GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 6 at Utica - 5 (OT) 12/31/21

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms closed out the 2021 calendar year with an early Friday evening road tilt against the American Hockey League's (AHL) top team Utica Comets .

Chase De Leo and Colton White each tallied two goals to lead the Comets attack, while Frederik Gauthier added his first of the season with Utica to give the Comets' a commanding 5-1 lead late in the 2nd period after Logan Day got the Phantoms on the board.

But Lehigh Valley responded with a comeback for the ages, tallying five unanswered goals from there including a 6-on-5 goal with just over 35 seconds left in regulation and a game-winning goal with 1:01 left in overtime to complete the unthinkable in a thrilling come-from-behind 6-5 OT win to extend their points streak to six games (5-0-1).

Phantoms' captain Cal O'Reilly played the role of hero, tallying the game-winner as well as helping set up two of the Phantoms' three third period goals scored by Hayden Hodgson. Hodgson just so happened to repay the favor to O'Reilly in overtime, assisting on his game-winner and making it three-point games for both players.

Pat Nagle allowed five goals on the first 15 shots he faced 28:50 of the contest, but came up huge the rest of the way - stopping the final 19 shots he faced on the night including 12 in the third period to keep his team's comeback hopes alive until they turned it around.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Pat Nagle got the start in net Friday night for Lehigh Valley in Utica. With Felix Sandstrom and Kirill Ustimenko (taxi squad) up with Philadelphia, and Samuel Ersson injured, they needed a second goaltender. They added Garrett Metcalf, 25, who went 2-2-1, 1.84 GAA, .932 SV% with the ECHL's Utah Grizzlies earlier this season. Metcalf backed up Nagle Friday and wore #45.

With Cam York called up to the Flyers' taxi squad, Lehigh Valley added defenseman Ryan MacKinnon from their ECHL affiliate Reading Royals to give the team eight healthy defensemen. They ended up needing seven of them, as Matthew Strome exited the lineup and MacKinnon served as a seventh defenseman in an 11/7 lineup for the Phantoms Friday.

Phantoms Scratches: Samuel Ersson, Mason Millman, Wade Allison, Matthew Strome and Tyson Foerster

Lines/Pairings:

Maksim Sushko - Cal O'Reilly (C) - Charlie Gerard Connor Bunnaman - Garrett Wilson - Linus Sandin Isaac Ratcliffe - German Rubtsov - Hayden Hodgson Brennan Saulnier - Nick Lappin

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

Pat Nagle - Garrett Metcalf

Utica Comets Lineup Notes

The Comets have had COVID issues postponing games as recently as Wednesday night. As of Thursday, they still had four players in COVID protocol.

They called up forwards Tyler Irvine and Samuel Laberge from their ECHL affiliate Adirondack, and also added goaltender David Tomeo on an amateur tryout contract.

Comets Scratches: Nico Daws, Joe Gambardella, Ryan Schmelzer and Tyler Wotherspoon

Lines/Pairings:

Nolan Foote - Aarne Talvitie - Fabian Zetterlund A.J. Greer - Frederik Gauthier - Graeme Clarke Chase De Leo - Nate Schnarr - Bryan Flynn (A) Samuel Laberge - Tyelr Irvine - Patrick McGrath

Nikita Okhotiuk - Reilly Walsh Jeremy Groleau - Robbie Russo Michael Vukojevic - Colton White (A)

Marek Mitens - David Tomeo

GAME RECAP

1st Period

It was a sloppy first period for the Phantoms in their first game since December 21, but not something that could be used as an excuse given that their opponent had been out of action since December 17 and has a few of its top players not plucked by their NHL affiliate still in COVID protocol.

Chase De Leo had a big first period for Utica scoring two goals and putting the Phantoms on their heels after an early goal 2:55 into the contest, coming off of a bit of a broken play - the first of many sloppy plays between the two teams looking to get their legs back.

Colton White got a shot from the right point shot through traffic at 6:35 to extend the Comets' lead to 2-0 off of an offensive zone cycle started by their fourth line. Michael Vukojevic and Tyler Irvine added assists on White's first goal of the season.

