GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Lehigh Valley at Providence 1/22/20

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms swept a five-game homestand, and put their win streak to the test on the road this week beginning with a Wednesday night matchup against the Providence Bruins.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Line rushes:

German Rubtsov - Morgan Frost - Andy Andreoff Greg Carey - Cal O'Reilly - Mikhail Vorobyev Isaac Ratcliffe - Connor Bunnaman - Maksim Sushko Max Willman - Kyle Criscuolo - David Kase

Tyler Wotherspoon - Reece Willcox Chris Bigras - Nate Prosser Eric Knodel - Mark Friedman

J-F Berube - Alex Lyon

Phantoms' Scratches: James de Haas, Andy Welinski, Carsen Twarynski, Kurtis Gabriel, T.J. Brennan, Pascal Laberge and Chris Stewart

GAME STORY

1st Period

The Phantoms came ready to play Wednesday night in Providence, rattling off seven straight shots early on in the first period before taking a 1-0 lead near the midway mark of the period.  Max Willman and Kyle Criscuolo raced into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 chance, with Willman sending a pass across to Criscuolo for his 6th of the season to put Lehigh Valley ahead 1-0 at 9:50 of the 1st frame.

For as strong as the Phantoms were in the opening 12 minutes, Providence responded with some pressure of their own later in the period - getting a game-tying goal from Oskar Steen with 3:05 left before the intermission after the Phantoms were unable to clear a puck out of the defensive zone.

2nd Period

Offensive chances seemed to be few and far between in the middle frame as both teams were able to keep getting in the way of pucks heading toward the net.

Reece Willcox took the lone penalty of the period, but the Phantoms' penalty killers were up to the task.

It was quickly becoming a goaltender's duel between J-F Berube, making his fifth straight start, and Max Lagace (16 saves - 17 shots through two periods).

3rd Period

The Phantoms' "fourth line" of Max Willman, Kyle Criscuolo and David Kase had another strong shift early in the final frame, resulting with all three flying around the PBruins' net before David Kase's pass from behind the goal line in the corner banked in past Lagace off of a PBruins skater in front to give Lehigh Valley a 2-1 lead 2:47 into the third stanza.

Late in the third period, the Phantoms got caught in the midst of a line change and paid the ultimate price - turning the puck over and watching Zach Senyshyn tie the game with 5:59 left to play on an unassisted breakaway tally.

Overtime

The Phantoms had a chance in the final 2:04 of overtime with a power play chance, and fired five shots on net in the extra session not including Greg Carey's hit post, but were unable to find a game-winning goal.

Lagace also stoned Andy Andreoff earlier in overtime, and continued to prevent the Phantoms from extending their win streak to six games.

Shootout

The PBruins got a goal from Peter Cehlarik in the beginning of the first round, and the goalies stopped the rest of the shooters, allowing Providence the extra point in the standings with the 3-2 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

9:50: LV - Criscuolo (6) - Willman 13:15: LV - (PP) Ratcliffe, minor (high-sticking) 13:42: PRO - (PP) Senyshyn, minor (interference) 16:55: PRO - Steen (5) - Lantosi, Didier

2nd Period

10:26: LV - (PP) Willcox, minor (hooking)

3rd Period

2:47: LV - Kase (4) - Criscuolo, Willman 3:18: LV - Criscuolo, minor (roughing) 3:18: PRO - Steen, minor (roughing) 14:01: PRO - Senyshyn (3) - unassisted

Overtime

2:56: PRO - (PP) Lantosi, minor (hooking)

Shootout

PRO

Cehlarik - GOAL Studnicka - no goal Lantosi - no goal

LV

Frost - no goal Vorobyev - no goal Criscuolo - no goal

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley  1 - 0 - 1 - 0 = 2 Providence  1 - 0 - 1 - 1= 3

Shots

Lehigh Valley  10 - 7 - 6 - 5 = 28 Providence  6 - 8 - 14 - 3 = 32

Goalies

LV: J-F Berube (29 saves - 31 shots) PRO: Max Lagace (26 saves - 28 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-2 PRO: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

LV: 2-for-2 PRO: 2-for-2