GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 1 at Bridgeport - 4 (2/2/22)

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms got off to a decent enough start in the opening eight to 10 minutes of their Wednesday morning 'School Day' game in Bridgeport against the Islanders, but from there let momentum slip away in a somewhat disappointing 4-1 loss who with a win could have moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season after a 3-11-5 start to the 2021-22 campaign.

Longtime NHL veteran goalie Cory Schneider stopped 23 of 24 to stymie the Phantoms' and end their two-game win streak from over the weekend. Otherwise a total team effort from the Islanders, which saw each of their four lines score a goal in their win with Simon Holmstrom, Andy Andreoff, Erik Brown and Jeff Kubiak recording goals.

"I felt like it was a roller coaster," Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere told InsideAHLHockey.com after the game. "We had a great start, they took it to us at the end of the first, [then] we went back at them and but at the end of the day, we shot ourselves in the foot. We made a couple brain cramp mistakes and it cost us the game."

Nick Lappin re-directed a point shot from Logan Day in the middle frame for the Phantoms' lone tally, while Felix Sandstrom was tagged for the loss stopping 24 of the 28 shots he faced.

"I actually thought we had a good start. And unfortunately, we just got away from the style of hockey that we want to play," Lappin told InsideAHLHockey.com after the game. "And unfortunately, they were able to capitalize on it."

In fact, the Phantoms' fourth line of Brennan Saulnier, Lappin and defenseman turned forward Ryan MacKinnon was Lehigh Valley's best trio Wednesday afternoon.

"I think all three of us just kind of bought in to the way coach Lappy wants us to play. We keep it simple," Lappin responded.

More on the uniqueness of this team's fourth line, which the trio might not even be in the lineup when the team returns to the ice Friday night against Hartford, in a story later this week.

Lehigh Valley Lineup Notes

The biggest roster news involved three players not even in the Phantoms' lineup Wednesday morning. That's because the Philadelphia Flyers loaned defenseman Cam York and forwards Morgan Frost and Isaac Ratcliffe to Lehigh Valley while the NHL is on break for their All-Star festivities.

The Flyers also loaned forward Jackson Cates to the Phantoms, and he was in the lineup Wednesday as he didn't play for the Flyers Tuesday night against Winnipeg like the three aforementioned players did.

With Cates back the Phantoms' lineup remained the same as last time out, with Egor Zamula still recovering from a non-covid illness and goaltender Samuel Ersson and forwards Tyson Foerster and German Rubtsov still on the team's injured list.

Felix Sandstrom got the start in net with Garrett Metcalf serving as the team's backup.

Pat Nagle has left the team for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, and will return after the games.

Phantoms Scratches: Pat Nagle, Samuel Ersson, Egor Zamula, German Rubtsov and Tyson Foerster

Lines/Pairings:

Maksim Sushko - Cal O'Reilly - Charlie Gerard Garrett Wilson - Jackson Cates - Linus Sandin Alex Kile - Ryan Strome - Hayden Hodgson Brennan Saulnier - Nick Lappin - Ryan MacKinnon

Linus Hogberg - Adam Clendening Cooper Zech - Wyatte Wylie Mason Millman - Logan Day

Felix Sandstrom - Garrett Metcalf

GAME STORY

1st Period

In a rare Wednesday morning 10:30 am puck drop for the Phantoms, they actually got off to a solid start - ripping five of the game's first six shots on net and limiting Bridgeport offensively to just one shot on goal through the opening 11 minutes of play.

Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, their strong play early wasn't rewarded and Bridgeport seemingly flipped the script, momentum-wise at least, after tallying the game opening's goal with 6:06 left until the first intermission.

After a series of extended pressure by the Islanders, Simon Holmstrom was able to open the scoring with his sixth of the season to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead heading into the middle frame.

2nd Period

After a feisty first period actually went by without any penalties called, the Phantoms opened up the middle frame with a tripping minor on the opening shift of the period - giving the Islanders a power play and chance to further gain momentum.

They didn't score on the power play, but the Islanders made it 2-0 shortly thereafter on a goal from former Flyers/Phantoms forward Andy Andreoff. Chris Terry picked up the lone assist with 15:33 left in the second period.

In fact, the Islanders recorded the first seven shots of the period - continuing their edge in play they had in the latter half of the first frame.

The Phantoms' no-quit mantra they've shown all season continued to keep them in the game. After not registering a shot on goal in the opening six and a half minutes of the period, they drew themselves within a goal on their first shot of the frame.

Logan Day's shot from the center point was re-directed in past Islanders goaltender Cory Schnieder by Lappin, who had that great chance off a deflection in the first period. Brennan Saulnier added a secondary assist on Lappin's third of the season.

From there, however, Bridgeport went back to controlling large portions of play - out shooting the Phantoms 14-5 in the period and extending their lead back to two goals after Erik Brown finished off a 2-on-1 rush just prior to the midway mark of regulation.

Lehigh Valley headed into the second intermission trailing 3-1.

3rd Period

Lappin was robbed by Schneider early in the third as the Phantoms started the period with an increased sense of urgency. They latter drew themselves their first power play of the game with 17:12 left in regulation, and had some good looks at the net, but were unable to cash in.

Jeff Kubiak later scored to complete the 4-1 final score with 9:12 left to play, giving the Islanders an extra insurance goal despite being largely out-chanced in the third period up until that point.

In the end, a balanced attack from the Islanders was enough to get the job done and earn two points in the standings as Bridgeport attempts to climb out of the Atlantic Division basement.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

13:54: BRI - Holmstrom (6) - Bolduc, LaDue

2nd Period

0:57: LV - (PP) Sandin, minor (tripping) 4:27: BRI - Andreoff (8) - Terry, Koivula 6:32: LV - Lappin (3) - Day, Saulnier 9:16: BRI - Brown (4) - MacLean 17:11: LV - (PP) Hogberg, minor (interference)

3rd Period

2:48: BRI - (PP) MacLean, minor (hooking) 10:48: BRI - Kubiak (4) - Durandeau, Helgeson

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Lehigh Valley   10 - 5 - 9 = 24 Bridgeport   8 - 14 - 6 = 28

Goalies

LV: Felix Sandstrom ( saves - shots) BRI: Cory Schneider (23 saves - 24 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-1 BRI: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

LV: 2-for-2 BRI: 1-for-1