The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (1-1) concluded the two-game homestand on Sunday afternoon against the Belleville Senators (1-1) from the PPL Center.
The scratches for the game were Ethan Samson, Brendan Furry, Zayde Wisdom, Matt Brown, and Jacob Gaucher. Parker Gahagen started in goal for the Phantoms.
Lehigh Valley did not get off to a good start in the first period. While they were shooting the puck, they were hitting everything but the net. Two minutes and thirty-four seconds into the game, the Phantoms got called for a too many men penalty that was served by Olle Lycksell. The Phantoms stayed out of the penalty box on Saturday night. Today was not the case.
Ten seconds later, the Senators struck when Maxence Guenette (1) passed the puck to Matthew Highmore (1). Next, Highmore went to Egor Sokolov (1), who shot the puck off Ronnie Attard’s leg and it went into the net for a 1-0 lead with 16:09 left of the first period.
Thirteen seconds later, former Hershey forward Garrett Pilon was left wide open before making a backhand shot under the left skate of Gahagen for a 2-0 lead. Matthew Highmore (1) and Maxence Guenette (1) assisted with his goal. It looked like we were headed for a repeat of Saturday night.
However, that was not the case. Less than a minute later, Lassi Thomas blew a tire retrieving the puck, and Alexis Gendron (1) stole it. He turned on the jets before rifling the puck into the back of the net which made it 2-1 Senators with 15:38 left of the first period.
That goal swung the momentum toward the Phantoms. Shortly after the goal, Rhett Gardner was called for holding putting the Senators on the power play. However, it was the Phantoms who came away with a short-handed goal when Tanner Laczynski (1) found Cooper Marody (2) who shot the puck through the five-hole and into the net. The game was now tied 2-2.
Lehigh Valley stepped up their game all around after the bad start despite giving up six penalties throughout the game. They started to play better man-to-man coverage, not a lot of sloppy passes, good defense, and everyone knew their assignments.
Later in the first period, Lehigh Valley went on the power play after Angus Crookshank was called for slashing. The Phantoms were in the Senators’ zone getting set up for a shot. Louie Belpedio (1) made a pass to Cooper Marody (1), who then passed it to Tanner Laczynski (1).
Laczynski was hesitant at first to shoot, but he found an opening and took it, firing the puck over the left shoulder of Kevin Mandolese and into the net. It was now 3-2 Lehigh Valley with 9:34 left of the first period.
For the rest of the first period, penalties piled up. Louie Belpedio got into a fight with Josh Currie, and Adam Ginning and Egor Sokolov went to the penalty for roughing penalties. With 15 seconds left, Rhett Gardner went to the penalty box for slashing, giving the Senators a man advantage.
The Senators were going to start the second period with 1:45 of power-play time. The Phantoms led 3-2 at the end of the first period. The shots were 12-10 in favor of the Senators.
A minute and fourteen seconds into the second period, Lehigh Valley goalie Parker Gahagen (1) passed the puck to Victor Mete (1). Adam Ginning was exiting the penalty and Mete made a nice cross-ice pass to him for a shorthanded breakaway. Ginning zipped the puck under the left skate of Kevin Mandolese and into the net. It was now 4-2 Phantoms. Shortly after the goal, Belleville changed goalies with Mads Sogaard replacing Mandolese.
For the rest of the second period, Louie Belpedio was involved in two roughing penalties with Cole Reinhardt, and former Phantom Brennan Saulnier. Saulnier tried to fight Belpedio and he did not want to fight Saulnier. However, the refs put Belpedio in the penalty box anyway.
Lehigh Valley had two power-play chances but could not capitalize. The Phantoms led 4-2 after two periods and led the shots 24-21.
A minute and one second into the third period, Adam Ginning (tripping) and Matthew Highmore (diving/embellishment) went to the penalty box. Late in the third period, Lehigh Valley went on the power play after Lassi Thomson was called for tripping. However, the power play did not last long when Garrett Wilson was called for slashing.
Belleville pulled Mads Sogaard with under three minutes left. The Phantoms put the game away when Tanner Laczynski (2) made a cross-ice pass to Rhett Gardner (1) for an empty-net goal. It was Gardner’s first career AHL goal. The Phantoms defeated the Senators by the final score of 5-2.
This was a nice win for Lehigh Valley. While not perfect, they got the job done. The performance was better. There are several areas they must work on or it is going to be a long season. They need to stay out of the penalty box. They need to be disciplined in this area, not letting the other team egg them into a fight or retaliation. Defense is a concern along with communication. While this did improve in Sunday’s game, the Senators still had 30 shots on goal. After giving up two goals early in the game, they prevented the Senators from getting closer to Parker Gahagen. This forced Belleville to take shots from a longer distance which allowed Gahagen to make the saves. Parker Gahagen made 28 of 30 saves. Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon 1 for 6 on the power play.
The Phantoms are on the road on Friday night against the Springfield Thunderbirds at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
