s left pad and into the net. It was 4-3 Phantoms with 20 seconds. While Johnstone did score the goal, the score sheet credits Filip Kral (2) for the goal and Joseph Blandisi (23) picked up the extra assist.
The Phantoms held on to a 4-3 win over the Marlies. Head coach Ian Laperriere was happy with the performance. He said they controlled the game, and played smart hockey but they have to know situations in close games and not take penalties. He still wants his team to stay out of the box.
The Phantoms finished the night with 27 shots, 1-3 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 17 saves. On the other side, the Marlies had 20 shots, 2-4 on the power play, and Erik Kallgren made 23 saves. The Phantoms are now 4-5-1 in their last ten games.
The Phantoms conclude the two-game homestand on Sunday against the Providence Bruins at 4:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub.
