The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-5-2) returned to the MassMutual Center for the third time this year on Wednesday morning against the Springfield Thunderbirds (7-5). This was a “School Day Game” hosted by the Thunderbirds.
In addition, this was the final visit to the MassMutual Center this season. The Phantoms were 2-0-1 against Springfield heading into this game.
There have been three separate transactions since the last Phantoms game on Saturday. The Flyers recalled defenseman Victor Mete and the Phantoms loaned forward Jacob Gaucher and defenseman Darren Brady to the Reading Royals.
The first line featured Olle Lycksell, Tanner Laczynski, and Cooper Marody. The second line had Garrett Wilson, Elliot Desnoyers, and Samu Tuomaala. J.R. Avon, Rhett Gardner, and Wade Allison were on the third line, and Alexis Gendron, Jordy Bellerive, and Zayde Wisdom were on the fourth line.
On defense, Emil Andrae returned from injury and paired up with Helge Grans on the first line. Adam Ginning and Ethan Samson were the second line, and Mason Millman and Ronnie Attard were the third.
Parker Gahagen (3-1-1, 2.76 GAA, .905 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms. The scratches for the game were Adam Karashik, Will Zmolek, Evan Polei, Brendan Furry, and Adam Brooks.
Twenty seconds into the first period, Springfield’s Nathan Walker (8) got the puck to Matthew Peca (11) who started an odd-man rush with Adam Gaudette (10). Peca made a pass that hit the stick of Helge Grans but Gaudette got the puck and put it into the net with a backhand shot. It was 1-0 Springfield.
The Thunderbirds dominated the majority of the first period with 11 shots on goal. They forced turnovers, won the one-on-one battles, and did not allow the Phantoms to do much offensively. The Phantoms spent too much time in their zone and had problems getting the puck out.
The Phantoms committed two penalties but killed both of them. On the first power play, Elliot Desnoyers stole the puck inside the Thunderbirds’ zone. He tried to get it to Garrett Wilson but the play did not lead to a goal.
Late in the first period, the Phantoms started to get their act together. At 16:04, Wade Allison (1) stole the puck from Wyatt Kalynuk which started an odd-man rush with J.R. Avon next to him. Allison sniped the puck through the five-hole of Malcolm Subban and into the net that tied the game 1-1. The Phantoms had seven shots on goal and the game remained tied 1-1 after one period.
In the second period, Lehigh Valley goaltender Parker Gahagen made a great save off a wraparound try by Mackenzie MacEachern. The Phantoms had six shots in the first nine minutes of the second period. Lehigh Valley almost took the lead after J.R. Avon forced a turnover before passing the puck to Wade Allison, who missed a wide-open net.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving. Mason Millman got called for roughing after interfering with Jordy Bellerive and Wyatt Kalynuk almost fighting. The Phantoms killed the power play.
Later in the second period, Ronnie Attard made a bad cross-ice pass intended for Mason Millman which was intercepted by Hugh McGing (3). It became a short breakaway after McGing passed the puck to Mackenzie MacEachern (3), who fired it through the five-hole and into the net. Springfield led 2-1 with 6:59 left. Not long after the goal, Springfield’s Drew Callin took down Emil Andrae on a holding call. At the same time, Zayde Wisdom and Keean Washkurak were called for roughing, but the Phantoms went on the power play.
Off the faceoff inside the Thunderbirds’ zone, Olle Lycksell (1) sent the puck in the direction of Emil Andrae (1), who then passed the puck to Cooper Marody (3). Marody was inside the right circle before sniping the puck over Malcolm Subban’s left shoulder and into the net, tying the game 2-2 with 4:07 left. The Phantoms had ten shots on goal, but the game remained tied 2-2 after two periods.
In the third period, Springfield got the lead back at 12:49 when Calle Rosen (6) made a pass to Adam Gaudette (11). Gaudette dangled around Samu Tuomaala with Parker Gahagen moving away from the goal crease before making a backhand shot into the net. It was now 3-2 Thunderbirds.
The Phantoms had seven shots on goal in the third period but could not find a way to tie the game. Late in the third period, the Phantoms pulled Parker Gahagen with 1:45 left in the game.
Then, Springfield put the game away with 1:02 left when Hugh McGing (2) flipped the puck out of their zone. The puck rolled to the center line and went into the net for a 4-2 lead. Mackenzie MacEachern (4) and Dylan Coghlan (3) assisted in McGing’s goal.
The Phantoms lost to the Thunderbirds by the final score of 4-2. Their three-point streak came to an end. Lehigh Valley had 24 shots on goal, committed five penalties for 11 minutes, went 1 for 2 on the power play, and Parker Gahagen made 27 saves off 29 shots.
The Phantoms return to the PPL Center on Saturday night against the Hershey Bears at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
