The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-4-2) returned to the MassMutual Center for the second time this season on Saturday night against the Springfield Thunderbirds (6-4). The Phantoms had won the first two games against Springfield.
Before the game, the Philadelphia Flyers placed goaltender Felix Sandstrom on injured reserve which ends his conditioning loan. Sandstrom suffered an upper-body injury on Friday night against Hartford and left the game after the first period.
The Phantoms recalled goaltender Nolan Maier from the Reading Royals. Maier had to be flown to Springfield as he played for Reading last night in Toledo against the Toledo Walleye.
There were some minor lineup changes before the game. The first and second lines remained untouched with Olle Lycksell, Tanner Laczynski, and Cooper Marody on the first line, followed by Garrett Wilson, Elliot Desnoyers, and Samu Tuomaala on the second line.
On the third line, Alexis Gendron joined J.R. Avon and Rhett Gardner, and the fourth line featured Evan Polei, Brendan Furry, and Zayde Wisdom.
The defense stayed the same with Adam Ginning and Ethan Samson on the first line, Mason Millman and Helge Grans on the second line, and Will Zmolek and Darren Brady on the third line. Parker Gahagen (3-1-0, 2.72 GAA, .905 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms.
The scratches for the game were Adam Karashik, Emil Andrae, Ronnie Attard, Jordy Bellerive, Wade Allison, Adams Brooks, Jacob Gaucher, and Victor Mete. The majority of these guys are out due to the flu or injury but Mete is out after his wife gave birth to a baby girl. Congrats to the Mete family on their addition.
Four minutes and one second into the first period, Samu Tuomaala (6) made a nice pass to Elliot Desnoyers (5), who took a shot that bounced off the right pad of Malcolm Subban, but Garrett Wilson (2) was there for the rebound to make a backhand shot into the net for a 1-0 lead.
For the rest of the first period, the Phantoms committed two slashing penalties by J.R. Avon and Brendan Furry and killed both penalties. Lehigh Valley gave up six penalties throughout the game although some were questionable as the officiating in this game was horrible. The Phantoms had eight shots on goal and led 1-0 after one period.
In the second period, Springfield played with an aggressive attitude. They kept the Phantoms inside their zone and Lehigh Valley could not get the puck out. At 9:50, Springfield’s Mikhail Abramov (3) made a pass to Zachary Bolduc (2), who then passed the puck to Dylan Coghlan (4). Coghlan riffled the puck through the five-hole and into the net, tying the game 1-1 with 10:10 left of the second period.
Later in the second period, Springfield’s Keean Walker roughed up Cooper Marody (5) and the penalty was going to be called on him but an odd-man rush by Lehigh Valley led by Brendan Furry (1) who zipped the puck through the five-hole and into the net for a 2-1 lead with 5:27 left. Helge Grans (2) was credited with the secondary assist.
Late in the second period, Springfield’s Dylan Coghlan (2) made a pass to Adam Gaudette (5), who then past the puck to Wyatt Kalynuk (1) near the blue line. Kalynuk blasted the shot that bounced off Parker Gahagen and rolled into the net, tying the game 2-2 with 22 seconds left.
The Phantoms had issues containing the Thunderbirds. They were losing the one-on-one battles and looked out of it when the second period ended tied 2-2. Lehigh Valley had nine shots on goal.
In the third period, the Phantoms had five shots on goal. Late in the third period, The Phantoms went on the power play after a tripping call against Matthew Peca.
However, during the power play, the refs called a delay of game penalty for the restricted area on Parker Gahagen when he left the goal crease to retrieve the puck. It was a dumb penalty. The game remained tied headed to overtime. It was a consecutive overtime game for the Phantoms.
A minute and fifty-nine seconds into overtime, Rhett Gardner was called for a hooking penalty that never was, along with an unsportsmanlike penalty for hitting the puck, which he barely touched. J.R. Avon served the hooking penalty for Gardner. This penalty cost the Phantoms. At 2:29, Dylan Coghlan (5) fired the puck through the five-hole to give the Thunderbirds a 3-2 win over the Phantoms. Adam Gaudette (6) and Matthew Peca (9) assisted his goal.
The Phantoms had 22 shots on goal. They committed six penalties, went 0 for 1 on the power play, and Parker Gahagen made 29 saves off 32 shots.
The Phantoms and Thunderbirds will meet again on Wednesday at 10:35 am on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
