The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (13-11-1-1) returned from their holiday break to start a three-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Utica Comets (10-12-3) for the first time this season.
Making their returns to the PPL Center were Max Willman, Kyle Criscuolo, Ryan Fitzgerald, and Tyler Wotherspoon. In addition, former Philadelphia Phantom and Flyer Ryan Parent is the Comets assistant coach.
The starting lineup featured Olle Lycksell, Tanner Laczynski, and Wade Allison on the first line. Garrett Wilson, Elliot Desnoyers, and Cooper Marody were on the second line. J.R. Avon, Adam Brooks, and Samu Tuomaala were on the third line, and Alexis Gendron, Jacob Gaucher, and Jordy Bellerive were on the fourth line.
On defense, Emil Andrae and Louie Belpedio 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 (3-2-2, 3.11 GAA, .880 SV%) started in goal for the Phantoms. The scratches for the game included Helge Grans, Adam Karashik, Mason Millman, Evan Polei, Brendan Furry, and Zayde Wisdom.
Eleven seconds into the first period, Lehigh Valley got off to a bad start when Utica’s Santeri Hatakka’s (4) pass hit the stick of Xavier Parent (12) before bouncing off the left boards, passing Emil Andrae and onto the stick of Max Willman for the breakaway. He made a nice maneuver to get Sandstrom out of the goal crease before shooting the puck past Sandstrom’s left skate and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Phantoms responded a minute and twenty-six seconds later when Elliot Desnoyers (7) and Cooper Marody (19) fought a couple of Comets’ players at the right endboards before Marody dug it out to get it to Garrett Wilson (6). Wilson, from the right circle, rifled the puck over the right shoulder of Utica goalie Isaac Poulter and into the net tying the game 1-1 with 18:23 left of the first period.
Later in the first period, the Phantoms won the faceoff inside their zone. Lehigh Valley’s Olle Lycksell (9) got the puck to Ronnie Attard (10), who had Wade Allison (7) with him. The two rushed toward Utica’s zone where Attard passed the puck to Allison, who made a nice backhand shot past the left skate of Isaac Poulter and into the net for a 2-1 lead with 17:14 left of the first period.
At 4:57, Lehigh Valley’s Adam Ginning (6) passed the puck to Ethan Samson (5) before he made a pass to Alexis Gendron (5). Gendron turned on the jets for a breakaway before rifling the puck over Isaac Poulter’s left shoulder and into the net for a 3-1 lead with 15:03 left of the first period. After that goal, Utica replaced Poulter with Jeremy Brodeur.
Lehigh Valley’s offense did a nice job executing plays which resulted in ten shots on goal, creating turnovers, winning the faceoffs, and winning battles. However, the defense was maintaining an average presence on the ice allowing 12 shots on goal including Willman’s goal.
The defense gave a bit too much room to Utica and Willman had another breakaway chance but Felix Sandstrom stopped him. The Phantoms led 3-1 after one period of play.
Twenty-seven seconds into the second period, Lehigh Valley’s Emil Andrae (12) got the puck to Alexis Gendron (1). Then, Gendron made a pass to Jacob Gaucher (1), who rushed into Utica’s zone before pelting the puck past the left shoulder of Jeremy Brodeur and into the net for a 4-1 lead.
Lehigh Valley’s Garrett Wilson (10) found Elliot Desnoyers (8) near the end boards a minute and sixteen seconds later. Desnoyers skated around the goal net before finding Cooper Marody (8) from the left side, who chipped it into the net for a commanding 5-1 lead.
Lehigh Valley got too comfortable with a four-goal lead and paid the price. They started to play sloppy and it cost them with Utica getting 15 shots on goal. At 11:50, Alexis Gendron went to shoot the puck but turned it over to Utica’s Graeme Clarke (11). Clarke hustled on the breakaway before firing the puck through the five-hole and into the net which made it 5-2 Lehigh Valley with 8:10 left of the second period.
At 12:32, Lehigh Valley’s Olle Lycksell went to the penalty box for holding a Utica player’s stick. A minute later, Utica moved the puck well inside the Phantoms’ zone with Xavier Parent (13) passing the puck to Max Willman (7) before Willman saw Justin Dowling (3) wide open and made the pass to him. Dowling finished the play by shooting the puck over Sandstrom’s left pad and into the net and suddenly it was 5-3 Lehigh Valley with 6:13 left of the second period.
Late in the second period, Utica’s Robbie Russo (5) caught Lehigh Valley on the change when he made a pass to Kyle Criscuolo (10). Criscuolo led the rush with Max Willman (9). Criscuolo passed the puck to Willman, who fired it under Sandstrom’s left pad and into the net which made it 5-4 Lehigh Valley with 1:37 left of the second period.
At 19:18, Lehigh Valley’s Olle Lycksell went to the penalty box for high-sticking. The Comets had 1:19 left of power play time to start the third period. Lehigh Valley had 13 shots on goal to lead 5-4 after two periods of play.
Lehigh Valley’s offense had only three shots on goal in the third period. They should’ve had more shots on goal but were missing their shots wide. The good news was the Phantoms’ defense only allowed three shots on goal. Both teams played tight coverage not allowing either side to get opportunities.
With 1:58 left in the game, Utica pulled Jeremy Brodeur. The Comets pressured inside the Phantoms’ zone but Lehigh Valley’s defense was ready for the challenge. The Phantoms kept breaking up plays to get the puck out of their zone. The Comets had two shots during the man advantage and the Phantoms hung on to beat the Comets by the final score of 5-4.
Lehigh Valley had 26 shots on goal, committed four penalties, went 0 for 2 on the power play, and Felix Sandstrom made 26 saves off 30 shots.
Lehigh Valley continues their homestand on Saturday against the Hershey Bears at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Purchase Lehigh Valley Phantoms tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
