GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 3 at Springfield - 1 (3/18/22)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms put together a solid 60-minute effort from start-to-finish in a 3-1 win over the top team in the Atlantic Division on Friday night.

The Springfield Thunderbirds took an early 1-0 lead on their first shot of the hockey game, but Phantoms goaltender Felix Sandstrom shut the door from there - stopping 32 of 33 to pick up a big win.

Lehigh Valley trailed 1-0 heading to the middle frame, but tallied three unanswered goals in the second period to take control. Adam Johnson, Egor Zamula and Tanner Laczynski all scored in the win.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Felix Sandstrom got the start in net Friday night in Springfield, with Kirill Ustimenko serving as his backup.

Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski returned to the Phantoms' lineup up front after both missed last Sunday's game in Hershey due to injury.

In other roster news, the Flyers opted to assign Tyson Foerster back to Barrie (OHL) to allow him to get back up to speed in his return to game action following shoulder surgery back in November.

The Flyers also placed forward Ryan Fitzgerald on waivers Friday, with the intent of assigning him to Lehigh Valley when he clears Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. Fitzgerald has been out all season, recovering and rehabbing his way back into action following hip surgery back in September before the season started.

Phantoms Scratches: Samuel Ersson, Maksim Sushko, German Rubtsov, Jackson Cates, Nick Lappin, Ryan MacKinnon and Alex Kile

Lines/Pairings:

Connor Bunnaman - Cal O'Reilly - Wade Allison Garrett Wilson - Tanner Laczynski - Linus Sandin Isaac Ratcliffe - Matt Strome - Hayden Hodgson Brennan Saulnier - Adam Johnson - Charlie Gerard

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

Felix Sandstrom - Kirill Ustimenko

GAME RECAP

1st Period

The Phantoms had some pressure in the opening two shifts, but it was Springfield taking an early 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game.

Wyatte Wylie attempted to jump a breakout pass in the neutral zone, but it ended up going the other way - with Nathan Todd speeding down the left wing to create a 2-on-1 before passing it across to Klim Kostin for a quick shot past Felix Sandstrom from just outside the crease.

From there, it became a special teams affair with the Phantoms getting near back-to-back man advantages before surrendering their first penalty of the contest near the midway mark of the period.

Tanner Laczynski had a solid chance on each of the man advantages, but was unable to find the back of the net. He had a spinning shot from the slot that Thunderbirds goalie Joel Hofer got just enough of to keep it out of the net, then later had a hard shot from just outside of the right-wing circle that trickled past Hofer and just wide of the net.

Once the penalty parade ended and the second half of the period was played at 5-on-5, the Phantoms controlled large portions of play - spending a majority of the period in the offensive zone and out-shooting Springfield 9-5 in the opening 20 minutes.

Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, Hofer was equal to the task on all nine Phantoms' shots to preserve the Thunderbirds' 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

2nd Period

Lehigh Valley carried the momentum from the second half of the first frame into the middle period, getting a game-tying goal from Adam Johnson on the second shift of the stanza.

Wade Allison started a breakout, and got it ahead for Logan Day who pushed it ahead to Johnson at the offensive zone blue line. Johnson did the rest, using his speed to burn past the Thunderbirds defense before sniping Hofer to the short side/blocker.

Allison alertly grabbed the puck and tossed it to the Phantoms' equipment manager as it was Johnson's first goal as a member of Lehigh Valley.

The middle frame was more evenly played than the first, but it was Lehigh Valley taking the lead with 6:49 left after a great play by Egor Zamula.

Zamula stepped up to steal a Thunderbirds entry into the zone, and sent Matt Strome and Isaac Ratcliffe on a 2-on-1 the other way. The pass across was blocked, but Strome re-gained position and sent it to the center point for Zamula who flung one past Hofer to give Lehigh Valley a 2-1 lead.

After the Phantoms killed off a Brennan Saulnier boarding minor, they extended their lead to 3-1 with 1:59 left before the second intermission off some good work from Laczynski, who won an offensive zone draw to Garrett Wilson.

Wilson then got it up top for Clendening, and Laczynski headed to the net and was able to re-direct Clendening's point shot past Hofer to give the Phantoms an insurance marker.

Sandstrom stood tall on a late-period Connor Bunnaman tripping minor to help the Phantoms maintain their 3-1 lead heading to the third.

3rd Period

The Phantoms held on to the 3-1 lead on the backs of their penalty killing units and Sandstrom, who continued to make timely saves all the way to the final horn to preserve the regulation win.

In fact, the Thunderbirds pulled Hofer for the extra attacker with 5:26 left to play - going a full two minutes with a 6-on-4 advantage and the final three minutes spent entirely in the Phantoms' defensive zone. But the Phantoms bent and didn't break on their way to a crucial two points as they are at a premium for a Lehigh Valley team on the outside looking in in the Atlantic Division playoff picture.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

2:03: SPR - Kostin (1) - Todd, Kim 4:48: SPR - (PP) Luce, minor (boarding) 7:07: SPR - (PP) Washkurak, minor (high-sticking) 9:16: LV - (PP) Gerard, minor (hooking)

2nd Period

1:03: LV - Johnson (2) - Day, Allison 4:47: LV - (PP) Zech, minor (hooking) 10:30: SPR - (PP) Luce, minor (interference) 13:11: LV - Zamula (4) - Strome 14:33: LV - (PP) Saulnier, minor (boarding) 18:01: LV - Laczynski (3) - Clendening, Wilson 18:16: LV - (PP) Bunnaman, minor (tripping)

3rd Period

3:26: SPR - (PP) Wesley, minor (elbowing) 9:28: LV - (PP) Gerard, minor (high-sticking) 14:21: LV - (PP) Saulnier, minor (hooking)

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   0 - 3 - 0 = 3 Springfield     1 - 0 - 0 = 1

Shots

Lehigh Valley   9 - 8 - 6 = 23 Springfield     5 - 14 - 14 = 33

Goalies

LV: Felix Sandstrom (32 saves - 33 shots) SPR: Joel Hofer (20 saves - 23 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-4 SPR: 0-for-6

Penalty Kill

LV: 6-for-6 SPR: 4-for-4