Blown Out In Belleville - Phantoms Drop Back-to-Back Games In Regulation
BELLEVILLE - After last Saturday night's 6-1 blowout loss in Hershey, head coach Scott Gordon told Inside AHL Hockey "it doesn't matter whether you play at home or on the road, you have to be ready to play." In that Saturday game, the Phantoms were a no-show in the opening period and dug themselves too deep a hole to climb out of.
Fast forward to Wednesday night in Belleville and although the Phantoms had a better effort they found themselves trailing 2-0 after the opening period. They nearly climbed out of a 3-0 deficit on a pair of Mike Vecchione goals in the middle frame, but that was as close as they would get as the Belleville Senators (8-7-1) would put the game out of reach with a trio of third period goals in a 6-2 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-5-2).
Tonight marks the first time this season the Phantoms have dropped back-to-back games in regulation, and while it's still not time to hit the panic button just yet - the slow starts and poor defensive play are a cause for concern heading into Friday night's game in Laval against the Rocket - a team that entered Wednesday night's games leading the league in goals scored with 59 in their first 15 games.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms continue on in their season-high six game road trip with a Friday night visit to Laval, Quebec to take on the other new AHL franchise in Canada.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Chris Conner (A)Oskar Lindblom - Mikhail Vorobyev - Colin McDonald (C) Danick Martel - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Tyrell Goulbourne - Corban Knight (A) - Radel Fazleev
T.J. Brennan - Reece WillcoxWill O'Neill - Mark Friedman Sam Morin - Phil Myers
Alex Lyon - Dustin Tokarski
Scratches: Anthony Stolarz (out indefinitely - knee surgery), Cole Bardreau (hand), Max Lamarche (injured) and James De Haas (healthy)
RECAP
The effort was much better in Wednesday night's first period in Belleville than it was Saturday night in Hershey, but the end result of the opening period was quite similar.
Belleville took an early 1-0 lead just 3:27 into the contest off a face-off win from Colin White. White won a puck back to Ben Harpur, re-assigned to Belleville by Ottawa earlier this week, and the Sens' defenseman fired a high-rising point shot from the right point that sailed over Alex Lyon's shoulder and into the top shelf.
The Phantoms whiffed on a power play near the midway mark of the opening frame, but remained in a one-goal hockey game late into the period. In fact, Danick Martel nearly tied the game with 2:15 left before the first intermission if not for a sharp save from Andrew Hammond.
Unfortunately for the Phantoms, Belleville would score in the final minute of the period to extend their lead to 2-0. Harpur's point shot was stopped by Lyon, but the rebound sat at the side of the net for Jack Rodewald for the put back past the Phantoms' goaltender. A tough, tough goal to allow in the final minute of the period for Lehigh Valley.
Things didn't appear to be getting any better in the middle frame. Belleville extended their lead to 3-0 just 44 seconds into the period on a weird bouncing puck play that ended up atop the crease for an easy tap in for Gabriel Gagne's sixth of the season.
That spelled the end of the night for Lyon, who was pulled after allowing three goals on just 12 shots in 20:44 of action. Dustin Tokarski came on to replace him.
The Phantoms started to generate serious pressure and responded well after going down 3-0. Oskar Lindblom drew a power play near the five-minute mark of the period, and the Phantoms had several great chances and good puck movement on the ensuing power play but were unable to get one past Hammond.
It wasn't until there was 7:27 left in the period that the Phantoms got on the board, thanks to a steal at the offensive zone blue line by Mike Vechhione. Vechhione picked the pocket of Patrick Sieloff and stormed in on a breakaway - beating Hammond low to the glove side for his 3rd of the season to make it a 3-1 game and give Lehigh Valley life.
Just 3:03 later, it was Vechhione again in a "Johnny on the spot" type of a goal to make it a one-goal game. Nicolas Aube-Kubel made it happen, forcing a turnover in the corner and smacking a puck in front to Vecchione, who re-directed it on net and through Hammond's five-hole for his second goal of the period.
And just like that, it was a 3-2 deficit for Lehigh Valley heading to the third.
It would be as close as the Phantoms would get, however, as Belleville responded with a trio of unanswered goals in the third to blow open the 3-2 game and turn it into a 6-2 rout.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
3:27: BEL - Harpur (1) - White 8:30: BEL - (PP) Werek, minor (roughing) 19:19: BEL - Rodewald (4) - Harpur 2nd Period
0:44: BEL - Gagne (6) - Burgdoerfer, McCormick 5:06: BEL - (PP) Chabot, minor (holding) 12:33: LV - Vecchione (3) - unassisted 15:36: LV - Vecchione (4) - Aube-Kubel
3rd Period
3:39: BEL - Gagne (7) - McCormick, Chabot 11:54: BEL - (PP) McCormick, minor (boarding) 13:31: LV - (PP) Carey, minor (high-sticking) 14:37: BEL - PPG O'Brien (5) - Chabot, McCormick 15:08: BEL - White (2) - Rodewald 17:28: LV - Friedman, minor (roughing) 17:28: BEL - McCormick, minor (roughing)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 2 - 0 = 2 Belleville 2 - 1 - 3 = 6
Shots
Lehigh Valley 14 - 16 - 16 = 46 Belleville 11 - 15 - 9 = 35
Goalies
LV - Alex Lyon (9 saves - 12 shots in 20:44) and Dustin Tokarski (20 saves - 23 shots in 39:16) BEL - Andrew Hammond (44 saves - 46 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-2 BEL: 0-for-0
Penalty Kill
LV: 0-for-0 BEL: 2-for-2
Attendance: 3,101
