GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 4 at Hartford - 6 (2/5/22)

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (15-16-8) continue to teeter just under .500 following a wild 6-4 loss to Hartford Saturday night in a game which saw the Phantoms jump out to a 2-0 lead only to surrender five (!) unanswered second period goals.

Wolf Pack captain Jonny Brodzinski broke a Hartford franchise record, scoring a goal in his ninth consecutive game to re-write the record books while also adding two assists. Nils Lundkvist, talented Rangers' 1st rounder, tallied his first career AHL goal and added an assist in the win for the Wolf Pack.

Charlie Gerard, Hayden Hodgson, Wyatte Wylie and Isaac Ratcliffe tallied goals for Lehigh Valley in the loss.

The Phantoms have a scheduled day off Sunday before practicing on Monday and returning to game action Tuesday night at home against Belleville.

Post-Game Reaction - Head coach Ian Laperriere

On assessing a strange game where team took 2-0 lead in 1st and fired 18 SOG in a middle period they were outscored 5-0 in:

"Yeah, well, you know, it's one of those games that I felt like we were pretty good in the first. Maybe we got a little bit too comfortable, and we weren't willing to do the little things. The little things is to block shots at the top there. Those pucks seem to find the back of net from the top, which are just little wristers here and there, I'd like see our forwards take a little bit more pride in blocking those shots, but we just need to be a little bit harder and be more detailed."

On giving up five goals in the 2nd period:

"Yeah, it's difficult. Maybe I should have called a timeout there just to calm the bench down, you know, settle everybody down. But, you know, I thought we would get back at it we've done it before without calling a timeout, I thought we'd get the momentum back. But we didn't. But again, we'll learn from it. You know, we'll learn about the little details inside the game. And we'll be better. It's all we can do."

On how to prevent the team from going through a midseason lull:

"Well, we just keep teaching everyday. That's all we've been doing and we won't be changing now. Like, there's a lot that you can take out of any game. Obviously, there's a lot to take out of today's game and and we don't change our plan. As coaches, we just, we teach and we teach every day it doesn't matter if you win or lose."

Lehigh Valley Lineup Notes

Garrett Metcalf got the start in net for Lehigh Valley Saturday in Hartford. Felix Sandstrom, who was strong in earning the win Friday night, served as the team's backup.

It was the same 18 skaters for Lehigh Valley Saturday as Friday night.

Phantoms' Scratches: Samuel Ersson, Pat Nagle, Cooper Zech, Mason Millman, German Rubtsov, Nick Lappin, Alex Kile and Tyson Foerster

Lines/Pairings:

Maksim Sushko - Cal O'Reilly - Hayden Hodgson Garrett Wilson - Morgan Frost - Linus Sandin Isaac Ratcliffe - Jackson Cates - Charlie Gerard Brennan Saulnier - Matthew Strome - Ryan MacKinnon

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

Garrett Metcalf - Felix Sandstrom

GAME RECAP

1st Period

In a first period played similarly to Friday night's game vs. Providence, the Phantoms jumped out to a 2-0 lead Saturday despite giving up some dangerous chances to a rejuvenated Hartford Wolf Pack team that was quite different than the team they shutout 4-0 last weekend after receiving nearly a half-dozen players from the NHL affiliate New York Rangers.

In fact, the Phantoms didn't have a shot until after the first media timeout. But they made their first shot count.

Hayden Hodgson got open in the slot and Garrett Wilson fed Hodgson a pass right into his wheelhouse for a quick, hard shot off the bar and in to open the scoring 7:37 into the first frame.

Later in the period, the Phantoms extended their lead after top defense prospects Cam York and Egor Zamula connected on a tape-to-tape pass at the top of the offensive zone just inside the blue line. Zamula fired a hard shot that Gerard was able to turn and re-direct in for a goal he didn't even know he scored until the red light came on and his teammates raised their arms in celebration.

