The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (35-26-6) visited the Total Mortgage Arena on Sunday afternoon against the Bridgeport Islanders (31-27-8) for the seventh time this year. Coming into this game, the Phantoms were 4-1-1 against Bridgeport this year.
There were a couple of minor lineup changes before the game. First, Ryan Fitzgerald played on the fourth line in place of Alex Kile, and Adam Karashik replaced Wyatte Wylie on defense. In addition to Kile and Wylie, Troy Grosenick, Egor Zamula, Zayde Wisdom, Cooper Marody, Will Zmolek, and Hayden Hodgson were out for the game. Nolan Maier (5-2-2, 2.85 GAA, .886 SV%) started in goal with Pat Nagle backing him up.
Three minutes and fifty-two seconds into the first period, Olle Lycksell (30) made a pass to Tyson Foerster (23) before shooting the puck at Cory Schneider. After the puck bounced off of Schneider, Artem Anisimov (19) rebounded the puck before Schneider could cover it and scored with a backhand shot past Schneider’s glove and into the net.
It was 1-0 Phantoms with 16:08 left. For Foerster, he is on a nine-game combined points streak with both the Phantoms and Flyers.
Lehigh Valley dominated the first period with 16 shots on goal. They did a good job checking the Bridgeport players against the boards and forcing turnovers. With 5:46 left, both Max Willman and Ryan Fitzgerald almost extended the Phantoms’ lead but Cory Schneider robbed them. Cory Schneider kept the Islanders in the game despite the Phantoms penetrating Bridgeport’s defense.
On the other side, Nolan Maier made six saves on six shots. Lehigh Valley’s defense did a decent job protecting Maier and he didn’t have to do a whole lot as the Phantoms were playing the majority of the first period inside the Islanders’ zone.
Late in the first period, Bobby Brink went to the penalty box for high-sticking Vincent Sevigny. Head coach Ian Laperrière and other Phantoms players argued about the Bobby Brink call. On the replay, it showed that Brink never hit Sevigny with a high stick but his teammate, Reece Newkirk got him instead.
The Islanders had 29 seconds left of power play time to begin the second period and the Phantoms led 1-0 after one period.
The Phantoms killed the power play to begin the second period. Shortly after the power play, Bridgeport’s Jeff Kubiak went to the penalty box for cross-checking. It was the Phantoms’ first power play of the game. It took the Phantoms 51 seconds to extend their lead.
They took their time to set up a shooting opportunity. After Artem Anisimov missed the shot, he rebounded the puck and passed it to Olle Lycksell (11). Lycksell sent the puck to Emil Andrae (3) before faking a shot and passing it to Tyson Foerster (24). Foerster froze the Islanders’ defense with a terrific fake shot and passed it to Olle Lycksell and he rocketed the puck past the left skate of Schneider and into the net. It was now 2-0 Phantoms with 16:35 left.
After the goal, Bridgeport started to build momentum. Four minutes and forty seconds in the period, the Islanders cut the Phantoms’ lead to 2-1 after Bridgeport won the faceoff inside the Phantoms’ zone. Vincent Sevigny (12) took a shot that bounced off of Maier. There was a mad scramble for the puck that Arnaud Durandeau (26) rebounded and quickly passed the puck to Chris Terry (22) for a shot inside the right circle as it goes past Maier’s left pad and into the net.
Two minutes and thirty-five seconds later, the Phantoms got the goal back after Louie Belpedio checked Andy Andreoff into the boards that started an odd-man rush for the Phantoms. Adam Brooks (18) passed the puck to Bobby Brink (13) before passing it to Garett Wilson (17) and he fired it past the stick side of Schneider and into the net. It was 3-1 Phantoms with 10:17 left.
Late in the second period, Bridgeport made a push and almost made it a one-goal game but Nolan Maier stopped five of their shots. He finished the second period stopping eight of nine Islanders’ shots. The Phantoms had six shots on goal and led the Islanders 3-1 after two periods.
Forty-four seconds into the third period, Louie Belpedio and Arnaud Durandeau went to the penalty box for roughing. Bridgeport dominated the third period. They had five shots in the first six minutes of the period.
Bridgeport forced turnovers and the Phantoms struggled to keep up. Seven minutes and fifty-five seconds in the period, the Islanders made it a one-goal game. They missed several shots before Grant Hutton (4) fired the puck through the five-hole and into the net. Cole Bardreau (15) and Blade Jenkins (2) assisted with his goal. The Phantoms were now hanging on for dear life.
The Islanders had 13 shots in the third period and kept pounding the Phantoms’ zone. Nolan Maier made three terrific glove saves to keep the Phantoms ahead. Meanwhile, Lehigh Valley had three shots on goal in the third period.
With 1:35 left, the Islanders pulled Cory Schneider and the Phantoms had an opportunity to put the game away but Olle Lycksell missed the empty net. Luckily, the Phantoms held on to beat the Islanders by the final score of 3-2. They pick up a crucial two points in the Atlantic Division standings and now trail the struggling Charlotte Checkers by two points for fourth place.
The Phantoms finished the afternoon with 25 shots, 1-1 on the power play, and Nolan Maier made 26 saves. On the other side, the Islanders had 28 shots, 0-3 on the power play, and Cory Schneider made 22 saves.
The Phantoms return to the PPL Center to start a two-game homestand on Friday against the Charlotte Checkers at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
