GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Lehigh Valley at Springfield 12/4/19

Inside AHL Hockey HQ -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms fired a franchise-record 63 shots on net Wednesday night in Springfield, but a Connor Bunnaman shorthanded goal 9:29 into the first period was the lone reward for the Phantoms in a bizarre game that resulted in a 3-1 loss to the Thunderbirds.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Line rushes in warmup:

Greg Carey - Cal O'Reilly - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Matthew Strome - Gerry Fitzgerald - David Kase Carsen Twarynski - Connor Bunnaman - Pascal Laberge Isaac Ratcliffe - Steven Swavely - Kurtis Gabriel

T.J. Brennan - Andy Welinski Tyler Wothersooon - Reece Willcox Mark Friedman - Nate Prosser

Alex Lyon - JF Berube

Phantoms' Scratches: James de Haas (healthy), Andy Andreoff (injury), Maksim Sushko (injury), German Rubtsov (injury), Chris Bigras (injury) and Kyle Criscuolo (injury)

GAME STORY

The Phantoms came out ready to play Wednesday night in Springfield, firing nine of the game's first 10 shots in the opening minutes of play and never really taking their foot off the gas despite heading to the penalty kill 7:59 into the contest.

Connor Bunnaman tallied a shorthanded goal on the ensuing kill to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead on Bunnaman's first of the season. Isaac Ratcliffe added the lone assist on the play, helping win a loose puck battle after Bunnaman pulled an offensive zone face-off win between his legs and getting the puck back to the Phantoms' center for a quick, well-placed shot to the top corner of the net with 10:31 remaining in the opening period.

The story quickly became Thunderbirds' goaltender Philippe Desrosiers, who kept Springfield in the game despite being largely outplayed and out-shot by a 19-5 margin through the opening 20 minutes of play.

The middle frame brought much of the same, as the Phantoms fired eight of the period's first nine shots on net and looked poised to extend their lead on an early period power play before an untimely tripping minor from Matthew Strome saw momentum shift into Springfield's favor.

Springfield scored off the rush on a Dryden Hunt shot from the left-wing face-off dot to tie the game at 1-1 just 6:25 into the 2nd period, though the Phantoms fired 20 more shots on Desrosiers in the second stanza. Still, the Thunderbirds goalie was keeping his team afloat and in a 1-1 game heading to the third period.

Lehigh Valley had plenty of chances in the third to take control of the game. In all, they had six power play opportunities in the final frame - five of which came with the game still tied at 1-1. No matter what they threw at Desrosiers -- including a game-high 14 shots from Greg Carey (a new Phantoms' franchise record) -- the Phantoms were unable to convert on their chances.

Late in the period, T.J. Brennan took a tripping minor and in true hockey fashion the Thunderbirds scored on their lone power play chance of the period to take a 2-1 lead with 5:13 remaining in regulation before adding an empty net tally to complete the 3-1 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

7:59: LV - (PP) Laberge, minor (slashing) 9:29: LV - SHG Bunnaman (1) - Ratcliffe

2nd Period

4:30: SPR - (PP) Saarela, minor (hooking) 4:46: LV - (PP) Strome, minor (tripping) 6:25: SPR - Hunt (1) - Borgstrom, Keeper 18:50: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (holding)

3rd Period

2:44: SPR - (PP) Heponiemi, minor (high-sticking) 6:12: SPR - (PP) Lowry, minor (delay of game) 7:38: SPR - (PP) Cross, minor (holding) 12:34: SPR - (PP) Ang, minor (tripping) 13:52: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (tripping) 14:47: SPR - PPG Keeper (5) - Cross, Ang 16:14: SPR - (PP) Repo, minor (interference) 18:20: SPR - ENG Repo (3) - Borgstrom, Stillman 18:50: SPR - (PP) Greco, minor (delay of game)

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Lehigh Valley  19 - 20 - 24 = 63 Springfield  5 - 8 - 10 = 23

Goalies

LV: Alex Lyon (20 saves - 22 shots) SPR: Philippe Desrosiers (62 saves - 63 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-7 SPR: 1-for-4

Penalty Kill

LV: 3-for-4 SPR: 7-for-7