GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 5 at Charlotte - 3 (11/7/21)

CHARLOTTE, NC - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2-6-2) got back into the win column Sunday afternoon with a solid response coming off of last night's 7-3 loss.

After a 1-1 first period and a goal from Hayden Hodgson, the Phantoms broke the tie and got goals from defensemen Cam York and Egor Zamula to extend their lead to 3-1 heading into the third. They further added to the lead in the opening minute of the third on a goal from Max Willman, but Charlotte tallied two goals to make things interesting until Garrett Wilson tacked on an empty net tally to complete the 5-3 win for the Phantoms.

Adam Clendening had a game-high three points (three assists), while Morgan Frost added two primary assists. Felix Sandstrom was particularly strong in the third period, when the Phantoms were out-shot 17-7, and he finished with 35 saves on 38 shots.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Felix Sandstrom got the start in net, with Kirill Ustimenko serving as the team's backup Sunday afternoon.

With Tyson Foerster on the injured list, sustaining an upper body injury in the 2nd period Saturday night, head coach Ian Laperriere opted to go with an 11-forward, seven defensemen lineup with Ryan MacKinnon making his Phantoms' regular season debut.

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

Lines/Pairings:

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

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

Felix Sandstrom - Kirill Ustimenko

GAME RECAP

1st Period

It wasn't a disastrous start for the Phantoms like the first period Saturday night. But it wasn't great either.

Charlotte controlled play in the opening minutes and fired the first five shots on goal on Felix Sandstrom. The Phantoms had some chances around the Checkers' net, but Antoine Bibeau wasn't forced to make a save.

The Checkers opened the scoring just over seven minutes into the first frame, capitalizing on a 2-on-1 off the rush. Matt Kiersted flipped a puck through the neutral zone ahead to Carsen Twarynski, who barreled down the right wing before centering for Cole Schwindt for a quick shot past Sandstrom to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead.

Lehigh Valley responded in the middle of the period, with German Rubtsov drawing a holding minor on Logan Hutsko. The Phantoms weren't able to score on the power play, but they tied the game up at 1-1 moments after the penalty expired.

Adam Clendening dug a puck out of the corner and fed it up top to Linus Hogberg at the center point. Hogberg elected to shoot, and Hayden Hodgson was able to re-direct the puck past Bibeau for his third of the season.

2nd Period

Joey Daccord replaced Antoine Bibeau in net to begin the middle frame, and the Checkers had early pressure in the Phantoms' defensive zone but were unable to break the tie. In fact, Sandstrom came up big on a 2-on-1 chance - going post-to-post to make a brilliant stick save to keep the game tied at 1-1.

That save by Sandstrom turned out to be a huge deal. Instead of the Checkers taking a 2-1 lead, it was the Phantoms breaking the 1-1 tie a few minutes later on Cam York's first of the season.

Max Willman won a puck battle along the right wing boards and was able to get it to the point for Logan Day, who slid the puck across the top to the left point for York. York skated into the left-wing circle and flung one past Daccord to put the Phantoms ahead.

Just over six minutes later, Egor Zamula made it 3-1 Phantoms on a similar D-to-D pass across the top of the offensive zone. This time, it was Cal O'Reilly getting a puck up to Adam Clendening and across for Zamula who snapped one from atop the left-wing circle to extend the Phantoms' lead to two.

3rd Period

Morgan Frost had a strong start to the third period, drawing a hooking minor 17 seconds into the period and then setting up Max Willman for a snipe from the slot moments later on the ensuing 4-on-3 power play to extend the Phantoms' lead to 4-1.

Credit to Charlotte for not packing it in and calling it a day after Willman's goal. Instead, they went back to work and tallied a pair of goals 2:02 apart to cut the Phantoms' lead to 4-3 with over 15 minutes left to play.

First, it was Connor Carrick from the left-wing circle, the same spot that York and Zamula scored from in the second period, and moments later - on a delayed Phantoms' penalty call - it was Gregori Denisenko setting up Scott Wilson on a backdoor play to make it a one-goal hockey game.

From there, the Phantoms were on their heels and the Checkers grabbed back momentum.

Lehigh Valley gave the Checkers' two power play chances in the opening 11:08, but Sandstrom and the Phantoms' penalty killers came up big to keep the one-goal lead intact heading to the final six minutes of regulation despite being out shot by a 16-2 margin in the opening 14 minutes of the period.

The Phantoms' clawed their way to the win, getting an empty net goal from Garrett Wilson in the final two minutes to complete the 5-3 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

7:14: CHA - Schwindt (3) - Twarynski, Kiersted 7:51: CHA - (PP) Hutsko, minor (holding) 10:26: LV - Hodgson (3) - Hogberg, Clendening 18:09: CHA - (PP) Lind, minor (cross-checking)

2nd Period

6:21: LV - York (1) - Day, Willman 12:30: LV - Zamula (1) - Clendening, O'Reilly 19:04: CHA - (PP) Bowlby, minor (roughing) 19:16: LV - (PP) York, minor (holding)

3rd Period

0:17: CHA - (PP) Olofsson, minor (hooking) 0:42: LV - PPG Willman (4) - Frost, Clendening 0:57: LV - (PP) Bunnaman, minor (slashing) 2:45: CHA - PPG Carrick (1) - FLeury, Hutsko 4:47: CHA - Wilson (2) - Denisenko, Priskie 6:28: LV - (PP) Clendening, minor (cross-checking) 11:08: LV - (PP) Bunnaman, minor (tripping) 18:09: LV - ENG Wilson (1) - Frost, Mayhew

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   1 - 2 - 2 = 5 Charlotte  1 - 0 - 2 = 3

Shots

Lehigh Valley 8 - 12 - 7 = 27 Charlotte  11 - 10 - 17 = 38

Goalies

LV: Felix Sandstrom (35 saves - 38 shots) CHA: Antoine Bibeau (7 saves - 8 shots in 20:00) and Joey Daccord (15 saves - 18 shots)

Power Play

LV: 1-for-4 CHA: 1-for-3

Penalty Kill

LV: 2-for-3 CHA: 3-for-4