The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (10-9-1) continued their five-game homestand on Saturday night against the Charlotte Checkers (11-10) in their first of five meetings in the next nine games. This was a special night for the Phantoms hosting their annual Teddy Bear Toss night.
The starting lineup featured Garrett Wilson, Elliot Desnoyers, and Cooper Marody on the first line. Matthew Brown, Brendan Furry, and Wade Allison were on the second line. J.R. Avon, Jordy Bellerive, and Samu Tuomaala were on the third line, and Alexis Gendron, Jacob Gaucher, and Zayde Wisdom were on the fourth line.
On defense, Emil Andrae and Adam Karashik were on the first line. Adam Ginning and Ronnie Attard were on the second line, and Mason Millman was paired up with Ethan Samson on the third line.
Cal Petersen (3-5-1, 3.34 GAA, .894 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms. The scratches for the game included Helge Grans, Tanner Laczynski, Evan Polei, Adams Brooks, Rhett Gardner, and Victor Mete all out with injuries.
In the first period, the Phantoms got off to a great start with seven shots on goal in the first six minutes of the game. At 6:24, Jacob Gaucher and Zayden Wisdom rushed toward the Checkers’ zone. However, Charlotte’s Calle Sjalin got low to block Gaucher’s pass to Wisdom.
Twelve seconds later, Lehigh Valley’s Ethan Samson (3) started to get Lehigh Valley set up for a shooting chance. He passed the puck to Mason Millman (4). Millman took a shot that bounced off the left pad of Ludovic Waeber. Zayde Wisdom (1) was there for the rebound and smacked the puck through the five-hole and it rolled into the net for a 1-0 lead with 13:24 left of the first period.
After the goal, the fans at the PPL Center threw the teddy bears onto the ice. The game was delayed for 12 minutes before it resumed.
The Phantoms did a good job hustling toward the puck, blocking shots, getting turnovers, and man-to-man coverage. The defense protected Peterson only allowing seven shots on goal by the Checkers. At 10:35, Charlotte’s Zac Dalpe held Cooper Marody which put the Phantoms on the power play.
At 10:59, shortly after the faceoff, Charlotte’s Casey Fitzgerald tried to swat the puck out of their zone but Wade Allison got a piece of the puck keeping it in their zone. Charlotte’s Alexander True missed the puck before Wade Allison (4) made a backhand shot through the five-hole and into the net for a power play goal. Lehigh Valley led 2-0 with 9:01 left of the first period.
Late in the first period, Charlotte’s Michael Benning tripped Zayde Wisdom which put the Phantoms on their third power play. Lehigh Valley had 26 seconds of power play time to begin the second period. The Phantoms had 15 shots on goal and led 2-0 after one period of play.
Lehigh Valley was unable to capitalize on the power play to start the second period. They stayed aggressive but Charlotte started to get better looks inside the Phantoms’ zone with 11 shots on goal. At 11:35, Lehigh Valley’s Ronnie Attard banked the puck off the boards heading to the Checkers’ zone. Samu Tuomaala (14) got the puck before making a pass to J.R. Avon (3).
Then, Avon made a terrific no-look backhand pass just as he got hit from behind by Charlotte’s Alexander True to a charging Jordy Bellerive (2), who fired it through the five-hole and into the net for a 3-0 lead with 8:13 left of the second period.
Late in the second period, Charlotte pressured Lehigh Valley in the Phantoms’ zone. With 1:34 left, Lehigh Valley goaltender Cal Peterson made a terrific save when Zac Dalpe tried to score with a backhand shot but Peterson covered the puck up before it could cross the goal line. The refs checked the replay and ruled it a no-goal. Lehigh Valley’s offense had seven shots on goal and led 3-0 after two periods of play.
In the third period, Lehigh Valley goaltender Cal Peterson made another terrific save when Charlotte’s Brendan Perlini had a breakaway chance and Peterson stopped it with his left pad. Charlotte’s offense dominated the period with 16 shots on goal.
At 15:33, Charlotte’s offense moved the puck well inside the Phantoms’ zone. Calle Sjalin (2) took a shot that deflected off Peterson’s right pad. There was a scramble in front of Peterson when Rasmus Asplund (9) missed his shot before Jake Wise (5) got the puck before shooting it over Peterson’s right pad and into the net cutting Lehigh Valley’s lead to 3-1 with 4:26 left in the game.
After the goal, the Checkers pulled Ludovic Waeber with 3:20 left in the game. Late in the third period, Lehigh Valley’s defense fought hard to get the puck of out their zone until Ronnie Attard got the puck toward Cooper Marody with Elliot Desnoyers with him for a breakaway. Marody passed the puck to Desnoyers, who sealed the game with an empty net goal which made it 4-1 with 1:22 left in the game.
The Phantoms ended their four-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers. Lehigh Valley had 28 shots on goal, committed four penalties for 15 minutes, went 1 for 5 on the power play, and Cal Peterson made 36 saves off 37 shots.
The Phantoms and Checkers will go at it again on Wednesday at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
