The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (11-9-1) continued their five-game homestand on Wednesday night at the PPL Center in a rematch with the Charlotte Checkers (11-11). This was the second of five meetings in nine games.
The Phantoms got some good news before the game as Adam Brooks, Tanner Laczynski, Rhett Gardner, and Victor Mete all returned from their injuries.
The starting lineup featured Adam Brooks, Tanner Laczynski, and Samu Tuomaala on the first line. Garrett Wilson, Elliot Desnoyers, and Cooper Marody were on the second line. J.R. Avon, Rhett Gardner, and Wade Allison were on the third line, and Jordy Bellerive, Jacob Gaucher, and Zayde Wisdom were on the fourth line.
On defense, Emil Andrae and Adam Karashik were on the first line. Victor Mete and Ronnie Attard were on the second line, and Adam Ginning was paired up with Ethan Samson on the third line.
Felix Sandstrom (1-1-2, 3.66 GAA, .860 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms. The scratches for the game included Helge Grans, Mason Millman, Evan Polei, Brendan Furry, Alexis Gendron, and Matt Brown.
The first period got off to a quick start for the Phantoms. Fifty-eight seconds into the game, Lehigh Valley’s Elliot Desnoyers cut across the ice to shoot the puck but it bounced off the pads of Spencer Knight. Cooper Marody (13) made the rebound before passing the puck to Adam Karashik (2). Then, Karashik passed the puck to Emil Andrae (2), who rifled the puck under the left pad of Knight and into the net for a 1-0 lead. It was the fastest goal scored by Lehigh Valley this season.
Nine seconds later after the faceoff, Elliot Desnoyers had the puck but Mackie Samoskevich (6) stole it before shooting it over the right shoulder of Sandstrom and into the net tying the game 1-1 with 18:53 left of the first period. It was one of nine shots on goal by Charlotte.
For the rest of the first period, Lehigh Valley had nine shots on goal. However, they should have had more but were missing their shots wide of the net. Lehigh Valley had an okay first period. They did a good job not allowing a lot of shooting chances by Charlotte and man-to-man coverage.
The problem Lehigh Valley had was puck possession. They turned the puck over several times and Charlotte almost took the lead but Felix Sandstrom made some key saves to keep the game tied 1-1 after one period of play.
A minute and three seconds into the second period, Charlotte’s Michael Benning (3) retrieved the puck in their zone before banking it off the glass. Charlotte’s Justin Sourdif (3) and Lehigh Valley’s Emil Andrae fought for the puck before Sourdif took control and fired it over the left shoulder of Felix Sandstrom and into the net for a 2-1 lead.
For the rest of the second period, Lehigh Valley had 11 shots on goal. However, they had trouble executing plays with Charlotte breaking them up and forcing turnovers. Lehigh Valley was not aggressively attacking the puck and Charlotte came close a couple of times to extending their lead. Charlotte had ten shots on goal in the second period.
At 5:44, Charlotte’s Cameron Morrison was called for interference which put the Phantoms on their first power play. However, they could not score and went 0 for 1. Lehigh Valley had one shot in the last four minutes of the second period. They trailed Charlotte 2-1 after two periods of play.
In the third period, the Phantoms committed two penalties at 4:47. Less than a minute after Emil Andrae went to the penalty box for delay of game and killing a penalty, Charlotte’s Justin Sourdif tripped Rhett Gardner that ended Charlotte’s fourth power play. Lehigh Valley had three shots on goal during the power play but could not tie the game.
This was Lehigh Valley’s best period of play. They went after Charlotte with six shots on goal and the defense allowed six shots on goal to Charlotte. The Phantoms kept forcing turnovers and breaking up plays Charlotte tried to develop.
At 15:51, Lehigh Valley’s Tanner Laczynski skated with the puck into Charlotte’s zone. He got behind the goal net looking for a play to develop. He passed the puck to Cooper Marody (14), who then found Emil Andrae (6). Andrae briefly looked for a shot before passing it to Samu Tuomaala (6) from the left side and Tuomaala pelted the puck through the five-hole and into the net tying the game 2-2 with 4:10 left in the game.
Late in the third period, Lehigh Valley’s Garrett Wilson went to the penalty box for high-sticking Michael Benning. Lehigh Valley killed their fifth power play of the night. After 60 minutes of play, the game remained tied 2-2 heading into overtime.
In overtime, Charlotte tried to get a shot off but the Phantoms were there for the turnover. At 2:23, Cooper Marody (15) had the puck staking around looking to pass it. After he spun around, Marody spotted Ronnie Attard (5) separating from a Charlotte player and passed the puck to him. Then, Attard chipped it in over the right pad of Spencer Knight and into the for a game-winning 3-2 win over the Checkers.
Lehigh Valley had 27 shots on goal, committed five penalties for 15 minutes, went 1 for 3 on the power play, and Felix Sandstrom made 23 saves off 25 shots. He had a good night.
Lehigh Valley hosts the Laval Rocket on Friday at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
