GAME STORY: Hartford - 3 at Lehigh Valley - 4 SO (12/12/21)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (5-11-5) won their first one-goal game of the season Sunday afternoon against Hartford, getting goals in a shootout from Wade Allison and Adam Clendening to earn the two points - their first back-to-back wins since Nov 7 and 10.

Gerry Mayhew opened the scoring in the first period for a second straight game, while Lehigh Valley also got second period goals from Garrett Wilson and Isaac Ratcliffe. Pat Nagle stopped 18 of 21 in the win.

Morgan Barron, Austin Rueschoff and Zac Jones tallied goals for Hartford, while Adam Huska stopped 26 of the 30 shots he faced in the loss for the Wolf Pack.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Pat Nagle got the start in net for Lehigh Valley Sunday afternoon. With Felix Sandstrom dealing with some sinus issues, Kirill Ustimenko was called up from Reading and served as the Phantoms' backup.

Nick Lappin didn't finish last night's game due to injury, and was out of the lineup Sunday. Jackson Cates, returned to the Phantoms from Philadelphia, was in up front in Lappin's place.

Phantoms Scratches: Samuel Ersson, Felix Sandstrom, Cooper Zech, Mason Millman Linus Sandin, Brennan Saulnier, Nick Lappin and Tyson Foerster

Lines/Pairings:

Connor Bunnaman - Cal O'Reilly - Wade Allison Garrett Wilson - Jackson Cates - Gerry Mayhew Maksim Sushko - Matthew Strome - Hayden Hodgson Isaac Ratcliffe - German Rubtsov - Charlie Gerard

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

Pat Nagle - Kirill Ustimenko

Hartford Wolf Pack Lineup Notes

Adam Huska got the start in net for Hartford Sunday, with Tyler Wall serving as his backup.

Sunday marked the Wolf Pack's first game back from a COVID hiatus that saw them out of action since November 27. They had a few regulars still out of the lineup when they took to the ice for warmups Sunday afternoon.

Wolf Pack Scratches: Anthony Bitetto, Jeff Taylor, Ty Ronning, Alex Whelan, Hunter Skinner & Anthony Greco

Lines/Pairings

Tim Gettinger - Morgan Baron - Jonny Brodzinski Christiano DiGiacinto - Tanner Fritz - Lauri Pajuniemi P.C. Labrie - Justin Richards - Patrick Khodorenko Mike O'Leary - Austin Rueschoff - James Sanchez

Jarred Tinordi - Zac Jones Tarmo Ruenanen - Braden Schneider Matthew Robertson - Zach Guiuttari

Adam Huska - Tyler Wall

GAME RECAP

1st Period

It was a bit of a sluggish start for both teams Sunday afternoon with Lehigh Valley coming off an emotional Teddy Bear Toss Night win last night and Hartford getting back into game action for the first time since November 27 due to a team-wide COVID outbreak.

As the period wore on, however, the Phantoms emerged and put their foot on the gas - peppering Wolf Pack goalie Adam Huska with 14 shots in the first frame, most of which came in the second half of the period.

Gerry Mayhew, who opened the scoring Saturday nigh with the Teddy Bear Toss goal, nearly scored on a wrap around attempt on a chance at the midway mark of the period. Somehow, the bouncing puck in the crease stayed out of the net - hitting off of Huska and the left post before settling in the blue paint with the Wolf Pack goaltender's stomach over top of it.

Lehigh Valley continued to pressure, were rewarded with the game's first power play and quickly made the most of it.

Just eight seconds after Wolf Pack captain Jonny Brodzinski was whistled for hooking, Cal O'Reilly won a face-off, Garrett Wilson got a puck back to the point for Adam Clendening and the Phantoms' defender hit Mayhew at the top of the left circle before Mayhew lasered one past Huska for his team-leading ninth goal of the season.

While the shots, and overall game play, was pretty even in the opening half of the period, Lehigh Valley poured it on in the second half - peppering Huska with 14 shots to just five shots on goal for Hartford on Phantoms' goalie Pat Nagle.

2nd Period

It looked like Lehigh Valley picked up right where they left off in the first period in the opening minutes of the middle frame.

After being hemmed in their own end for the opening 2-plus minutes, Hartford was able to score on a net-front scramble at the other end to the tie game up at 1-1.

Morgan Barron was eventually able to corral the loose puck atop the crease, with several Phantoms' defenders in the vicinity, and fired one past Nagle for his team-leading seventh of the season.

The Phantoms got back to their game, making life difficult for their opposition on the breakout. Lehigh Valley's forecheck enabled them to re-gain the lead near the midway mark of regulation. Credit Hayden Hodgson and Garrett Wilson for some big hits along the endboards behind Hartford's net, which later led to a rushed breakout and turnover at the Phantoms' offensive zone blue line.

Mayhew forced the turnover, and got it to the middle for Jackson Cates who quickly sent it back to the right wing for a quick knee-drop one-timer from Wilson that beat a sliding Huska at 8:30 of the 2nd period.

The Phantoms extended their lead and continued to pour it on the Hartford goaltender, with Isaac Ratcliffe breaking in and tallying his third of the season to extend the Phantoms' lead to 3-1 with 6:43 left before the second intermission.

Hartford didn't simply pack it in late in the second period despite being largely outplayed and out-shot by a 25-10 margin. Instead, they hung around and made it a one-goal game again on a goal from Austin Rueschoff with 1:11 left before the intermission - setting the stage for an intriguing third period.

3rd Period

There wasn't anything flashy about the third period for Lehigh Valley, as they entered the period holding on to a 3-2 lead.

They didn't force the issue offensively, but they defended well and keep Hartford largely at bay.

Then, an untimely penalty with 3:11 left in regulation gave Hartford a power play opportunity and a chance to tie the game, and they did just that as Zac Jones tallied less than 20 seconds into the man advantage to tie the game at 3-3 with 2:48 left in regulation to force overtime.

Overtime

Both teams had good chances in OT to get the game winner.

The Phantoms were buzzing in the opening minute of the 3-on-3, with Jackson Cates firing a hard shot that Huska was just able to get a piece of.

At the other end, Nagle came up big on a Hartford 2-on-1 chance to keep OT going into the final two minutes.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

18:40: HFD - (PP) Brodzinski, minor (hooking) 18:48: LV - Mayhew (9) - Clendening, Wilson

2nd Period

2:23: HFD - Barron (7) - Gettinger, Schneider 8:30: LV - Wilson (5) - Cates, Mayhew 13:17: LV - Ratcliffe (3) - Hodgson, Wylie 14:43: HFD - (PP) Huska, minor (delay of game, served by Sanchez) 18:49: HFD - Rueschoff (2) - Reunanen, Jones

3rd Period

16:49: LV - (PP) Hodgson, minor (elbowing) 17:12: HFD - PPG Jones (4) - Reunanen

Overtime

No Scoring/Penalties

Shootout

LV

Allison - GOAL Mayhew - no goal Clendening - GOAL

HFD

Jones - no goal Gettinger - no goal

BOXSCORE

Hartford      0 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 0 = 3 Lehigh Valley  1 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 = 4

Shots

Hartford      5 - 6 - 6 - 4 - 0 = 21 Lehigh Valley  14 - 12 - 3 -1 0 = 30

Goalies

HFD: Adam Huska (26 saves - 39 shots) LV: Pat Nagle (18 saves - 21 shots)

Power Play

HFD: 1-for-1 LV: 1-for-2

Penalty Kill

HFD: 1-for-2 LV: 0-for-1