Late in the period, Wolf Pack goaltender Keith Kinkaid came out of his net to play a puck that went behind the goal cage. As he re-entered his crease, he initiated contact with Brennan Saulnier and subsequently cross-checked the Phantoms' forward. Surprisingly, Kinkaid was the only one assessed a penalty during the sequence - giving the Phantoms a power play to end the period.

On the ensuing power play, Hodgson fell going into the corner for a loose puck and Wolf Pack forward Justin Richards' slipped and fell in pursuit - accidentally crunching Hodgson's head/neck area low into the corner boards. Play was stopped and he was slow to get up, though he did eventually skate off slowly on his own accord.

*2nd Period

The good news in the middle frame was that Hodgson returned.

The bad news, for Lehigh Valley at least, is that Hartford responded with a strong effort to get themselves back into the game. In fact, they took the lead on three goals in a span of 5:39 and scored five (!) total goals in the middle frame to completely change the complexion of the contest.

First, Austin Rueschhoff found himself wide open atop the Phantoms' crease as his linemates won a board battle behind the net. Patrick Khodorenko fed Rueschhoff in front and the big forward roofed a puck over Garrett Metcalf to cut the Phantoms' lead in half and gave Hartford momentum.

Just over three minutes later, on a power play with Zamula in the box for cross-checking, Nils Lundkvist flung a point shot on net and Tim Gettinger was able to put a rebound in past Metcalf after the intial shot went off the top of Metcalf's stick and out to Gettinger for the put back.

Mike O'Leary tipped a Matthew Robertson shot past Metcalf to put Hartford ahead 3-2, and you started to get the feeling it was going to be Hartford's night.

It went from bad to worse from there as Hartford added two more goals to make it five unanswered goals in the middle frame, turning a once 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 lead heading into the third period after Morgan Barron extended the lead on a shorthanded tally and Nils Lundkvist tallied his first career AHL goal.

Third Period

It was a largely uneventful third period as Lehigh Valley prevented Hartford from getting a shot on goal in the opening half of the period, but were unable to close the gap until Wyatte Wylie tallied his second goal in as many games to cut the deficit to 5-3 with 4:51 to play.

Lehigh Valley had a chance to make it a one-goal game on a power play late in the third, but Jonny Brodzinski stole a puck off Metcalf behind the net and wrapped it around into the empty net for a shorthanded goal that gave Brodzinski Hartford's franchise record with a goal in nine straight games for the Wolf Pack captain.

Isaac Ratcliffe scored an unassisted goal on a nice individual effort on a rush into the offensive zone in the final 30 seconds to complete the 6-4 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

3:24: HFD - (PP) Lundkvist, minor (delay of game) 7:37: LV - Hodgson (12) - Wilson 12:11: LV - Gerard (3) - Zamula, York 18:31: HFD - (PP) Kinkaid, minor (goaltender interference - served by Ronning)

2nd Period

3:18: HFD - Rueschhoff (11) - Khodorenko 6:11: LV - (PP) Zamula, minor (cross-checking) 6:33: HFD - PPG Gettinger (9) - Lundkvist, Brodzinski 8:57: HFD - O'Leary (4) - Robertson, DiGiacinto 11:25: HFD - (PP) Brodzinski, minor (tripping) 12:10: HFD - SHG Barron (9) - Fritz, Guittari 14:24: HFD - Lundkvist (1) - Brodzinski, Greco

3rd Period

15:09: LV - Wylie (3) - Strome, Ratcliffe 15:38 HFD - (PP) Giuttari, minor (high-sticking) 16:36: HFD - SHG Brodzinski (16) - unassisted 19:34: LV - Ratcliffe (5) - unassisted 19:59: LV - (PP) Clendening, minor (holding the stick)

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   2 - 0 - 2 = 4 Hartford   0 - 5 - 1 = 6

Shots

Lehigh Valley   10 - 18 - 11 = 39 Hartford   8 - 12 - 4 = 24

Goalies

LV: Garrett Metcalf (18 saves - 24 shots) HFD: Keith Kinkaid (35 saves - 39 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-4 HFD: 1-for-2

Penalty Kill

LV: 1-for-2 HFD: 4-for-4