Game 73 Recap: Achilles Heel - Hartford Haunts Phantoms... Again!
HARTFORD - For whatever reason, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms have struggled with the Hartford WolfPack this season and it all culminated in the sixth and final meeting between the two teams Saturday night at the XL Center in a 3-2 overtime loss that sees the Phantoms finish the season series with Hartford going an unexplainable 0-1-5, including two overtime losses and three shootout losses.
The loss Saturday night marked the first three-game losing streak for Lehigh Valley on the season.
The Phantoms held a 1-0 lead through the first period and despite being largely out-chanced in the middle frame, carried the one goal lead into the third. Hartford broke through in the third period, scoring a pair of goals 59 seconds apart in the opening 2:08 to flip the script and take the 2-1 lead.
Phil Varone said after the game that Hartford's go-ahead goal was on him, and that he owed the team one. He drew a his team a power play with 1:09 left in regulation and with exactly 18 seconds left collected a pass atop the right-wing circle from T.J. Brennan and picked the top corner for his 22nd goal of the season to force overtime.
In the end, Hartford got an early power play and converted on the 4-on-3 in the opening minute of OT to get the two points, but still a very valuable point picked up in the standings by Lehigh Valley.
Playoff Update: The four playoff teams in the Atlantic Division are set following tonight's action as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Charlotte Checkers and Providence Bruins all clinched playoff berths after all three teams won their respective games Friday night. The last week of the regular season will be used to determine the seeding. For the Phantoms, wrapping up the Atlantic Division can be done Sunday in Providence with a regulation or overtime win regardless of what any other team does. They can still clinch the first seed with a point, but would need help from others teams in the the form of losses from the other playoff teams in the Atlantic Division.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms play their final road game of the 2017-18 season Sunday afternoon in Providence, Rhode Island against the Bruins at 3:00 p.m. ET. Then, all that remains is a pair of home games next weekend against Bridgeport (Friday, 7:05 ET) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Saturday, 7:05 ET) before the Phantoms begin their quest in the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Tyrell Goulbourne Colin McDonald - Cole Bardreau - Carsen Twarynski Danick Martel - Mikhail Vorobyev - Radel Fazleev Alex Krushelnyski - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
T.J. Brennan - Max LamarcheDavid Drake - Reece Willcox Will O'Neill - Frank Hora
Dustin Tokarski - John Muse
Scratches: Alex Lyon (healthy), Anthony Stolarz (injured), Sam Morin (injured), Phil Myers (injured), Chris Conner (injured), Mark Friedman (healthy) and James de Haas (injured)
POST-GAME REACTION
Stay tuned!
POST-GAME RECAP
In a fast-moving first period, the Phantoms and WolfPack each had a power play go by the wayside before Lehigh Valley's relentless forecheck provided the game's first goal.
After losing an offensive zone face-off, Mikhail Vorobyev read the play - the Hartford defender wheeled the puck around the net - and put himself in perfect position to steal a clearing attempt before firing a quick wrist shot past WolfPack goaltender Marek Mazanec to give Lehigh Valley a 1-0 lead with 3:50 left before the first intermission.
It seemed like every time the Phantoms got their forecheck set up, it spelled trouble for the WolfPack - leading to several failed clearing attempts, broken up passes, turnovers and a struggle to transition from defense to offense.
Things opened up quite a bit in the middle frame, which saw Hartford generate 16 shots on Dustin Tokarski. The Phantoms netminder came up big on all 16 shots as Lehigh Valley preserved its 1-0 lead heading to the third, but you got the feeling that another period like that would spell trouble for Lehigh Valley.
Sure enough, Hartford broke through and tied the game up at 1-1 on the opening shift of the third period. Boo Nieves got a puck to Dan DeSalvo, who beat Tokarski for his 5th of the season 1:09 into the final frame.
The Phantoms responded on the next shift, with Will O'Neill hitting the post and Mike Vecchione drawing a power play, but a critical error on the man advantage gave Hartford a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush that they converted on to take a 2-1 lead just 59 seconds after their tying goal. Cole Schneider got a pass across to Nieves for a tap in that Tokarski had no chance to stop.
Lehigh Valley started to force the issue late in the third, as Phil Varone drew his team a power play with 1:09 left in regulation. In fact, Varone got a pass on the ensuing man advantage from T.J. Brennan and fired a high shot to the top corner on Mazanec with 18 seconds left to force overtime.
Unfortunately for the Phantoms, a penalty on T.J. Brennan 30 seconds into overtime put the orange and black on the penalty kill where Hartford won the game with a 4-on-3 goal.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
4:46: HFD - (PP) Lindgren, minor (slashing) 13:08: LV - (PP) Drake, minor (tripping) 16:10: LV - Vorobyev (9) - unassisted
2nd Period
14:48: LV - (PP) Drake, minor (high-sticking)
3rd Period
1:09: HFD - DeSalvo (5) - Nieves 1:39: HFD - (PP) Crawley, minor (tripping) 2:08: HFD - SHG Nieves (8) - Schneider 18:51: HFD - (PP) Crawley, minor (tripping) 19:42: LV - PPG Varone (22) - Brennan, Carey
Overtime
0:30: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (slashing) 0:51: HFD - PPG Lettieri (22) - Bigras, Schneider
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 = 2 Hartford 0 - 0 - 2 - 1 = 3
Shots
Lehigh Valley 6 - 4 - 12 - 0 = 22 Hartford 4 - 16 - 8 - 2 = 30
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (27 saves - 30 shots) HFD - Marek Mazanec (20 saves - 22 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-3 HFD: 1-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-3 HFD: 2-for-3
Attendance: 4126
