GAME STORY: Belleville - 5 at Lehigh Valley - 0 (2/8/22)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (15-17-8) got off to a solid start in the opening 10 minutes, but from there their play left much to be desired in a 5-0 shutout loss to the Belleville Senators.

Zac Leslie and Andrew Agozzino tallied rebound goals in the middle frame to break a scoreless tie, while Maxence Guenette, Roby Jarventie and Michael Del Zotto added goals to seal the deal in the final frame. Filip Gustavsson stopped all 21 shots he faced to pick up his first shutout of the season.

Samuel Ersson returned to game action for the Phantoms in net, his first start since December 18 due to injury, but was again unable to finish the game - leaving the game with 11:29 left to play after allowing four goals on 25 shots. Felix Sandstrom came on in relief to finish the game, stopping 4 of 5.

The Phantoms' six-game homestand continues with a 3-in-3 weekend, beginning Friday night against the Hershey Bears.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Samuel Ersson got the start in net for Lehigh Valley Tuesday night against Belleville. Felix Sandstrom served as Ersson's backup.

With Isaac Ratcliffe back up with Philadelphia, Alex Kile drew into the lineup in his left wing position.

German Rubtsov returned from an undisclosed lower body injury, and Ryan MacKinnon was scratched to make room for Rubtsov on the fourth line right wing position.

Scratches: Garrett Metcalf, Pat Nagle, Cooper Zech, Nick Lappin, Ryan MacKinnon and Tyson Foerster

Lines/Pairings:

Maksim Sushko - Cal O'Reilly - Hayden Hodgson Garrett Wilson - Morgan Frost - Linus Sandin Alex Kile - Jackson Cates - Charlie Gerard Brennan Saulnier - Matt Strome - German Rubtsov

Cam York - Adam Clendening Linus Hogberg - Wyatte Wylie Egor Zamula - Logan Day

Samuel Ersson - Felix Sandstrom

Belleville Senators Lineup Notes

Filip Gustavsson got the start in net Tuesday night against Lehigh Valley. Mads Sogaard served as the team's backup goaltender.

Belleville Scratches: Jack Dougherty, Parker Kelly, Tyrell Goulbourne, Cody Goloubef and Lassi Thomson

Cedric Pare - Rourke Chartier - Logan Shaw Cole Reinhardt - Andrew Agozzino - Chris Wilkie Roby Jarventie - Jake Lucchini - Egor Sokolov Mitchell Hoelscher - No One - Matthew Wedman

Michael Del Zotto  - Colby Williams Dillon Heatherington - Jacob Bernard-Docker Jonathan Aspirot - Maxence Guenette Zac Leslie

Filip Gustavsson - Mads Sogaard

GAME RECAP

1st Period

There was a great pace to the opening period of play. In fact, the game opened with 6:33 of whistle-free hockey.

The Phantoms got off to a solid start, playing with speed and a sense of purpose - which is half the battle a Tuesday night makeup game.

They opened with the opening five shots on net, forcing Senators' goalie Filip Gustavsson into making some tough saves to keep the game scoreless in the early stages of the first frame.

Samuel Ersson, playing in his first game since December 18 against Rochester, was eased into action in the opening frame but came up big later in the period when Belleville started to generate more consistent pressure on the attack.

All in all, it was a pretty even first 20 minutes with back and forth action and some solid stops from both goaltenders.

2nd Period

Some late period penalties caused the Phantoms to open the middle frame with a brief 5-on-3 shorthanded sequence, but they managed to kill off both penalties and keep the game scoreless.

Belleville generated the better of play, and began taking it to the Phantoms - later breaking the scoreless tie after Zac Leslie jumped in from the right point to put in a rebound of a Michael Del Zotto give to the net for his second tally of the year at the 8:40 mark.

The Phantoms took a penalty on the next shift, and although the Senators didn't score on the ensuing man advantage they made it 2-0 shortly after the penalty expired.

Andrew Agozzino was able to stuff a rebound past Ersson at the right post after the Phantoms goaltender made a stop on a shot from the point from Del Zotto. Agozzino's 11th of the season extended the Sens' lead to 2-0 with 8:21 left before the second intermission.

The Phantoms were on their heels much of the period, managing just one shot on goal in the opening 13 minutes of the stanza while being hemmed in their defensive zone for large portions of play. They got their first power play chance of the night late in the middle period, but were unable to narrow the gap before heading into the second intermission trailing 2-0.

3rd Period

Any thoughts of a comeback were quickly discarded after Maxence Guenette and Roby Jarventie tallied goals less than two minutes apart in the opening 5:11 of the period to turn a 2-0 lead into a 4-0 stranglehold.

Samuel Ersson left the game with 11:29 remaining, with Felix Sandstrom coming on in relief.

Belleville added a power play tally from Del Zotto to complete the 5-0 shutout.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

18:36: LV - (PP) Wilson, minor (high-sticking) 19:54: LV - (PP) Clendening, minor (cross-checking)

2nd Period

8:40: BEL - Leslie (2) - Jarventie, Del Zotto 9:33: LV - (PP) Gerard, minor (holding) 11:39: BEL - Agozzino (11) - Del Zotto, Guenette 14:03: BEL - (PP) Jarventie, minor (slashing)

3rd Period

3:27: BEL - Guenette (3) - Wedman, Chartier 5:11: BEL - Jarventie (6) - Sokolov, Aspirot 11:17: LV - (PP) Clendening, minor (roughing) 12:05: BEL - PPG Del Zotto (6) - Shaw, Agozzino 12:43: LV - Strome, minor (cross-checking) 12:43: BEL - Williams, minor (cross-checking) 15:06: BEL - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Jarventie) 17:51: BEL - (PP) Hoelscher, minor (tripping)

BOXSCORE

Belleville  0 - 2 - 3 = 5 Lehigh Valley   0 - 0 - 0 = 0

Shots

Belleville  9 - 11 - 10 = 30 Lehigh Valley   9 - 6 - 6 = 21

Goalies

BEL: Filip Gustavsson (21 saves - 21 shots) LV: Samuel Ersson (21 saves - 25 shots in 48:30) and Felix Sandstrom (4 saves - 5 shots in 10:16)

Power Play

BEL: 1-for-4 LV: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill

BEL: 3-for-3 LV: 3-for-4