GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 1 at Syracuse - 4 (11/26/21)

SYRACUSE, NY - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-9-5) got off to a solid start Friday night in Syracuse, taking a 1-0 lead and a 10-3 edge in shots in the opening 12 and a half minutes of play.

However, they were unable to sustain that start and let a 1-1 game slip away in the third period in a matter of a minute and four seconds. Two Crunch goals 64 seconds apart gave them all the momentum they needed before adding an empty netter for insurance to complete the 4-1 final score.

Max Willman scored the lone Phantoms goal in the first period - his team-leading eighth of the season. For Willman, he has goals in three straight and six of his last seven games in the AHL with Lehigh Valley.

The Phantoms' busy weekend continues with a Saturday night home game against Bridgeport at 7:15 p.m. ET and a 5:00 p.m. face-off Sunday in Hershey.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Felix Sandstrom got the start in net for the Phantoms Friday night in Syracuse. Newcomer Jon Gillies (3-0-0 with Providence earlier this season) served as the teams' backup netminder.

Newly signed forward Nick Lappin (PTO) made his Lehigh Valley Phantoms debut on the top line with Max Willman and Cal O'Reilly.

The Flyers called up forward Connor Bunnaman, sending Max Willman to the Phantoms in a separate move.

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, Nick Master, Tyson Foerster (upper body since 11/6)

Lines/Pairings

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

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

Felix Sandstrom - Jon Gillies

Syracuse Crunch Lineup Notes

Max Lagace got the start in net for the Crunch Friday night, with Amir Miftakhov serving as the team's backup goaltender.

Forward Gabriel Dumont was named the team's captain before the game. Forward Daniel Walcott and defenseman Fredrik Claesson were named alternate captains.

Crunch Scratches: Hugo Alnefelt, Brandon Crawley, Alex Green and Gage Conclaves

Lines/Pairings

Charles Hudon - Remi Elie - Simon Ryfors Gabe Fortier - Gabriel Dumont - Daniel Walcott Antoine Morand  Otto Somppi - Cole Koepke Shawn Element - Jimmy Huntington - Max Cajkovic

Fredrik Claesson - Andrej Sustr Ryan Jones - Darren Raddysh Jesse Lees - Dmitry Semykin

Max Lagace - Amir Miftakhov

GAME RECAP

1st Period

The Phantoms got a few solid chances in the opening six minutes of play, including a pair from Maksim Sushko. Though scoreless, Lehigh Valley held a 6-1 edge in shots in the opening eight minutes of play.

They continued to pressure, and the Phantoms opened the scoring nine minutes into the contest after Hayden Hodgson and Jackson Cates were aggressive on a forecheck and forced a turnover behind the Crunch's net.

Cates collected the puck and centered it in front for Max Willman for Willman's team-leading eighth of the season.

Lehigh Valley increased their edge in shots to as much as 10-3 passing the midway mark of the period, but Syracuse began to get to their game as the period wore on - taking 10 straight shots on net in the final seven and a half minutes of the period.

Credit Felix Sandstrom (13 saves) for helping preserve the Phantoms' 1-0 lead to the first intermission.

2nd Period

Despite having momentum on their side, Syracuse started the middle frame with an offensive zone slashing minor - putting themselves on the penalty kill. The Phantoms had some early pressure on the ensuing power play, but were unable to extend their 1-0 lead any further.

The physicality picked up in the second period, with Gerry Mayhew being involved in a few of those big collisions - both on the giving and receiving end. He seemed to have a target on his back.

It was a pretty even, back-and-forth middle frame, until a late period penalty on Cooper Zech put the Phantoms on the penalty kill.

Though officially the Phantoms were able to kill off the two minutes, the Crunch tied the game seconds after the penalty expired with Remi Elie dropping to a knee and sending a quick shot from the left-wing circle in past Sandstrom with 3:28 left before the second intermission. Cole Koepke and Gabriel Dumont picked up assists on Elie's third of the season.

3rd Period

The final frame began with even play in the opening minutes, with the Phantoms getting an early chance to take a 2-1 lead when Andrej Sustr took a cross-checking minor on Willman in the corner of the Phantoms' offensive zone.

Lehigh Valley failed to convert, and later - just past the midway mark of the period - Garrett Wilson was assessed an interference minor.

Similarly to their first goal, Syracuse scored shortly after the Wilson penalty expired to take a 2-1 lead with 7:39 left in regulation on a shot from the center point from Sustr through traffic and redirected in off of Otto Somppi.

Then the Crunch scored 64 seconds later to extend their lead to 3-1, really putting the Phantoms on their heels. Gabriel Dumont finished off a quick passing play that started behind the Phantoms' net off a strong Syracuse forecheck allowed them to gain possession of the puck.

The Phantoms opted to pull Sandstrom for the extra attacker with 2:09 left, but Daniel Walcott added an empty netter to complete a frustrating 4-1 loss for Lehigh Valley.

Frustrating indeed, as Willman whacked Walcott just after he released the empty net bid and the two teams came together after the goal was scored. Willman was assessed a major for slashing, and a 10-minute misconduct for continuing the altercation in the scrum. Walcott and Wilson were also assessed 10-minute misconducts on the scrum with 1:38 left to play.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

9:00: LV - Willman (8) - Cates(2)

2nd Period

1:09: SYR - (PP) Hudon, minor (slashing) 14:23: LV - (PP) Zech, minor (slashing) 16:32: SYR - Elie (3) - Koepke, Dumont

3rd Period

5:31: SYR - (PP) Sustr, minor (cross-checking) 10:08: LV - (PP) Wilson, minor (interference) 12:21: SYR - Somppi (1) - Sustr, Huntington 13:25: SYR - Dumont (8) - Fortier, Walcott 18:22: SYR - ENG Walcott (2) - Sustr, Dumont 18:22: LV - (PP) Willman, major (slashing) 18:22: LV - Willman, 10 min misconduct 18:22: SYR - Walcott, 10 min misconduct 18:22: LV - Wilson, 10 min misconduct

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   1 - 0 - 0 = 1 Syracuse      0 - 1 - 3 = 4

Shots

Lehigh Valley   10 - 8 - 6 = 18 Syracuse      13 - 10 - 11 = 23

Goalies

LV: Felix Sandstrom (19 saves - 22 shots) SYR: Max Lagace (17 saves - 18 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-2 SYR: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill

LV: 3-for-3 SYR: 2-for-2