Game 69 Recap: Phantoms Rebound With Win Against Providence Bruins
ALLENTOWN - After a pair of losses in Providence last weekend - including a 6-1 drubbing in their most recent game last Saturday - the Lehigh Valley Phantoms returned home, had a good week of practice and took it to the Bruins on home ice Friday night, winning a 2-0 game that wasn't anywhere near as close as the final score makes it look.
In fact, the Phantoms dominated the entire second period - outshooting the Bruins by a 19-1 margin - but were only able to take a 1-0 lead courtesy a Greg Carey one-timer to the third period due in large part to Bruins' goaltender Jordan Binnington making a ton of tough saves to keep his team in the game.
Lehigh Valley got solid goaltending from Dustin Tokarski in the third, completing the 22-save shutout for his fifth perfect game of the season. Four of those five have come in his last 10 appearances.
T.J. Brennan scored off the rush late in the third period to extend the Phantoms' lead with his 13th of the season, and the Phantoms completed the shutout - extending a shutout streak at home to 186 minutes and eight seconds.
Playoff Update: The Phantoms are closing in on clinching the #1 seed in the Atlantic Division, now needing just nine points in their final seven games to wrap up first place and home ice advantage in the first two rounds of the postseason. The 2nd place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated Hartford in overtime Friday, while 4th place Charlotte dropped a one-goal decision to Rochester in overtime. The real surprise was in Springfield where a seemingly "fighting for their playoff lives" Bridgeport team in 5th place was trounced 5-0 by the Thunderbirds - all but eliminating them from realistic postseason contention.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms finish the weekend on home ice Saturday against the Belleville Senators in their first ever visit to the PPL Center.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Alex Krushelnyski Cole Bardreau - Corban Knight - Colin McDonaldDanick Martel - Mikhail Vorobyev - Tyrell Goulbourne Chris Conner - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman James de Haas - Reece Willcox Will O'Neill - Max Lamarche
Dustin Tokarski - Anthony Stolarz
Scratches: Sam Morin, Phil Myers, Radel Fazleev and David Drake
POST-GAME REACTION
POST-GAME RECAP
Facing each other for the third straight time in eight days, the Phantoms and Bruins skated to a scoreless tie in a rather uneventful opening 20 minutes.
The Phantoms' opened up a 5-1 edge in shots in the opening six minutes, helped by their first power play chance of the evening, but later had to kill off a Cole Bardreau double-minor highsticking penalty which temporarily slowed their offensive momentum.
In the middle frame, it was all Lehigh Valley as they out shot the Bruins by a 19-1 margin.
Still, the Phantoms were unable to really take control of the game - opening up a 1-0 lead 3:26 into the middle period after Phil Varone won an offensive zone face-off.
Varone won the draw back to the left point to Will O'Neill, and Greg Carey floated from the wing up to the center point. O'Neill fed Carey a pass and the Phantoms' forward blasted a one-timer past Bruins goaltender Jordan Binnington for his 29th tally of the season. Varone's assist moved him back into a tie atop the AHL's scoring race.
From there, Binnington stood on his head to keep Providence afloat - getting to the second intermission with just a 1-0 deficit due in large part to the play of the goaltender. Frustration began to show on the Bruins' side as the period wore on, with several post-whistle scrums in the Bruins' defensive zone.
Lehigh Valley added an insurance marker late in the third period to complete the 2-0 final score, as Colin McDonald started an odd-man rush in transition and fed a trailing T.J. Brennan in the slot for a quick shot past Binnington with 2:54 left in regulation.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
3:20: PRO - (PP) Senyshyn, minor (interference) 6:07: LV - (PP) Bardreau, double-minor (high-sticking)
2nd Period
3:26: LV - Carey (29) - O'Neill, Varone 17:12: LV - Goulbourne, minor (roughing) 17:12: PRO - Breen, minor (roughing)
3rd Period
7:40: PRO - (PP) Clifton, minor (slashing) 7:40: PRO - Cross, minor (roughing) 7:40: LV - Bardreau, minor (roughing) 17:06: LV - Brennan (13) - McDonald 18:01: LV - (PP) Varone, double-minor (high-sticking)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 1 - 1 = 2 Providence 0 - 0 - 0 = 0
Shots
Lehigh Valley 7 - 19 - 8 = 34 Providence 10 - 1 - 11 = 22
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (22 saves - 22 shots) PRO - Jordan Binnington (32 saves - 34 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-3 PRO: 0-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 3-for-3 PRO: 3-for-3
Attendance: 7,383
