GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 3 at Charlotte - 7 (11/6/21)

CHARLOTTE, NC - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (1-6-2) fell behind early and never recovered in a lopsided 7-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers Saturday night at the Bojangles Coliseum in downtown Charlotte.

Aleksi Heponiemi (one goal, two assists) had a game-high three points, while captain Zac Dalpe (two goals) and Alexander True (one goal, one assist) also helped pace the Checkers' attack in the win.

The Phantoms got goals Isaac Ratcliffe, Jackson Cates and Max Willman in a losing effort, but it just seemed that every time the Phantoms got themselves within striking distance the Checkers were able to respond and re-gain their momentum - effectively keeping the Phantoms at bay for the night.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Phantoms Scratches: Samuel Ersson, Mason Millman, Maksim Sushko, Linus Sandin, , Samu Tuomaala and Wyatte Wylie

Lines/Pairings:

Max Willman - Cal O'Reilly - Tyson Foerster Isaac Ratcliffe - Morgan Frost - Gerry Mayhew Isaac Ratcliffe - German Rubtsov - Hayden Hodgson Brennan Saulnier - Connor Bunnaman - Jackson Cates

Cam York - Logan Day Egor Zamula - Adam Clendening Cooper Zech - Linus Hogberg

Felix Sandstrom - Kirill Ustimenko

GAME RECAP

1st Period

Definitely not the start the Phantoms were looking for to start off a four-game road trip.

Scott Wilson got open atop the left-wing circle, and blasted a shot on net. Felix Sandstrom made the save, but the rebound darted right out to Luke Henman at the side of the net. Henman was able to lose a Phantoms defender for a split-second at the net, and tap it in past Sandstrom 1:56 into the contest to give the Checkers an early 1-0 lead.

Things went from bad to worse for Lehigh Valley from there.

Hayden Hodgson chased a dump-in behind the Checkers' net and barreled right into Charlotte goalie Joey Daccord, causing a scrum that resulted in a major for charging, a major for fighting and a game misconduct for Hodgson.

Charlotte, who already had early momentum following Henman's goal in the opening two-minutes, seized control of the game on the ensuing five-minute power play.

First, Zac Dalpe sniped one from the right-wing circle to extend the Checkers' lead to 2-0 just over two minutes into the man advantage. Then, 10 seconds after the major penalty expired, Logan Hutsko made it 3-0 Charlotte just prior to the halfway mark of the period.

Lehigh Valley stopped the bleeding in the second half of the period, getting a full two-minute five-on-three power play at 13:06. Although they didn't score on the two-man advantage, Garrett Wilson dug out a rebound of an Egor Zamula point shot and fed it to the left-wing circle where Isaac Ratcliffe was able to clean up the rebound to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Unfortunately for the Phantoms, Charlotte got the goal right back on the ensuing shift - and from a familiar face.

Carsen Twarynski, lost by the organization in the Seattle expansion draft, barreled down the left wing and fired a hard shot past Sandstrom to put the Checkers back in front by three with 4:24 left before the first intermission.

A Linus Hogberg holding minor looked to put the Phantoms in a tough spot, but Jackson Cates was able to steal a puck at the defensive zone blue line and score on a shorthanded breakaway. Cates' first career AHL goal cut the Phantoms' deficit to 4-2 heading into the middle frame.

2nd Period

It just seemed like any time the Phantoms started to get momentum on their side the script was flipped right back to Charlotte.

Lehigh Valley got an early power play when Lucas Carlsson was whistled for holding 2:44 into the period, and the Checkers' defenseman was assessed an extra minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.

What started as a glorious opportunity to make it a one-goal game turned devastating as Morgan Frost tried to jump up and keep a puck in at the blue line, and failed to do so. Frost also fell, allowing Alexander True a clean breakaway. The Checkers' forward converted to extend their lead over the Phantoms back to a three-goal margin at 5-2.

A similar sequence happened later in the period when Max Willman tallied a power play goal from the slot to get the Phantoms back within two at a 5-3 deficit.

Just 31 seconds after Willman's goal, Charlotte answered again to restore their three-goal lead. Aleksi Heponiemi was credited with his third of the season to put the Checkers back on top 6-3.

Tyson Foerster slid into the left-wing wall during a second period power play and came up hurting, heading to the bench before later exiting the game and not returning for the third period. HC Ian Laperriere did not have an update on Foerster's status when asked about him post-game.

About three minutes after that, Charlotte added on the extra point to make it a 7-3 game with 4:37 left before the 2nd intermission.

It's tough to pin the goals on Sandstrom, as the Phantoms' goalie was hung out to dry most of the contest. Zac Dalpe got credit for his second power play tally of the contest on the goal to give the Checkers a commanding lead heading to the third.

3rd Period

The Phantoms came out firing in the third period, much as you would expect a team trailing by four would. The out-shot the Checkers by a 12-3 margin in the opening 12 minutes of the period, and a 13-4 edge for the period, but couldn't close the gap. It was too little, too late.

Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, Joey Daccord and the Checkers' defense was equal to the task - as Charlotte preserved their 7-3 lead to the final horn to earn the two points.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

1:55: CHA - Henman (1) - Wilson 4:32: LV - Hodgson, major (fighting) 4:32: LV - (PP) Hodgson, major (charging) 4:32: LV - Hodgson, game misconduct 4:32: CHA - Noel, major (fighting) 6:42: CHA - PPG Dalpe (2) - Carlsson 9:42: CHA - Hutsko (3) - True 13:06: CHA - (PP) Hutsko, minor (slashing) 13:06: CHA - (PP) Lind, minor (high-sticking) 15:13: LV - Ratcliffe (1) - Zamula, Wilson 15:36: CHA - Twarynski (1) - Schwindt, Gildon 18:46: LV - SHG Cates (1) - unassisted

2nd Period

2:44: CHA - (PP) Carlsson, minor (holding) 2:44: CHA - (PP) Carlsson, minor (unsportsmanlike) 3:27: CHA - SHG True (5) - unassisted 3:43: LV - (PP) Willman, minor (tripping) 10:25: CHA - (PP) Hutsko, minor (slashing) 11:43: LV - PPG Willman (3) - Zamula, Clendening 12:24: CHA - Heponiemi (3) - Carrick, Gildon 15:23: CHA - Dalpe (3) - Heponiemi, Denisenko 17:37: LV - (PP) Hogberg, minor (holding) 20:00: CHA - (PP) Twarynski, minor (slashing)

3rd Period

14:02: CHA - (PP) Carlsson, minor (slashing)

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   2 - 1 - 0 = 3 Charlotte  4 - 3 - 0 = 7

Shots

Lehigh Valley 9 - 8 - 13 = 30 Charlotte  13 - 9 - 4 = 26

Goalies

LV: Felix Sandstrom (15 saves - 22 shots in 40:00) and Kirill Ustimenko (4 saves - 4 shots in 20:00) CHA: Joey Daccord (27 saves - 30 shots)

Power Play

LV: 1-for-7 CHA: 2-for-3

Penalty Kill

LV: 1-for-3 CHA: 6-for-7