The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2-2) concluded a two-game road trip on Saturday night against the Hartford Wolf Pack (4-0) from the XL Center.
The Phantoms made a minor lineup adjustment before the game. Jacob Gaucher and Matt Brown were paired up with Jordy Bellerive on the fourth line. On defense, Ronnie Attard played the second line with Adam Ginning, and Adam Karashik played the third line paired up with Helge Grans.
The scratches for the game were Ethan Samson, Evan Polei, Brendan Furry, Zayde Wisdom, J.R. Avon, and Adam Brooks. Cal Peterson (1-1, 3.51 GAA, .892 SV%) made his second consecutive start at goalie.
In the first period, Hartford took a 1-0 lead at 5:59 when Nikolas Brouillard (1) made a long pass to Brett Berard (2), who sniped the puck through the five-hole. The Phantoms did not get their first shot of the game until 6:59 by Alexis Gendron.
The Phantoms were getting pushed around by the Wolf Pack. Lehigh Valley’s defense did not protect Cal Peterson at all. He made four big saves including two breakaway opportunities by Hartford to keep the game 1-0. Hartford was a well-disciplined team. They had guys protecting their goalie, playing their positions well, and forcing a lot of turnovers.
Later in the first period, Lehigh Valley committed two penalties. The first was an interference call on Garrett Wilson but the Phantoms killed it. The second was high-sticking on Jordy Bellerive. Hartford took advantage of that penalty.
Jonny Brodzinski (2) had the puck for Hartford. He made a pass to Riley Nash (2), who took a shot but it went off the left pad of Peterson. However, Alex Belzile (2) was there for the rebound and fired into an open net. It was now 2-0 Hartford with 3:12 left of the first period.
Late in the first period, the Phantoms went on their first power play of the game on a tripping call against Alex Belzile. Lehigh Valley had 1:40 of power play time to begin the second period down 2-0. Hartford dominated the shots on goal 16-6.
In the second period, Lehigh Valley’s power play abruptly ended when Louie Belpedio was called for interference. Lehigh Valley went to the penalty box five times but luckily did not give any goals.
Late in the second period, the Phantoms finally got on the board when Garrett Wilson (2) made a pass to Tanner Laczynski (5). His shot was blocked by Dylan Garand but Olle Lycksell (4) was there for the rebound and scored which made it 2-1 Hartford with 59 seconds left. Lycksell has scored four goals in two games.
With 30 seconds left, Ronnie Attard committed two roughing penalties. Olle Lycksell volunteered to sit in the box and serve Attard’s other penalty. The Phantoms trialed 2-1 after two periods. They had 10 shots on goal in the second period.
In the third period, it was all Hartford. At 6:53, Hartford attacked the Phantoms’ zone. Brandon Scanlin (1) made a pass to Jake Leschyshyn (2), who took a shot that Peterson blocked but Nikolas Brouillard (1) was there to finish the play. It was now 3-1 Wolf Pack.
At 10:33, Bobby Trivigno (1) hustled toward Peterson. Peterson got on his belly and Trivigno went around him and snuck the puck past his right skate and into the net. It was 4-1 Hartford with 9:24 left.
With less than five minutes left, Mac Hollowell (4) made a long pass to Alex Belzile (2). Next, Belzile made a cross-ice pass to Jonny Brodzinski (4), who fired the puck from the left circle over Peterson’s right pad and into the net for a 5-1 lead.
The Phantoms had no answers all game long and went on to lose to the Wolf Pack by the final score of 5-1. They had 33 shots on goal, committed seven penalties, went 1 for 4 on the power play, and Cal Peterson made 31 saves on 36 shots.
The Phantoms return to the PPL Center to close out the weekend in a rematch against the Springfield Thunderbirds at 3:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
