The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had a chance to close out the Charlotte Checkers in game two of the first-round Calder Cup playoffs on Thursday night from the Bojangles Coliseum.
There were no lineup changes before this game. However, the Phantoms received bad news as Egor Zamula had successful shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the playoffs.
In addition to Zamula, Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jackson Cates, Will Zmolek, Hayden Hodgson, and Matt Brown were out for this game. Sam Ersson started in goal with Nolan Maier as the backup.
The Phantoms were pinned up against the wall in the first six minutes of the first period when Charlotte scored two goals a minute and twenty-two seconds apart. One was from Justin Sourdif (1) on the power play, and the other was Calle Sjalin (1) for a 2-0 lead with 13:54 left.
Lehigh Valley got off to a slow start but as the period went along, they started to generate momentum. The Phantoms had seven shots on goal in the first period. With 5:50 left, Lehigh Valley appeared to have scored a goal but it was waived off by the official. They did look at on replay and deemed it a no-goal.
With 43 seconds left, Lehigh Valley finally got on the board. Charlotte committed two penalties that put Lehigh Valley in a 5-on-3 power play. After several shot attempts, Tyson Foerster (1) took a shot that bounced off Mack Guzda. Then, Garrett Wilson (1) rebounded it and passed it to Artem Anisimov (1) who buried it over Guzda’s right pad and into the net.
It was now 2-1 Charlotte. Lehigh Valley trailed Charlotte 2-1 after one period. It could have been a lot worse but Sam Ersson kept the Phantoms in this game for the whole night.
In the second period, Charlotte dominated with 17 shots. They came close several times adding at least four more goals. However, Sam Ersson stopped them all. Lehigh Valley committed one penalty in the second period and killed it.
Charlotte was awarded a penalty shot after Ronnie Attard covered the crease with a minute and thirty-seven seconds left in the second period. Justin Sourdif took the shot for the Checkers and Sam Ersson denied him with a right pad save. After 40 minutes, Lehigh Valley still trailed Charlotte 2-1. The Phantoms had three shots in the second period and 18 shots overall.
In the third period, the Phantoms dug themselves out a hole twice. Forty seconds into the period, Adam Brooks (2) picked off a Charlotte player from behind the goal net, found Olle Lycksell (1) all alone, and whisked it under the left pad of Guzda that tied the game 2-2 with 19:21 left.
However, Charlotte came back to score two goals in three minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Cory Conacher (1) scored a power-play goal to make it 3-2 and Connor Bunnaman (1) rebounded a puck a scored for a 4-2 lead with 10:36 left.
Three minutes and thirty-nine seconds later, Ronnie Attard (1) set up Olle Lycksell (2) as Lycksell fired it through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 4-3 with 7:57 left. Not long after, a bad play by goalie Mack Guzda led to the tying goal. Bobby Brink (1) got a hold of the puck and found Elliot Desnoyers (1) who fired it through the five-hole and into the net. The game was now tied 4-4 with 6:24 left.
Shortly after Desnoyers’s goal, he got called for hooking but the Phantoms killed the power play. Lehigh Valley had seven shots in the third period and the game headed to overtime tied 4-4.
In the first overtime, Charlotte dominated with six shots in the first seven minutes. Once again, Sam Ersson was like a magician, stopping them from every angle. Lehigh Valley had eight shots in the first overtime. Unfortunately, the game remained tied 4-4. Both teams were dejected, tired, and giving it everything they had.
However, in the second overtime, Charlotte ended it with a goal by Lucas Carlsson (2) with a minute and twelve seconds left. The Phantoms left the ice exhausted after a brutal battle. Lehigh Valley lost the game by the final score of 5-4 in two overtimes.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 42 shots, 1-5 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 45 saves. On the other side, Charlotte had 50 shots, 2-5 on the power play, and Mack Guzda made 38 saves.
Lehigh Valley is in a must-win scenario on Friday night. A win will send them to the second round next week or their season is over. Game 3 is on Friday at 7 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
