GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Bridgeport at Lehigh Valley 3/08/20

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (24-28-8) finish off another three-in-three weekend with a Sunday afternoon home tilt against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (21-33-7). This afternoon's game is on NHL Network.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Lines/Pairings:

Greg Carey - Cal O'Reilly - Isaac Ratcliffe Andy Andreoff - Morgan Frost - David Kase Carsen Twarynski - Connor Bunnaman - Kurtis Gabriel Max Willman - Mikhail Vorobyev - Gerry Fitzgerald

Tyler Wotherspoon - Reece Willcox Mark Friedman - Nate Prosser James de Haas - Andy Welinski

Kirill Ustimenko - Alex Lyon

Phantoms' Scratches: Maksim Sushko, German Rubtsov, Chris Bigras and Chris Stewart

GAME STORY

1st Period

An action-packed first period saw the two teams combine for five goals in the opening 20 minutes of play, including both a power play and a shorthanded goal.

The Phantoms killed off an early penalty, but Bridgeport took the lead moments later when a high-rising Travis St. Denis shot beat a sliding Kirill Ustimenko to give the Sound Tigers a 1-0 lead 4:05 into the contest.

Lehigh Valley responded toward the middle of the period, tallying two goals 2:24 apart to turn a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.

First, a hard-nosed play behind the net allowed the Phantoms to work a puck in front where Gerry Fitzgerald was able to muscle one to the net that ended up crossing the line. Though originally credited as Fitzgerald's seventh of the season, Mikhail Vorobyev may have helped the puck cross the line at the far post. Max Willman recorded an assist on the play as well.

Then, a nice series of passes in the neutral zone opened up a shot from the right point by Reece Willcox that found its way past Sound Tigers' goalie Christopher Gibson with 7:17 left before the first intermission.

A parade to the penalty box late in the period put the Phantoms shorthanded, but a nice steal from Vorobyev and a solid finish on a 2-on-1 by Isaac Ratcliffe allowed the Phantoms to briefly extend their lead to 3-1 with 2:22 left in the opening period.

Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, a second penalty saw Bridgeport score a five-on-three power play goal to cut their deficit to one heading to the middle frame.

2nd Period

The Phantoms extended their lead to 4-2 early in the middle frame after a bad-angle backhander by Mikhail Vorobyev from below the right-wing face-off circle beat Gibson and hit the back bar in the top shelf, causing the puck to dart right out and back into play. The referee in position signaled for a good goal almost immediately and Vorobyev's 12th of the season was assisted by Max Willman and Tyler Wotherspoon.

In a bit of a strange play, Morgan Frost and Bridgeport defender Grant Hutton engaged each other on a 1-on-1 sequence that saw Frost assessed a minor penalty and leaving the ice in obvious discomfort. Willman ended up serving Frost's slashing penalty, but the Phantoms' rookie didn't miss too many shifts before returning for some 4-on-4 shifts during the middle of the period.

From there, the chippy play we saw between these two teams on Friday night started to reappear. There were several post-whistle scrums and plenty of pushing and shoving. You got the feeling one more questionable hit might start a brawl.

Third Period

Things were looking pretty good for Lehigh Valley after David Kase took a stretch pass off the boards from Greg Carey and beat Gibson five-hole to extend the Phantoms' lead to 5-2 with 14:53 left in regulation.

But credit where credit is due. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers didn't pack it in at the tail end of the three-in-three weekend.

The Sound Tigers put the Phantoms on their heels the rest of the period, tallying three unanswered goals and forcing overtime. Terry Broadhurst started Bridgeport's comeback with his first goal of the season, while Nic Pierog and Robert Carpenter also tallied third period goals for the Sound Tigers.

Overtime/Shootout

The Phantoms got a late power play in overtime but were unable to convert to win the game. Instead, they fell in the shootout after Oliver Wahlstrom and Terry Broadhurst scored on their attempts.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

0:44: LV - (PP) Prosser, minor (hooking) 4:05: BST - St. Denis (11) - Schmaltz, Schilkey 4:37: BST - (PP) Jobst, minor (slashing) 10:19: LV - Fitzgerald (7) - Willman, Vorobyev 12:43: LV - Willcox (2) - Ratcliffe, Carey 15:06: LV - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Willman) 17:13: LV - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Carey) 17:38: LV - SHG Ratcliffe (6) - Vorobyev, Willcox 18:03: LV - (PP) Prosser, minor (tripping) 18:54: BST - PPG Aho (3) - Wahlstrom, St. Denis

2nd Period

3:13: LV - Vorobyev (12) - Willman, Wotherspoon 4:44: BST - (PP) Kubiak, minor (roughing) 5:43: LV - (PP) Frost, minor (high-sticking - served by Willman) 10:06: BST - (PP) St. Denis, minor (slashing) 10:06: LV - (PP) Twarynski, minor (hooking) 19:57: BST - (PP) Wahlstrom, minor (high-sticking)

3rd Period

2:41: LV - (PP) Gabriel, minor (elbowing) 5:07: LV - Kase (7) - Carey, Welinski 7:26: LV - (PP) Twarynski, minor (goaltender interference) 9:35: BST - Broadhurst (1) - McDonald, Hutton 10:02: BST - Bellows, minor (roughing) 10:02: BST - Bellows, ten-minute misconduct 10:02: BST - Burroughs, minor (roughing) 10:02: LV - de Haas, minor (roughing) 10:02: LV - Willman, minor (roughing) 10:02: LV - Willman, ten-minute misconduct 12:18: BST - Pierog (3) - Hutton, Aho 15:01: BST - Carpenter (4) - Hutton, Schilkey 15:04: BST - (PP) Broadhurst, minor (high-sticking)

Overtime

3:57: BST - (PP) St. Denis, minor (hooking)

Shootout

LV

Andreoff - no goal Twarynski - no goal

BST

Wahlstrom - GOAL Broadhurst - GOAL

BOXSCORE

Bridgeport  2 - 0 - 3 - 0 - 1 = 6 Lehigh Valley 3 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 = 5

Shots

Bridgeport  8 - 7 - 13 - 2 = 31 Lehigh Valley 12 - 4 - 8 - 1= 25

Goalies

BST - Christopher Gibson (20 saves - 25 shots) LV - Kirill Ustimenko (25 saves - 30 shots)

Power Play

BST: 1-for-8 LV: 0-for-5

Penalty Kill

BST: 5-for-5 LV: 7-for-8