Game 67 Recap: Playoff Bound - Phantoms Punch Postseason Ticket Despite OT Loss in Providence
PROVIDENCE - If one thing is for sure, it's that these final three meetings between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Providence Bruins are going to be a fight to the bitter end.
Friday night in Providence, four times the Bruins took a one-goal and four times the Phantoms responded to tie things back up - the latter of which forced overtime.
In the end, the Bruins came out with the two points in a hard-fought battle between two of the top teams in the Atlantic Division. It truly was a back-and-forth game and about as evenly played as it gets.
The two teams rematch in less than 24 hours in game just as important where points are at a premium as teams begin to reach single digit games remaining in the regular season.
Playoff Update: Despite the overtime loss, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms clinched a spot in the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs due to Bridgeport's regulation loss in Syracuse.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms and Bruins rematch Saturday night in Providence to conclude the week for Lehigh Valley.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Alex Krushelnyski Cole Bardreau - Corban Knight - Colin McDonaldDanick Martel - Mikhail Vorobyev - Radel Fazleev Tyrell Goulbourne - Steven Swavely - Chris Conner
T.J. Brennan - Reece WillcoxJames de Haas - Phil Myers Mark Friedman - Max Lamarche
Dustin Tokarski - John Muse
Scratches: Anthony Stolarz, Sam Morin, Will O'Neill, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Mike Vecchione
POST-GAME RECAP
The game began a bit conservatively for both teams as each settled in and got to playing their game.
For the Phantoms, just as they appeared to be gaining momentum and spending extended time in the offensive zone the Bruins took a 1-0 lead on the first of two tallies on the evening from Ryan Fitzgerald.
Lehigh Valley was able to get on the board just over two minutes later after Mark Friedman connected on a stretch pass with Colin McDonald.
The captain rushed to the net and got a shot off, but it was retrieved in the corner and Danick Martel ended up taking to the net and potting his own rebound to tie it up at 1-1 on his 23rd of the season. The 23 goals marks a new career high for Martel in his third full season of AHL hockey.
Things opened up considerably in the middle frame, Providence fired 17 shots on Dustin Tokarski and scored three times. Unfortunately for the PBruins, they weren't able to extend their lead.
Each time the PBruins scored to re-take the lead, the Phantoms responded.
In the 2nd period, it was Corban Knight and Tyrell Goulbourne crashing the crease after Goulbourne's stretch pass for Chris Conner connected and got the small, speedy forward behind the defense. Knight got credit for the goal, his 14th of the season just 2:01 after Providence's scored to take a 2-1 lead.
After Trent Frederic's first career AHL goal, the Phantoms made good use of a power play opportunity - with Greg Carey getting his stick on a shot-pass from T.J. Brennan for Carey's team-leading 28th.
The PBruins tallied late in the second and maintained the one-goal lead into the final three minutes but a great play by Phil Varone tied the game up for a fourth time, at 4-4, to force overtime.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
10:07: PRO - Fitgerald (16) - Czarnik, Johansson 10:10: PRO - (PP) Porter, minor (hooking) 12:21: LV - Martel (23) - Vorobyev, Friedman 14:37: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (roughing) 19:42: LV - (PP) Martel, minor (slashing)
2nd Period 5:05: PRO - Cave (10) - Clifton, Cehlarik 7:06: LV - Knight (14) - Goulbourne, Conner 11:05: PRO - Frederic (1) - unassisted 15:20: PRO - (PP) Lauzon, minor (interference) 15:31: LV - PPG Carey (28) - Brennan, Myers 18:44: PRO - Hennessy (10) - Cehlarik, Agostino
3rd Period
4:54: PRO - (PP) Clifton, minor (interference) 17:32: LV - Varone (21) - Bardreau, McDonald
Overtime
1:06: PRO - Fitzgerald (17) - McIntyre
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 2 - 1 - 0 = 4 Providence 1 - 3 - 0 - 1 = 5
Shots
Lehigh Valley 8 - 11 - 11 - 1 = 31 Providence 6 - 17 - 10 - 1 = 34
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (29 saves - 34 shots) PRO - Zane McIntyre (27 saves - 31 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-3 PRO: 0-for-2
Penalty Kill
LV: 5-for-5 PRO: 3-for-3
Attendance: 9,288
