The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (37-27-6) visited the Total Mortgage Arena for the final time this season against the Bridgeport Islanders (33-29-8). This was their eighth and final meeting of the season. Coming into this game, the Phantoms led the season series 5-1-1.
They needed to beat Bridgeport to keep up with Charlotte, who won on Tuesday night to move up to third place. In addition, the Phantoms put their three-game winning streak on the line.
There were a couple of lineup changes as Artem Anisimov returned from injury after missing last Saturday’s game. He played on the first line. In addition, Adam Ginning returned to the Phantoms after making his Flyers debut on Tuesday night against Columbus. Meanwhile, Zayde Wisdom was sent to the Reading Royals (ECHL).
In addition, Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Egor Zamula, Ryan Fitzgerald, Will Zmolek, Hayden Hodgson, and Brendan Furry were out for the game. Sam Ersson (24-15-2, 2.73 GAA, .904 SV%) started in goal with Nolan Maier backing him up.
Forty-four seconds into the first period, the Phantoms struck first when Adam Brooks (24) stole the puck and passed it to Cooper Marody (25). Then, Marody passed the puck to Ronnie Attard (12) he fired it past the glove of Jakub Skarek and into the net. It was 1-0 Phantoms with 19:17 left.
From there, it was all Bridgeport. The Phantoms’ defense did a poor job covering their guys. There were several odd-man rushes and breakaway chances by the Islanders but Sam Ersson stopped most of their shots throughout this game. Ten minutes and fifty-four seconds in, the Phantoms went on their first power play on a holding call against Andy Andreoff.
However, during the power play, the Islanders tied the game. Off the faceoff inside the Islanders’ zone, Aidan Fulp (1) quickly got the puck away from their zone toward Kyle MacLean (15). MacLean skated toward Ersson before taking a shot that bounced off of Ersson’s right pad but Chris Terry (24) was there to finish the play, getting it past Ersson’s left skate and into the net for a shorthanded goal. It was 1-1 with 8:56 left.
The Phantoms had two power play chances but could not score. The power play has not been one of Lehigh Valley’s strengths this season. With 33 seconds left in the period, the Islanders took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Arnaud Durandeau (20). He made a good sharp angle shot over Ersson’s left pad and into the net. Reece Newkirk (4) and William Dufour (26) assisted with his goal.
Since the Phantoms’ first goal, Bridgeport had 16 shots on goal while the Phantoms had six shots. The Phantoms were outplayed by the Islanders and trailed 2-1 after one period.
The Phantoms started the second period with six consecutive shots in which one of them led to tying the game. Lehigh Valley won the faceoff with Garrett Wilson moving the puck around attempting to get to Jakub Skarek. Wilson slammed the brakes and did a great job creating separation from Paul LaDue before finding a wide-open Adam Brooks, who whisked the shot over Skarek’s right shoulder and into the net. The game was tied 2-2 with 9:54 left.
The Phantoms did a good job limiting the Islanders’ chances as they had five shots in the period and the Phantoms had twelve. The game remained tied 2-2 after two periods. The overall shots were 21-18 Islanders.
Business picked up in the third period. Forty-two seconds in, Chris Terry (25) scored his second goal of the night to break the tie. It was 3-2 Islanders with 19:18 left. Fourteen seconds later, Ronnie Attard was called for an interference penalty and Bridgeport went on their second power play. It took forty seconds to add another goal, this time by Andy Andreoff (35) for a 4-2 lead with 18:24 left.
Two minutes later, the Phantoms cut the deficit. Off the faceoff, Garrett Wilson (24) hustled to retrieve the puck and made a backhand pass to Cooper Marody (15) as he fired it through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 4-3 Islanders with 16:25 left. Bridgeport was caught off guard at that moment but they would get the goal back.
Matthew Maggio (1) led the Islanders’ rush toward the Phantoms’ zone before making a pass to Chris Terry (26). Ronnie Attard tried to make a diving block leaving Terry wide open as he fired it through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 5-3 Islanders with 12:15 left.
Less than a minute later, the Phantoms got it back to a one-goal game. Bobby Brink (16) disrupted the Islanders’ play to force a turnover as Jakub Skarek came out of his net to swat the puck away from Brink but Elliot Desnoyers (23) was there to finish the play and scored an open net goal. It was now 5-4 Islanders with 11:46 left. With the goal, Desnoyers set a new record for the most goals scored by a rookie in Lehigh Valley history, breaking Danick Martel’s record set in the 2015-16 season.
Finally, the Islanders put the game away with 18 seconds left as Chris Terry (27) completed the hat trick as the Phantoms lost to the Islanders by the final score of 6-4. The loss snaps the Phantoms’ three-game winning streak.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 37 shots, 0-4 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 28 saves. On the other side, the Islanders had 34 shots, 1-2 on the power play, and Jakub Skarek made 33 saves.
The loss also puts the Phantoms in a must-win situation on Friday night for a chance to tie for third place against the Charlotte Checkers at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
