Game 61 Recap: Sound Tigers Hand Phantoms Regulation Loss
ALLENTOWN - Two teams entered the PPL Center riding four-game win streaks when the Lehigh Valley Phantoms hosted the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but it was the visitors leaving the rink with two points in what is now the Phantoms' first regulation loss on home ice since Janaury 12th after a 3-2 decision Friday night.
The teams traded goals early in the second period before an eight-minute delay for a review that never occurred due to technical difficulties on a Danick Martel shot that rode the goal line all the way to the left post.
Four minutes of game action later, the Sound Tigers tallied a pair of goals to break the 1-1 tie and never looked back, getting 38 saves from Kristers Gudlevskis - including 19 in the third period alone - to preserve the win.
Tyrell Goulbourne (8th) and Greg Carey (24th) tallied goals for Lehigh Valley in the loss, while Phil Varone tallied a pair of assists. Dustin Tokarski stopped 30 of 33 in a losing effort.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms finish the home and home series with Bridgeport Saturday in Connecticut before returning home to finish the thre three-in-three weekend Sunday against the Binghamton Devils.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Tyrell Goulbourne Cole Bardreau - Corban Knight - Colin McDonaldRadel Fazleev - Mikhail Vorobyev - Chris Conner Danick Martel - Mike Vecchione - Alex Krushelnyski
T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Reece Willcox- Max LamarcheJames de Haas - Phil Myers
Dustin Tokarski - John Muse
Scratches: Anthony Stolarz, Sam Morin, Travis Sanheim (called up to PHI), Will O'Neill and Nicolas Aube-Kubel
POST-GAME REACTION
POST-GAME RECAP
After a rather uneventful first period saw the two teams head to the locker rooms in a scoreless tie, both teams tallied goals in the opening 1:11 of the middle frame.
Bridgeport opened up a 1-0 lead on the opening shift of the second period, as Travis St. Denis skated into the Phantoms' defensive down the left-wing before centering a puck atop Dustin Tokarski's crease that was directed into the back of the net just 10 seconds into the middle frame. The goal was later credited to St. Denis, so the puck bounced in off a Phantoms' defender in front.
The Phantoms responded just over a minute later, tying the game up at 1-1 exactly 1:11 in on their 11th shot of the night (yes, that's a lot of ones!).
After Kristers Gudlevskis left his net to play a puck behind his cage, his attempted clear up the boards was intercepted by Greg Carey. Carey's spinning shot to the net was stopped, but the rebound went into the corner right onto the stick of Phil Varone who whizzed one in front to Tyrell Goulbourne for his eighth of the season.
Play came to a screeching halt with 12:05 left in the middle period after Danick Martel's shot from the bottom of the right-wing circle beat Gudlevskis and hit the inside of the post. Depending on your vantage point, it appeared the puck crossed the line. The play was reviewed, and it was a lengthy one - just over eight minutes - but it was deemed no goal. The puck went across the goal line and hit the inside of the left-post, but never fully crossed the line.
The long stoppage in play appeared to be a big momentum shifter in Bridgeport's favor. Not long after the review, they scored a pair of goals two minutes apart to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 Sound Tigers' lead.
First, it was Steve Bernier on the power play for his 14th of the season and not long after a Parker Wotherspoon shot from along the wall by the left point deflected off of Phil Myers' stick and went top shelf on Tokarski.
Wotherspoon's goal in particular really seemed to take the energy out of the building. The Phantoms headed into the second intermission down by two, but despite some unfortunate bounces on both ends still not a down and out situation for a team that leads the league in goal scoring.
In fact, the Phantoms made it a one-goal game just 4:38 into the final frame when Greg Carey put in a rebound of a Phil Varone shot for his 24th of the season.
In the end, it was Gudlevskis making several saves in the third period - 19 of 20 to be exact - to help preserve the two points for the Sound Tigers.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
4:49: BST - (PP) Helgeson, minor (cross-checking) 12:19: LV - (PP) de Haas, minor (hooking) 14:52: BST - (PP) C. Jones, minor (hooking)
2nd Period
0:10: BST - St. Denis (16) - Burroughs, Wotherspoon. 1:11: LV - Goulbourne (8) - Varone, Carey 10:12 LV - (PP) Varone, minor (high-sticking) 11:10: BST - PPG Bernier (14) - Benoit, Bailey 13:10: BST - Wotherspoon (6) - K. Jones, J. Holmstrom
3rd Period
4:38: LV - Carey (24) - Varone, Krushelnyski 8:45: BST - (PP) J. Holmstrom, minor (delay of game) 9:46: LV - Martel, minor (goaltender interference) 9:46: BST - K. Jones, minor (face-off violation)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 1 - 1 = 2 Bridgeport 0 - 3 - 0 = 3
Shots
Lehigh Valley 8 - 12 - 20 = 40 Bridgeport 8 - 14 - 11 = 33
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (30 saves - 33 shots) BST - Kristers Gudlevskis (38 saves - 40 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-3 BST: 1-for-2
Penalty Kill
LV: 1-for-2 BST: 3-for-3
Attendance: 7,451
