Game 38 Recap: Six By Springfield - Phantoms Routed To Kick Off Three-Game Weekend
ALLENTOWN - Certainly not the way the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-12-5) wanted to start a busy three-game weekend Friday night at home in a 6-2 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds (16-21-2).
They say you can't win a game with a few strong shifts, but you can certainly lose one with a poor stretch of play. That's exactly what happened to the Phantoms late in the second period.
With the game tied at 2-2 after Phil Varone put in a rebound for his 100th career AHL goal, the wheels fell off the wagon for the Phantoms. They allowed three Springfield goals in a span of 3:03, and never recovered.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms' 3-in-3 weekend continues with a home and home series with the Hershey Bears beginning Saturday night at the PPL Center in downtown Allentown.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Oskar Lindblom Danick Martel - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Colin McDonald - Matt Read - Chris Conner *Radel Fazleev - Steven Swavely - Cole Bardreau
T.J. Brennan - Max LamarcheMark Alt - Phil Myers Reece Willcox - Mark Friedman
Alex Lyon - Dustin Tokarski
Scratches: Sam Morin, Will O'Neill (veteran), Corban Knight (injured), Mikhail Vorobyev (injured) and Alex Krushelnyski (healthy)
Lineup Notes
Alex Lyon got the start in net for Lehigh Valley Friday night against Springfield, making his fourth start in the Phantoms' last five games. Dustin Tokarski, who played in last Saturday's 3-1 loss in Rochester, served as Lyon's backup.
Sam Morin is expected to return to the lineup, but he did not play Friday. With games against Hershey both Saturday and Sunday, it's certainly possible he will make an appearance at some point this weekend. Morin hasn't played since lingering injury issues sidelined him again after a one-game return in Charlotte on December 12th.
Matt Read (out since December 20th) returned to the Phantoms' lineup up front. Colin McDonald returned to Lehigh Valley's lineup last weekend, so the Phantoms are back to being over the veteran limit.
Will O'Neill served as the team's veteran scratch Friday, but with three games in three nights on the schedule this weekend it's likely going to be a rotation of players as the veteran scratch.
Tyrell Goulbourne was called back up to Philadelphia in advance of their game Saturday against the New Jersey Devils.
Alex Krushelnyski was loaned to Reading earlier in the week, played one ECHL game, and was called back up to Lehigh Valley. He was the 13th forward, and a healthy scratch for Lehigh Valley Friday night vs. Springfield.
POST-GAME REACTION
GAME RECAP
There were some early chances for both teams to begin the Friday night matchup between Lehigh Valley and Springfield, but either the goaltenders were coming up with some timely saves or a missed corner by the shooter kept the game scoreless through the first half of the opening period.
It wasn't until an Oskar Lindblom tripping minor put the Thunderbirds on the power play, that the first goal of the contest was scored.
Ludwig Bystrom got a pass across the top from the left point to the right over to Anthony Greco, who teed up a slap-pass to the net that ended up bouncing around and deflecting off of Jayce Hawyrluk's stick on its way past Alex Lyon with 8:11 left before the first intermission.
Still, Lehigh Valley was generating regular chances offensively - nearly tallying a goal on several of those odd-man chances if not for some stellar pad saves from Samuel Montembeault kept the Phantoms off the scoreboard until the final two minutes of the period.
Mark Alt threaded the needle on a pass to Nicolas Aube-Kubel at the offensive zone blue line, and the Phantoms forward did the rest - blazing down the left-wing before picking a corner on Montembeault for his 10th goal of the season. Aube-Kubel's game-tying goal came with 1:29 left before the intermission, changing a 1-0 deficit into a tied game to begin the middle frame
A nice individual effort by Thunderbirds' defenseman Rob Hamilton allowed Springfield to take the lead back at 2-1 just 5:03 into the middle frame.
Mark Friedman chipped a puck out of the defensive zone to center ice, but it was quickly picked up by Hamilton and he caught Friedman a little flat-footed. Hamilton skated past Friedman, drove to the net and deked before sending a puck across for a tap in by Ed Wittchow over Lyon's left shoulder.
Not for nothing, but the Phantoms still had no problem creating offensive chances - and odd-man rushes - against Springfield the remainder of the period.
It wasn't too long before Lehigh Valley tied things back up, as Phil Varone netted his 100th career AHL goal on a rebound of a Greg Carey shot with 7:38 left in the middle frame.
From there, however, things took a turn for the worse for Lehigh Valley to the tune of three Springfield goals in a span of 3:03 of play - changing a 2-2 game into a 5-2 lopsided score heading into the third period.
Reece Willcox was whistled for hooking on the shift after Varone's goal, and Springfield needed just 17 seconds on the ensuing power play to take the lead back again. Hawryluk's initial shot was blocked, but Dryden Hunt came up with the loose puck in a net-front scramble and he was able to get one past Lyon for his eighth of the season.
Less than a minute after Hunt's power play goal, Thunderbirds' defenseman Mark Fayne let loose a shot from the right point that grazed Friedman's stick and ended up in the top corner of Lyon's net - extending Springfield's lead to 4-2.
Chase Balisy made it 5-2 moments later, and sent the Phantoms to the locker room with obvious frustration.
"We have to be a ton better. It's embarrassing to be honest with you," Varone told Kristi Fulkerson of Service Electric TV2 Sports during a 2nd intermission interview.
The Thunderbirds never looked back in the third period, adding to their lead on Balisy's second tally of the night to cap the scoring at 6-2.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
10:42: LV - (PP) Lindblom, minor (tripping) 11:49: SPR - PPG Hawryluk (8) - Greco, Bystrom 18:31: LV - Aube-Kubel (10) - Alt
2nd Period
5:07: SPR - Wittchow (3) - Hamilton 8:42: SPR - (PP) Balisy, minor (hooking) 12:22: LV - Varone (11) - Carey, Lindblom 13:09: LV - (PP) Willcox, minor (hooking) 13:26: SPR - PPG Hunt (8) - Hawryluk, Greco 14:17: SPR - Fayne (2) - Horvat, Greco 16:29: SPR - Balisy (6) - Horvat, Schemitsch 19:01: SPR - (PP) Schemitsch, minor (hooking)
3rd Period
7:44: SPR - Balisy (7) - Greco 17:45: LV - (PP) Friedman, double-minor (high-sticking)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 1 - 0 = 2 Springfield 1 - 4 - 1 = 6
Shots
Lehigh Valley 7 - 5 - 7 = 19 Springfield 6 - 14 - 8 = 28
Goalies
LV - Alex Lyon (22 saves - 28 shots) SPR - Samuel Montembeault (17 saves - 19 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-2 SPR: 2-for-4
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-4 SPR: 2-for-2
Attendance: 8,486
