Game 51 Recap: Fat Tuesday - Phantoms Blank Bridgeport 5-0
BRIDGEPORT - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (31-14-6) started their busy four-game schedule this week with a big win in Bridgeport Tuesday night, making it four wins in a row and 8-1-1 in their last ten games with a three-in-three weekend looming.
Dustin Tokarski recorded his second shutout of the season in dominating fashion, stopping all 40 Sound Tigers shots he faced. Nicolas Aube-Kubel recorded three primary assists and now has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his last night games.
It was a team effort Tuesday for the Phantoms who had five different goal scorers in the 5-0 win - Tyrell Goulbourne, Mark Friedman, Mike Vecchione, Radel Fazleev and Colin McDonald
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms' busy game schedule continues with a three-in-three weekend beginning Friday night in Springfield before a pair of home contests Saturday against Hartford and Sunday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Phantoms Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Tyrell Goulbourne Cole Bardreau - Corban Knight (A) - Colin McDonald (C)Radel Fazleev - Mike Vecchione - Aube-Kubel Oskar Lindblom - Mikhail Vorobyev - Matt Read
T.J. Brennan (A) - Max LamarcheWill O’Neill - Mark Friedman Travis Sanheim - Phil Myers
Dustin Tokarski - John Muse
Scratches: Sam Morin (injured), Danick Martel (injured), Chris Conner (veteran), Reece Willcox (injured) and James de Haas (healthy)
POST-GAME RECAP
It was a quick start for the Phantoms Tuesday night in Bridgeport, as Lehigh Valley jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the opening 70 seconds.
Travis Sanheim broke up a potential Sound Tigers entry into the zone, and flung a pass up the neutral zone to Greg Carey for a rush in transition with Tyrell Goulbourne. Carey got the puck from the right wing to the middle to Goulbourne who fired a quick shot past the glove of Kristers Gudlevskis for his seventh of the season.
From there, it was the Dustin Tokarski show as the Phantoms' goaltender flashed the glove on several Sound Tigers shots in the opening frame to keep his team ahead 1-0 heading into the second - stopping all 19 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes including a late 2-on-1 scramble in the final seconds of the period on Sound Tigers
Play evened out in the middle frame before Lehigh Valley took control with three unanswered goals in the period to take a 4-0 lead into the final frame.
If the first period was the Tokarski show, the middle period was definitely the Nicolas Aube-Kubel show.
Aube-Kubel had a direct hand in all three Phantoms' goals in the period, recording the primary assist on each goal.
First, the Phantoms extended their lead to 2-0 at the tail end of the game's first power play.
At the right point, T.J. Brennan got a puck down low to Aube-Kubel who spotted Mark Friedman atop the left-wing circle and fed him a perfect pass. Friedman buried the knee-drop one-timer for his first career AHL goal.
Just over two minutes later, the Phantoms caught the Sound Tigers on a line change and made them pay. Phil Myers sent a puck up to Nicolas Aube-Kubel and after a give-and-go with Mike Vecchione, Aube-Kubel sent it back to the middle for Vecchione who beat Gudlevskis for his 12th of the season.
The nail in proverbial coffin came in the final minute of the period.
Vecchione took a big hit at the offensive zone blue line, but made the play - sending Aube-Kubel down the left-wing with speed before setting up Radel Fazleev with his second goal of the season to put the game out of reach with the Phantoms heading to the final frame up 4-0.
Colin McDonald capped the scoring at 5-0 early in the third period, and Tokarski made all the necessary saves down the stretch to earn his second shutout of the season.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
1:10: LV - Goulbourne (7) - Carey, Sanheim
2nd Period
8:27: BST - (PP) Cullity, minor (high-sticking) 10:25: LV - PPG Friedman (1) - Aube-Kubel, Brennan 12:27: LV - Vecchione (12) - Aube-Kubel, Myers 13:28: LV - (PP) Sanheim, minor (hooking) 19:02: LV - Fazleev (2) - Aube-Kubel, Vecchione
3rd Period
2:48: LV - McDonald (5) - Knight 8:41: BST - (PP) St. Denis, minor (hooking)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 3 - 1 = 5 Bridgeport 0 - 0 - 0 = 0
Shots
Lehigh Valley 9 - 7 - 5 = 21 Bridgeport 19 - 9 - 12 = 40
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (40 saves - 40 shots) BST - Kristers Gudlevskis (16 saves - 21 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-3 BST: 0-for-1
Penalty Kill
LV: 1-for-1 BST: 2-for-3
Attendance: 2,851
