Game. Set. Match. Marlies Advance to 2018 Calder Cup Finals
ALLENTOWN - It’s often said that teams are the most dangerous when their proverbial backs are to the wall. With a win-or-go-home mentality, it was a feisty Lehigh Valley team that took the ice as the two teams battled scoreless through 22 minutes until two costly penalties gave the Marlies a 5-on-3 advantage that allowed them to take a 1-0 lead, but a powerplay goal from Travis Sanheim tied it up later in the second.
Unfortunately, it was the Toronto Marlies, who turned their opening round, five-game series with the Utica Comets into a wake-up call, sweeping the Syracuse Crunch and now the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Marlies punched their ticket to the Calder Cup Finals by virtue of a 3-1 victory thanks to the strong offensive play of Andreas Johnsson; they await the winner of the Texas/Rockford series.
Lehigh Valley's Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Chris Conner Oskar Lindblom - Corban Knight - Alex KrushelnyskiDanick Martel - Mikhail Vorobyev - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Tyrell Goulbourne - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald
Travis Sanheim - Phil Myers T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Reece Willcox - Max Lamarche
Alex Lyon - Dustin Tokarski
Scratches: John Muse, Anthony Stolarz, Sam Morin, Will O'Neill, Steven Swavely, Radel Fazleev, Morgan Frost, Carsen Twarynski, Frank Hora, Pascal Laberge, Alex Krushelnyski and James de Haas
POST-GAME REACTION
GAME RECAP
With the season on the line, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms came out of the gates buzzing, got the crowd into the game in a hurry, and put together arguably the best period of the series in the opening 20 minutes of Game 4 Friday night at PPL Center in Allentown. The Phantoms forced the Marlies out of their comfort zone with a more physical game. As a result, the Phantoms looked much faster than they did in Wednesday night’s game 3.
After a scoreless first period, Andreas Johnsson scored from just inside the right-faceoff circle to give Toronto a 1-0 lead just seven seconds into a 5-on-3 powerplay. The Phantoms were whistled for too many men on the ice. Then Reese Wilcox was assessed a slashing minor just over a minute later allowing the Marlies to use their speed and finesse to take the lead.
Later in the period, Travis Sanheim connected from just outside the right-faceoff circle with a powerplay goal of his own to tie the game. Phil Varone moved the puck to Colin McDonald near the goalline and McDonald hit Sanheim with the cross ice pass. It was Sanheim’s first goal of the postseason.
Early in the third Johnsson recorded his second tally of the game, an even strength goal, that put the Marlies up for good as the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Trophy winner allowed just one of Lehigh Valley’s 20 shots into the back of the net. The victory sends the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners back to the Calder Cup Finals for the first time since the 2011-2012 season where they were blanked by the Norfolk Admirals in their lone finals appearance.
Alex Lyon once again turned in a terrific performance in net for the Phantoms, stopping 26 of 28 shots as Toronto’s final goal, scored by Trevor Moore, came in the final minute of the game on an empty net.
In addition to his goal, Sanheim turned in an impressive performance defensively, breaking up two key odd-man rushes early in the game to give his team a chance, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Phantoms against one of the hottest teams in the AHL this season.
While the Phantoms season ended early, the team does have several players who should be returning for the 2018-2019 season.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
8:47: LV - (PP) Varone, minor (tripping)
2nd Period
0:58: LV - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Martel) 2:17: LV - (PP) Willcox, minor (slashing) 2:24: TOR - PPG Johnsson (5) - Mueller, Rosen 11:45: TOR - (PP) Engvall, minor (slashing) 13:11: LV - PPG Sanheim (1) - McDonald, Varone 16:09: TOR - (PP) Holl, minor (interference)
3rd Period
3:27: TOR - Johnsson (6) - Aaltonen, Grundstrom 12:29: LV - (PP) Myers, minor (holding) 19:18: TOR - ENG Moore (4) - unassisted
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 1 - 0 = 1 Toronto 0 - 1 - 2 = 3
Shots
Lehigh Valley 4 - 9 - 7 = 20 Toronto 9 - 9 - 11 = 29
Goalies
LV - Alex Lyon (26 saves - 28 shots) TOR - Garret Sparks (19 saves - 20 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-2 TOR: 1-for-4
Penalty Kill
LV: 3-for-4 TOR: 1-for-2
Attendance: 6,293
