GAME STORY: Bridgeport - 4 at Lehigh Valley - 1 (11/27/21)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - For the second straight night the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-10-5) opened up a 1-0 lead, but were unable to maintain it losing 4-1 Saturday night to the Bridgeport Islanders (6-11-3) and extending their current winless skid to seven games - matching the seven-game winless streak they had to open the 2021-22 season.

Austin Czarnik (two goals, assist) figured in on all three Islanders goals Saturday night, while Mitch Vande Sompel tallied two assists and Paul Thompson tallied a goal for Bridgeport in the win. Simon Holmstrom added an empty net tally. Veteran goaltender Cory Schneider

Cal O'Reilly tallied the lone Phantoms' goal on a power play in the 1st period, with Jackson Cates and Gerry Mayhew earning assists. Jon Gillies made his Phantoms' debut in net, stopping 17 of the 19 shots he faced in taking the loss for Lehigh Valley.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Jon Gillies made his Phantoms' debut in net Saturday versus Bridgeport. Felix Sandstrom served as Gillies' backup.

Max Willman was called back up to the Flyers, with Philadelphia placing Patrick Brown on injured reserve.

Nick Master drew in up front to replace Willman's spot in the lineup.

Phantoms Scratches: Samuel Ersson (undisclosed since 10/29), Pat Nagle, Mason Millman (lower body since 10/17), German Rubtsov (injured 11/19 in ROC) Linus Sandin (upper body since 10/17), Wes Michaud, Ryan MacKinnon, Cam York, Tyson Foerster (upper body since 11/6)

Lines/Pairings

Garrett Wilson - Cal O'Reilly - Gerry Mayhew Maksim Sushko - Jackson Cates - Hayden Hodgson Isaac Ratcliffe - Matthew Strome - Charlie Gerard Brennan Saulnier - Nick Master - Nick Lappin

Egor Zamula - Adam Clendening Cooper Zech - Logan Day Linus Hogberg - Wyatte Wylie

Felix Sandstrom - Jon Gillies

Jon Gillies - Felix Sandstrom

Bridgeport Islanders Lineup Notes

Cory Schneider got the start in net for Bridgeport Saturday night against Lehigh Valley, with Jakub Skarek serving as the team's backup.

Islanders Scratches: Cole Bardreau, Michael Dal Colle and Felix Bibeau

Lines/Pairings

Collin Adams - Austin Czarnik - Paul Thompson Chris Terry - Jeff Kubiak - Simon Holmstrom Blake Jenkins - Kyle MacLean - Cole Coskey Arnaud Durandeau - Reece Newkirk - Erik Brown

Seth Helgeson - Mitchell Vande Sompel Parker Wotherspoon - Connor McCarthy Samuel Bolduc - Mike Cornell

Cory Schneider - Jakub Skarek

GAME RECAP

1st Period

There wasn't much to report on in the opening half of the first frame, as the two teams played a scoreless opening 12 minutes - combining for six total shots on goal.

A Jeff Kubiak interference minor gave the Phantoms the game's opening power play, and Lehigh Valley made the most of it - scoring 19 seconds into the ensuing man advantage to take a 1-0 lead.

Gerry Mayhew entered the zone with speed along the right wing, slowing up atop the circles and sending a cross-ice feed to the left wing for Jackson Cates. Cates quickly went back to the right for Cal O'Reilly on a backdoor play, and the Phantoms' captain was able to just get enough of Cates' hard feed to the net to get it in past Islanders' goalie Cory Schneider.

The Phantoms took a penalty late in the first period, and Bridgeport - like Lehigh Valley - made the most of their first power play opportunity to tie the game up at 1-1 with 3:21 left before the first intermission.

Chris Terry got a puck to Austin Czarnik in the neutral zone, and Czarnik did the rest - weaving his way to the right-circle before snapping a quick shot past an out-stretched Egor Zamula and past Phantoms' goalie Jon Gillies. Mitch Vande Sompel added a secondary assist on Czarnik's fourth goal of the season.

2nd Period

Bridgeport opened the scoring in the middle frame to take a 2-1 lead 4:02 into the stanza, with Paul Thompson getting credit for his first of the season off-the-rush on a late developing 4-on-3.

Thompson found himself open in the left-wing circle, and Vande Sompel got it over to him. Thompson appeared to be trying to center it for the net-front, but the puck bounced off a Phantoms' defender in front and into the top shelf.

From there, the Phantoms took a pair of penalties four minutes apart. They were able to kill off both minors, but it effectively prevented them from getting on the attack.

Later in the period, Brennan Saulnier was skating out there like a man on fire. He got into a collision with Parker Wotherspoon and dropped his gloves, wanting a fight with the Islanders defensemen. He didn't get one, and both players were assessed matching minor penalties for roughing.

After serving his two-minute minor, Saulnier dropped his gloves on his next shift - after he didn't like the response from Jeff Kubiak as Saulnier lined him up along the left-wing wall. This time, Saulnier got the lone penalty - putting the Phantoms shorthanded for the third time in the middle period with 2:36 left before the second intermission.

Lehigh Valley got another successful kill, and kept things close heading to the third period - trailing Bridgeport 2-1.

3rd Period

The Phantoms opened up the third with a sense of urgency, creating themselves a few chances to tie the game up early in the third if not for some timely saves from Schneider. They opened up a 7-1 edge in shots on goal in the opening half of the period.

Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, they were unable to find an equalizer despite a strong push in the final frame.

They opted to pull Gillies for the extra attacker, but surrendered two empty net goals to the Islanders in the final 1:41 of regulation to complete the 4-1 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

11:41: BRI - (PP) Kubiak, minor (interference) 12:00: LV - PPG O'Reilly (3) - Cates, Mayhew 16:39: LV - (PP) Ratcliffe, minor (slashing) 17:38: BRI - PPG Czarnik (4) - Terry, Vande Sompel

2nd Period

4:02: BRI - Thompson (1) - Vande Sompel, Czarnik 7:04: LV - (PP) Gerard, minor (hooking) 11:06: LV - (PP) Zamula, minor (delay of game) 15:05: LV - Saulnier, minor (roughing) 15:05: BRI - Wotherspoon, minor (roughing) 17:24: LV - (PP) Saulnier, minor (unsportsmanlike)

3rd Period

11:02: LV - (PP) Wylie, minor (interference) 18:19: BRI - ENG Czarnik (5) - unassisted 19:28: BRI - ENG Holmstrom (3) - Terry, Wotherspoon

BOXSCORE

Bridgeport    1 - 1 - 2 = 4 Lehigh Valley   1 - 0 - 0 = 1

Shots

Bridgeport    8 - 6 - 7 = 21 Lehigh Valley   8 - 6 - 12 = 26

Goalies

BRI: Cory Schneider (25 saves -  26 shots) LV: Jon Gillies (17 saves -  19 shots)

Power Play

BRI: 1-for-5 LV: 1-for-1

Penalty Kill

BRI: 0-for-1 LV: 4-for-5