For the first time in five years, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms returned to the Calder Cup playoffs. They took on the Charlotte Checkers in game one in a best-of-three series. In the regular season, the Phantoms and Checkers tied the season series at four wins apiece.
There was one minor lineup change as Cal O’Reilly was inserted into the fourth line, replacing Jackson Cates. Cates, along with Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Egor Zamula, Ryan Fitzgerald, Will Zmolek, Hayden Hodgson, and Matt Brown were out for this game. Sam Ersson started in goal with Nolan Maier backing up him.
Lehigh Valley came right out of the gate with four shots in the first three minutes of the first period. Eight minutes and twenty-eight seconds into the period, Charlotte struck first. Justin Sourdif (1) made a backhand pass to Lucas Carlsson (1) before firing it over Ersson’s right pad for a 1-0 lead with 11:32 left.
Four minutes and twenty-eight seconds later, the Phantoms tied the game. Adam Ginning broke up a play in the Checkers’ zone as Cooper Marody (1) got the puck. Then, he made a backhand pass to Olle Lycksell (1) for a shot but it bounced off of Mack Guzda. Adam Brooks (1) was there for the rebound and fired it through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 1-1 with 7:06 left.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving by both teams especially after Ersson was hit a couple of times long after the whistle blew. Wyatte Wylie went after a player and later, Sam Ersson shoved another player while he was down on the ice.
Lehigh Valley had ten shots but the game remained tied 1-1 after one period. The Phantoms did a good job containing Charlotte as they had nine shots, and won the one-on-one battles.
In the second period, it was all Phantoms. Forty-nine seconds into the period, Louie Belpedio (1) made a pass to Tyson Foerster (1). Foerster dangled around three Charlotte players and whisked it over Guzda’s glove and into the net for a 2-1 lead with 19:11 left.
Thirteen seconds later, Olle Lycksell (2) stole the puck inside the Checkers’ zone and passed it to Adam Brooks (1). Brooks took a shot but it went off a Checkers player and Cooper Marody (1) rebounded it and flipped it with a backhand shot into the net. It was now 3-1 with 18:58 left.
Three minutes and forty-four seconds later, the Phantoms added another goal. Artem Anisimov (1) won the faceoff inside Charlotte’s zone when Tyson Foerster (2) got the puck, moved toward center ice, and shot it. The puck went off of Guzda’s glove and slowly rolled into the net. It was now 4-1 Phantoms with 15:14 left.
A minute after the goal, Jordy Bellerive got the raw end of the deal when he was called for a slashing penalty as the Checkers players went after him for supposedly hitting backup goalie Jean-Francois Berube even though Bellerive never touched him. Lehigh Valley did kill the penalty.
Lehigh Valley had ten shots for a 4-1 lead after two periods. They dominated and Sam Ersson stopped seven shots.
However, in the third period, Lehigh Valley took its foot off the gas and Charlotte capitalized. Eight minutes and eighteen seconds in the period, Bobby Brink was called for slashing. A minute and thirty-two seconds later, Lucas Carlsson’s (1) shot was rebounded by Riley Nash (1) as Nash flipped it over Ersson’s left pad and into the net. It was now 4-2 Phantoms with 10:20 left.
Thirty-eight seconds later, Santtu Kinnunen (1) fired the puck past Ersson’s left skate and into the net. The Phantoms’ lead was now 4-3 with 9:42 left.
Charlotte dominated the third period. They had 15 shots while the Phantoms had five. Lehigh Valley’s defense broke down and Charlotte took advantage of every room given to them. With 4:21 left, it appeared that Cooper Marody scored a goal but it was waived off.
In the final two minutes of the game, Charlotte pulled their goalie but Lehigh Valley held off the Checkers to take game one by the final score of 4-3. Lehigh Valley finished the night with 25 shots, 0-2 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 28 saves. On the other side, Charlotte had 31 shots, 1-2 on the power play, and Matt Guzda made 13 saves while Jean-Francois Berube made eight saves.
Game two of the Calder Cup playoffs is on Thursday at 7 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
