GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 2 at Utica - 5 (10/29/21)

UTICA, NY - When a team is going through a tough losing streak like the one the Lehigh Valley Phantoms are, things start to get broken down into smaller segments.

Win a battle. Win a shift. Win a period.

Friday night in Utica, the Phantoms came ready to play - out shooting the Comets in each of the three periods of play. After a scoreless first frame, Lehigh Valley jumped out to a 2-0 lead late in the second period on goals from German Rubtsov and Hayden Hodgson 1:30 apart.

But, a late Utica goal from Nate Schnarr with 25.2 seconds left before the second intermission flipped the script.

The Comets went on to tally four more goals in the third period - including two goals from New Jersey Devils' 2020-1st round pick Alexander Holtz and three primary assists from Chase De Leo - to turn a 2-0 Phantoms' lead into a 5-2 Phantoms' loss - their sixth straight loss as their season-opening winless skid continues (0-5-1).

Nico Daws stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced to pick up the win and improve Utica's record on the season to 4-0-0.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Samuel Ersson got the start in net for Lehigh Valley Friday night in Utica.

Phantoms' Scratches: Cooper Zech, Mason Millman, Isaac Ratcliffe, Linus Sandin, Samu Tuomaala and Ryan MacKinnon

Lines/Pairings:

Max Willman (A) - Cal O'Reilly (C) - Tyson Foerster Garrett Wilson (A) - Morgan Frost - Gerry Mayhew Maksim Sushko - German Rubtsov - Hayden Hodgson Brennan Saulnier - Connor Bunnaman - Jackson Cates

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

Felix Sandstrom - Samuel Ersson

GAME RECAP

1st Period

It was a solid start for Lehigh Valley to begin Friday night's contest in Utica. They generated the better of the game's chances in the opening eight minutes, and out-shot their opponent by a 6-4 count.

Gerry Mayhew had a chance on a rebound at the net-front to put the Phantoms ahead 1-0 early, but somehow Comets' goalie Nico Daws was able to get back across his crease and stuff Mayhew's rebound attempt. Moments later, Logan Day got open at the center point and got a hard shot off on Daws from the high-slot that forced the Utica goalie into making another tough save to keep the game scoreless.

The Phantoms continued to fire pucks on net, registering 10 shots on goal in the opening 12 minutes of the contest. If not for some timely saves by Daws, Lehigh Valley would have been all over Utica on the scoreboard.

Instead, things settled down for both teams as the first frame moved along. Utica had a late series of extended offensive zone time in the final minute of the period, but other than that a scoreless first period came to an en - a period in which Lehigh Valley controlled a large portion of the play and generated better quality scoring chances.

2nd Period

The Phantoms continued to pressure in the opening five minutes of the middle frame, drawing themselves nearly back-to-back power plays in the first 4:28 of the period. Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, they were unable to convert on either power play as the game remained scoreless heading to the midway mark of regulation.

The pace of play was similar to the second half of the opening frame, with neither team able to generate many shots on net. The shots were actually 4-2 in favor of the Comets in the middle frame with just under eight minutes remaining.

Then, the Phantoms' started to generate consistent offensive pressure - firing five straight shots Daws' way and finally breaking through with the game's opening goal with 5:47 left before the second intermission.

German Rubtsov won an offensive draw back to Wyatte Wylie, and headed to the net. Wylie got a puck across to his defense partner Linus Hogberg, and Hogberg's shot from the point was tipped in past Daws by Rubtsov to put the Phantoms ahead 1-0.

Just 1:30 later, Rubtsov was setting up another Phantoms' goal - this time coming down the right-wing on a late developing 2-on-1 with Hayden Hodgson. Rubtsov sent a pass across to Hodgson, who buried the shot past Daws to extend the Phantoms' lead to 2-0. The goal marked Hodgson's first as a member of the Phantoms. Egor Zamula added a secondary assist on the play.

Everything was looking great for Lehigh Valley, but a late-period penalty seemingly gave Utica life before the middle frame came to its end. The Phantoms were able to kill off the Wylie hooking minor, but Utica was able to connect on a stretch pass in the final 30 seconds to break Ersson's shutout bid.

Former Phantoms' defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon started the rush for Utica, getting it to A.J. Greer who quickly sent a stretch pass to the far blue line where Nate Schnarr caught the puck in stride - flying into the Phantoms' defensive zone and beating Ersson with a quick shot to cut the Phantoms' lead to 2-1 with 25.2 seconds left before the 2nd intermission.

3rd Period

The Comets' late goal in the 2nd period gave them momentum heading into the third period, and they took it to the Phantoms in the opening four minutes - scoring back-to-back goals and turning a 2-1 Phantoms lead into a 3-2 deficit.

First, it was Chase De Leo firing a hard shot from the right-wing on an odd-man rush. Ersson made the initial stop, but kicked the rebound out to the left-wing circle where Alexander Holtz was able to convert on a rebound attempt to tie the game 1:08 into final frame.

Then, just 95 seconds later, Wylie attempted a stretch pass from deep in his own end - and it didn't go well. The pass attempt was blocked down and quickly turned into a goal down the left-wing from Nikitia Ohotiuk to put the Phantoms on their heels and down a goal early in the third period.

After legitimately dominating the play in the opening 39 and a half minutes, the Phantoms saw their 2-0 lead evaporate and an all-time high frustration level return.

Still, the Phantoms pressed on. They were buzzing with a chance to tie the game when all of a sudden Utica transitioned on their first chance in quite awhile, and extended their lead to 4-2 on Holtz's second tally of the night and De Leo's third assist of the period with 7:04 left to play to put the nail in the coffin.

Fabian Zetterlund added an empty net goal to complete the 5-2 final score in what was quite a disappointing loss for Lehigh Valley given they were 35 seconds away from taking a 2-0 lead into the final frame.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

No scoring/penalties

2nd Period

1:41: UTI - (PP) Walsh, minor (hooking) 4:28: UTI - (PP) Foote, minor (elbowing) 14:13: LV - Rubtsov (1) - Hogberg, Wylie 15:43: LV - Hodgson (1) - Rubtsov, Zamula 16:48: LV - (PP) Wylie, minor (hooking) 19:34: UTI - Schnarr (1) - Greer, Wotherspoon

3rd Period

1:08: UTI - Holtz (4) - De Leo, Boqvist 3:43: UTI - Ohotiuk (2) - De Leo 5:52: UTI - White, minor (tripping) 5:52: LV - Mayhew, minor (roughing) 12:56: UTI - Holtz (5) - De Leo, Thompson 17:44: UTI - ENG - Zetterlund (1) - Talvitie 18:01: UTI - (PP) Zetterlund, minor (tripping)

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   0 - 2 - 0 = 2 Utica Comets  0 - 1 - 4 = 5

Shots

Lehigh Valley   10 - 10 - 13 = 33 Utica Comets  6 - 8 - 8 = 22

Goalies

LV: Samuel Ersson (17 saves - 21 shots) UTI: Nico Daws (31 saves - 33 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-3 UTI: 0-for-1

Penalty Kill

LV: 1-for-1 UTI: 3-for-3