Game 2 Recap: Providence Pushes Back (Series Tied 1-1)
PROVIDENCE - It was the same story, but a different result for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Saturday night in Providence for Game 2 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals as the Bruins evened the series at one game apiece following a 5-3 win over the Phantoms.
The Phantoms got off to another slow start in the first period, as the PBruins came out flying - taking a 2-0 lead in the first 5:08 of the contest and again dominating in the shots column, puck possession and offensive zone time.
"We just didn't play Phantoms hockey there," first year defenseman Mark Friedman said after the loss. "We didn't play fast. They came, and they were all over us in the first period," he added, noting that the PBruins obviously didn't want to drop the first two games on home ice.
Lehigh Valley turned the tides in the middle frame and tied things back up on a pair of goals 1:11 apart from Mark Friedman and Mike Vecchione, but a shorthanded goal against on the opening shift of the third period proved costly.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Alex Krushelnyski Danick Martel - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Carsen Twarynski - Corban Knight - Chris Conner Steven Swavely - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald
T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Reece Willcox - Max Lamarche David Drake - Phil Myers
Alex Lyon - Dustin Tokarski
Scratches: John Muse, Anthony Stolarz, Sam Morin, Will O'Neill, Tyrell Goulbourne, Mikhail Vorobyev, Radel Fazleev, Pascal Laberge, James de Haas and Isaac Ratcliffe
Bruins' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Ryan Fitzgerald - Jordan Szwarz - Austin CzarnikKenny Agostino - Jacob-Forsbacka Karlsson - Peter Cehlarik Anton Blidh - Colby Cave - Zachary Senyshyn Adam Payerl - Trent Frederic - Chris Porter
Tommy Cross - Connor CliftonChris Breen - Jakub Zboril Jeremy Lauzon - Paul Postma
Jordan Binnington - Zane McIntyre
POST-GAME REACTION
POST-GAME RECAP
Similar to Friday night's Game 1, Providence was all over Lehigh Valley in the opening minutes. The only difference Saturday night in Game 2 was that the Bruins were able to convert on the chances they were creating - taking a 1-0 lead just 2:07 into the contest.
A defensive zone turnover gave Zach Senyshyn the puck in the slot and although his shot missed the mark, Anton Blidh got to the loose puck first and beat Alex Lyon to give the Bruins the early lead.
Then, the Bruins extended their lead to 2-0 three minutes later. Peter Cehlarik picked up a blocked shot in the high slot and was able to skate toward the net and fire a high-rising shot that picked a corner on Lyon to put the Phantoms in an early hole.
The physical play picked up from there the rest of the period, with a post-whistle scrum seemingly after every stoppage in play.
Lehigh Valley seemingly got to their game in the middle frame with a much better effort than they showed in the first frame. After a Tommy Cross kneeing penalty gave the Phantoms a power play, Mark Friedman got the orange and black on the board - getting to the slot and knocking in a rebound past Bruins' goaltender Jordan Binnington to cut the deficit in half near the midway mark of regulation.
Then, similar to last night, the Phantoms got a second tally in short order - tying the game 2-2 just 1:11 later. Binnington made the initial stop on Chris Conner off the rush but the rebound popped right to Mike Vecchione who buried it with 9:03 left in the 2nd period.
The Phantoms nearly took the lead in the final seconds of the second period, as a hard shot on Binnington popped out and Greg Carey had an empty net to shoot at but he got tied up by a Bruins' defender and was unable to corral the loose puck. Providence cleared the puck into the crowd with one second left, giving the Phantoms a power play to start the third period with a chance to take the lead.
It was not to be, however, as Austin Czarnik forced a turnover on the opening shift of the third period and centered one for Jordan Szwarz. The PBruins' forward beared down and fired a hard shot that Lyon got most of, but not all of as it trickled under his right armpit and dribbled across the goal line to give Providence the lead back at 3-2.
After a Colin McDonald tripping minor gave the PBruins a power play midway through the third period, Cehlarik tallied his second of the night - beating Lyon to the short side with 8:25 left in regulation to push the lead back to two at 4-2.
Lehigh Valley showed no quit, getting back to within one with 4:51 left in the contest when Carey finished off a feed from Phil Varone in the slot to get the Phantoms back to within one.
Head coach Scott Gordon elected to pull Alex Lyon with 2:39 left down just one after a whistle and upcoming offensive zone face-off. Gordon has been known to pull the goalie earlier than other coaches traditionally do, but the Phantoms pressured 6-on-5 until Czarnik forced another Phantoms' defensive zone turnover and fed Jacob Forsbacka-Karlsson for the game-sealing empty net goal with 1:33 left to play.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
2:07: PRO - Blidh (1) - Senyshyn 5:08: PRO - Cehlarik (1) - Agostino, Postma 7:39: PRO - Cave, minor (roughing) 7:39: LV - Aube-Kubel, minor (roughing) 14:56: PRO - (PP) Breen, minor (slashing)
2nd Period
0:44: LV - (PP) Bardreau, minor (roughing) 7:48: PRO - (PP) Cross, minor (kneeing) 9:46: LV - PPG Friedman (1) - Martel, Vecchione 10:57: LV - Vecchione (1) - Conner, Martel 16:04: LV - (PP) Drake, minor (hooking) 19:59: PRO - (PP) Blidh, minor (delay of game)
3rd Period
0:19: PRO - SHG - Szwarz (1) - Czarnik 10:04: LV - (PP) McDonald, minor (tripping) 11:35: PRO - PPG Cehlarik (2) - Frederic, Postma 15:09: LV - Carey (2) - Varone, Myers 18:27: PRO - ENG Forsbacka-Karlsson (1) - Czarnik
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 2 - 1 = 3 Providence 2 - 0 - 3 = 5
Shots
Lehigh Valley 10 - 9 - 7 = 26 Providence 12 - 12 - 12 = 36
Goalies
LV - Alex Lyon (31 saves - 35 shots) PRO - Jordan Binnington (23 saves - 26 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-3 PRO: 1-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-3 PRO: 2-for-3
Attendance: 4,583
