The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-8-4) concluded a three-game road trip on Sunday afternoon from the Amica Mutual Pavilion against the Providence Bruins (11-8-1) in their second meeting of the season. The last time the Phantoms played the Bruins was on November 24th in a 2-1 overtime loss.
The starting lineup featured Olle Lycksell, Tanner Laczynski, and Samu Tuomaala on the first line. Garrett Wilson, Elliot Desnoyers, and Wade Allison were on the second line. J.R. Avon, Brenden Furry, and Cooper Marody were on the third line, and Even Polei, Jordy Bellerive, and Zayde Wisdom were on the fourth line.
On defense, Emil Andrae and Helge Grans were on the first line. Victor Mete and Ronnie Attard were on the second line, and Adam Ginning was paired up with Adam Karashik on the third line.
Cal Peterson (3-4-1, 3.37 GAA, .891 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms. The scratches for the game were Ethan Samson, Mason Millman, Rhett Gardner (injury), Adam Brooks (injury), Alexis Gendron, and Jacob Gaucher.
At 5:47 of the first period, Providence’s Georgii Merkulov tripped Zayden Wisdom to put Lehigh Valley on the power play. A minute later, Lehigh Valley struck first when Ronnie Attard (7) made a pass to Victor Mete (5). Mete moved the puck around to set up a screen in which Garrett Wilson blocked Brandon Bussi’s view. Mete made a pass to J.R. Avon (5), who fired the puck inside the right circle through the five-hole and into the net for a power-play goal. Lehigh Valley led 1-0 with 13:10 left of the first period.
Later in the first period, Providence’s Alec Regula (5) forced a turnover by Evan Polei which led to a Providence rush. Jayson Megna (9) got the puck to Vincent Arseneau (3), who had Regula with him as Lehigh Valley’s Adam Karashik was all alone to protect Peterson. Arseneau rifled the puck through the five-hole and into the net, tying the game 1-1 with 8:01 left.
Lehigh Valley’s defense left several guys wide open which led to Providence getting seven shots on goal. On offense, the Phantoms had eight shots on goal but the game remained tied 1-1 after one period of play.
Early in the second period, both teams struggled to control the puck. Lehigh Valley only had four shots on goal throughout the second period. Lehigh Valley’s best chance to tie the game came at 2:28 when they were pressuring inside the Bruins’ zone.
Olle Lycksell and Ronnie Attard both took shots that bounced off the pads of Brandon Bussi. Providence dominated the second period with 12 shots on goal. At 8:39, Providence was inside the Phantoms’ zone.
They moved the puck well when Jesper Boqvist (7) passed it to Mason Lohrei (6). A screen was formed as Justin Brazeau blocked Peterson’s view with Lohrei passing the puck to Alec Regula (2). From inside the right circle, Regula shot the puck over Peterson’s glove and into the net giving Providence a 2-1 lead with 11:21 left of the second period.
No one from the Phantoms went to the penalty box in the second period which was a positive sign but Lehigh Valley trailed 2-1 after two periods of play.
At 3:40 of the third period, Elliot Desnoyers (3) fought Georgii Merkulov for the puck to create a turnover. He turned on the jets for a breakaway and was able to get Brandon Bussi on his belly to slide the puck past Bussi’s left skate and into the net, tying the game 2-2 with 16:21 left.
Later in the third period, Providence was pressuring inside the Phantoms’ zone. The puck almost left the zone but Luke Toporowski (6) hustled to keep it in by sending the puck off the backboards into the direction of John Farinacci (11). Then, Farinacci made a quick pass to Justin Brazeau (7), who chipped it into the net that put the Bruins back up 3-2 with 10:40 left in the game.
Lehigh Valley had ten shots on goal. After Providence’s goal, they only had six shots for the rest of the game. At 17:56, Cal Peterson was pulled for an extra attacker but Providence stood their ground. The Phantoms lost to the Bruins by the final score of 3-2. Providence has now won five straight games while the Phantoms are now on a three-game losing streak.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with 22 shots on goal, committed one penalty for four minutes, went 1 for 2 on the power play, and Cal Peterson made 33 saves off 36 shots. One positive takeaway from this game was they managed to stay out of the penalty box for two periods.
The Phantoms return to the Wells Fargo Center to begin a five-game homestand starting on Friday in a rematch with the Providence Bruins at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
