The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (37-28-6) concluded their 2022-23 regular season home game schedule on Friday night against the Charlotte Checkers (38-25-8) in their eighth and final meeting of the season. Coming into this game, the Phantoms led the season series 4-3.
This was not just another game between these teams, there was a lot on the line. The Charlotte Checkers came into this game two points ahead of the Phantoms for third place. Meanwhile, Lehigh Valley was tied with Springfield for fourth place and one point ahead of Hartford.
There were a couple of minor lineup changes before the game. Will Zmolek was on defense in place of Wyatte Wylie and Brandon Furry made his AHL debut in place of Jackson Cates on the fourth line.
In addition to Wylie and Cates, Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Egor Zamula, Ryan Fitzgerald, Hayden Hodgson, and Matt Brown were out for this game. Sam Ersson (24-15-2, 2.77 GAA, .903 SV%) got the start in goal with Nolan Maier backing him up.
In the first period, Charlotte came right out of the gate with six shots in the first five minutes of the period. Lehigh Valley’s defense gave Charlotte too much in their zone and Charlotte took advantage with 15 shots on goal.
On the other side, Lehigh Valley’s offense was not quick enough to generate scoring chances early in the first period as Charlotte stayed with them and did not give an inch.
Eleven minutes and ten seconds into the period, Charlotte struck first when Grigori Denisenko’s (22) shot bounced off of Ersson before Ryan McAllister (1) rebounded the puck and flipped it over Ersson’s glove and into the net. It was 1-0 Charlotte with 8:50 left.
Five minutes and thirty-one seconds later, former Phantom Connor Bunnaman hooked Louie Belpedio for Lehigh Valley’s first power play of the game. It took twenty-eight seconds for the Phantoms to tie the game. Garrett Wilson (18) shot the puck from the left endboards that bounced off of Mack Guzda. Then, a mad scramble took place with Tyson Foerster (27) and Artem Anisimov (17) trying to push the puck into the net as Wilson cut across the net and jammed it under Guzda’s right pad and into the net. It was now 1-1 with 3:51 left.
Fifty-nine seconds later, Ronnie Attard went to the penalty box for tripping. It took a minute and ten seconds for Charlotte to retake the lead. Off the faceoff inside the Phantoms’ zone, Grigori Denisenko (23) made a pass to Gerry Mayhew (20) for a rush. Mayhew swung around the goal net before finding Cameron Morrison (8) and Morrison whisked it over Ersson’s left pad and into the net. It was now 2-1 Charlotte with 1:50 left.
With under a minute left, Tyson Foerster took a high-sticking penalty and Charlotte had a minute and ten seconds left of power play time to begin the second period. The Phantoms had ten shots on goal but trailed 2-1 after one period.
The Phantoms killed the power play to begin the second period. Lehigh Valley had two shots in a minute and thirty-eight seconds but went cold afterward. Meanwhile, Charlotte did not register a shot until fourteen minutes fourteen seconds into the period. However, both teams were taking many shots but not hitting the goal net. The Phantoms did a good job forechecking Charlotte and prevented them from generating any rushing attempts. In addition, Lehigh Valley was winning the one-on-one battles.
With a minute and thirty-eight seconds left, Elliot Desnoyers fired a shot that bounced off of Mack Guzda and Cooper Marody and nearly tied the game but Guzda got the right pad down to prevent the goal. The fans in the back were going nuts as they thought it was a goal. On replay, the puck did not completely cross the net. It was a good call but the fans were still letting the refs have it.
The Phantoms had five shots on goal but still trailed the Checkers 2-1 after two periods. Lehigh Valley had a couple of power play chances but could not score.
In the third period, penalties have been a major issue for the Phantoms all season long. They committed three penalties, two of them by Garrett Wilson. The first penalty went to Wilson for high-sticking a minute and twenty-seven seconds into the period.
The Phantoms killed the power play. Sam Ersson made a great sliding save off Henry Bowlby’s shot and Bobby Brink (11) used his speed to blow by John Ludvig and score with a backhand shot over Matt Guzda’s glove and into the net. The game was tied 2-2 with 15:37 left.
Three minutes and thirty-five seconds later, Charlotte took the lead. Former Phantom Gerry Mayhew dangled around several Phantoms players and rifled it under Ersson’s glove and into the net. It was now 3-2 Checkers with 12:02 left.
Later, Adam Ginning got called for cross-checking and Charlotte went on their fourth power play of the game. Charlotte took advantage when Lucas Carlsson (20) fired the puck through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 4-2 Charlotte. Cory Conacher (6), and Mackie Samoskevich (1) assisted with his goal.
Late in the game, Garrett Wilson was called for a two-minute unsportsmanlike penalty and a ten-minute game misconduct for abuse of officials. Riley Nash (24) scored Charlotte’s third power play goal to put the game away 5-2 with a minute and fifteen seconds left. The Phantoms lost to the Checkers by the final score of 5-2.
In other scores, the Hartford Wolf Pack shut out Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-0, and Springfield routed Providence 7-2. The Phantoms are now sitting in sixth place. Lehigh Valley finished the night with 22 shots, 1-3 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 25 saves. On the other side, Charlotte had 30 shots, 3-5 on the power play, and Mack Guzda made 20 saves.
The Phantoms conclude the regular season on Saturday against the Hershey Bears from the Giant Center at 7 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
