The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (30-22-6) returned to the PPL Center to start a five-game homestand on Saturday night. They took on the Belleville Senators (25-27-6) for the second and final meeting of the season. Coming into this game, Belleville led the season series 1-0.
There was one minor lineup change as Ryan Fitzgerald was inserted into the fourth line and Zayden Wisdom was a healthy scratch. The other players out for the game were Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Will Zmolek, and Alex Kile. Sam Ersson (19-11-2, 2.61 GAA, .907 SV%) started in goal with Nolan Maier as the backup.
Lehigh Valley did not start well as the Senators struck in the first two minutes and fifty-seven seconds of the first period. Lassi Thomson (22) dangled around Ryan Fitzgerald before shooting the puck. The puck bounced off of Ersson’s left pad and John Quenneville (3) was there for the rebound and scored. It was 1-0 Senators with 17:03 left.
Two minutes and thirty-nine seconds later, the Phantoms went on their first power play when Roby Jarventie tripped Cal O’Reilly. A minute and forty-eight seconds later, the Phantoms tied the game.
Lehigh Valley charged into the Senators’ zone. Louie Belpedio’s (16) shot was deflected by Adam Brooks’s (12) stick and over the crossbar. The puck bounced off the tempered glass behind the goal net and back in the direction of Senators goalie Ryan Bednard. There was a mad scramble for the puck before Cooper Marody (9) scored with a backhand shot. The game was tied 1-1 with 12:36 left.
The Phantoms had 11 shots in the first period. Despite the Senators having six shots on goal, the Phantoms’ coverage was not good. They left too many players open but luckily the defense was able to disrupt the Senators’ flow with good stick work. Late in the first period, Cooper Marody took a roughing penalty and the Senators had 1:48 of power play time to start the second period. The game remained tied 1-1.
The Phantoms killed the power play to start the second but the Senators scored two minutes and seven seconds after the power play expired. Cole Cassels (25) banked the puck off the boards and into the direction of John Quenneville (4) with Mitchell Heard (2) for a two-on-one advantage. Quenneville passed the puck to Heard, who drew Ersson away from his net before sending it back to Quenneville and he chipped the puck into an empty net. It was now 2-1 Senators with 16:05.
Two minutes and seven seconds later, the Phantoms tied the game. Garrett Wilson (20) skated with the puck inside the Senators’ zone. He made a turnaround shot and the puck hit Adam Brooks’s stick before bouncing off Ryan Bednard and Cooper Marody (10), with great hand-eye coordination, batted the puck into the net. It was now 2-2 with 14:48 left.
Just as the Phantoms were building momentum, Hayden Hodgson got called for a cross-checking penalty. It took 32 seconds for the Senators to retake the lead. Louie Belpedio took a shot that was quickly rebounded by Roby Jarventie (11) and the Senators used their speed to create a three-on-one play. Jarventie faked a pass before shooting through the five-hole and into the net for a power play goal. The Senators led 3-2 with 8:08 left.
The Phantoms had eight shots in the second period. However, the two mistakes made by them resulted in a couple of goals. The Senators had two shots on goal in the second period and led 3-2 after two periods.
In the third period, the Phantoms committed two more penalties but they killed them off. The Phantoms pushed hard in an attempt to tie the game. With 2:07 left, Ersson was pulled and the Phantoms capitalized with 48 seconds left when Cooper Marody (11) completed the hat trick that tied the game 3-3. Egor Zamula (14) and Bobby Brink (11) assisted with his goal. The Phantoms had 12 shots in the third period and the game went to overtime.
In overtime, Adam Brooks (14) stole the puck and dangled around a Senators player before finding Ronnie Attard (10) and Attard scored to give the Phantoms a 4-3 overtime win. Cooper Marody (18) got the secondary assists. It was the Phantoms’ 1,000th win in franchise history.
Marody had a four-point night and he now has eight points in the last three games. In addition, Adam Brooks also has eight points in his last three games. After the game, head coach Ian Laperriere said the team did not quit, made adjustments, and found a way to win the game.
The Phantoms finished the night with 32 shots, 1-3 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 15 saves. On the other side, the Senators had 18 shots, 1-6 on the power play and Ryan Bednard made 28 saves. Lehigh Valley extends its winning streak to four games, now 6-3-1 in its last ten games.
The Phantoms host the Utica Comets on Sunday at 4:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub.