While the shots were even at 5-5 in the opening 12 minutes of play, the Phantoms trailed 2-0. They had a chance to make it a one-goal game after they pounced on a Comets' breakout along the wall, but the resulting centering pass and shot from Isaac Ratcliffe lacked any mustard and Comets goaltender Mareks Mitens was able to slide across and stop the puck as it glided into his right pad.

On the next shift, De Leo added his second of the period to put Utica ahead 3-0 heading into the middle frame.

2nd Period

It went from bad to worse for the Phantoms as the Comets kept their foot on the gas and extended their lead to 4-0 in the opening five minutes of the middle frame.

White got his second of the night, this time from the left point through traffic at 4:58 to put the Phantoms on the ropes.

Credit to Lehigh Valley for not just packing it in right there, and shift their thinking to getting back home before midnight.

Maksim Sushko won a puck down low in the left wing, skated to the top of the circle and sent a pass across to Logan Day for a shot past Mitens to get Lehigh Valley on the board, cutting the deficit to 4-1 just over a minute after White's 2nd of the night.

The Phantoms' hopeful comeback was thwarted pretty quickly as Frederik Gauthier restored the Comets' four-goal lead at 8:50, though they did have a pair of power play opportunities nearly back-to-back to begin the second half of the period that they were unable to capitalize.

Isaac Ratcliffe gave the Phantoms hope heading into the third period as the 6-6 forward planted himself at the net-front and redirected Egor Zamula's shot past Mitens with 3:26 left before the second intermission to cut Lehigh Valley's deficit to 5-2.

3rd Period

The Phantoms got a bounce to go their way on the opening shift of the third period, and Hayden Hodgson capitalized to give Lehigh Valley some momentum 39 seconds into the final frame. Cal O'Reilly picked up a puck that hopped off a Utica defenders' stick, and left it for the trailing Hodgson who snapped one in from just inside the left-wing circle to bring the Phantoms within two at a 5-3 game.

Lehigh grabbed momentum and made it interesting less than four minutes later when Zamula's shot-pass to the netfront for Garrett Wilson was executed perfectly with Wilson re-directing it past Mitens to put the Phantoms in a one-goal game with 15:43 left to play.

Utica got back to their game and had several glorious chances to get an insurance marker, but credit Phantoms goalie Pat Nagle for making some big time stops with eight minutes left to keep it a 5-4 game into the final five and a half minutes of play.

It came down to the wire, with Nagle pulled for the extra attacker, but the Phantoms found a way.

Cal O'Reilly got a puck down low and, like so many times before in his pro career, used expert vision to spot Hodgson at the far side and got it across to him for Hodgson's second of the game to tie things up at 5-5 in the final 35 seconds and force overtime.

Overtime

After a bit of a slow start to the 3-on-3 for both teams in the opening half of OT, the pace and intensity picked up - leading up to Mitens attempting to clear a puck from behind his net and around the boards with just over a minute left before a shootout.

Hodgson stole the puck along the boards, patiently waited in the right-wing circle for a sliding defender to give him an opening and sent a saucer pass to the backdoor for a tap in from O'Reilly to complete the comeback for the Phantoms.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

2:55: UTI - De Leo (4) - Flynn, Schnarr 6:35: UTI - White (1) - Vukojevic, Irvine 13:17: UTI - De Leo (5) - Russo, Groleau 18:33: LV - (PP) Day, minor (high-sticking)

2nd Period

4:58: UTI - White (2) - Zetterlund 6:19: LV - Day (1) - Sushko 8:50: UTI - Gauthier (1) - Clark, Greer 10:09: UTI - (PP) Vukojevic, minor (slashing) 13:06: UTI - (PP) Irvine, minor (high-sticking) 16:34: LV - Ratcliffe (4) - Zamula, Day 17:56: UTI - (PP) McGrath, minor (interference)

3rd Period

0:39: LV - Hodgson (5) - O'Reilly 4:17: LV - Wilson (7) - Zamula, Wylie 4:44: LV - (PP) Saulnier, minor (roughing) 19:24: LV - Hodgson (6) - O'Reilly, Clendening

Overtime

3:59: LV - O'Reilly (4) - Hodgson

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   0 - 2 - 3 - 1 = 6 Utica Comets   3 - 2 - 0 - 0 = 5

Shots

Lehigh Valley   5 - 13 - 10 - 2 = 30 Utica Comets   9 - 13 - 12 - 0 = 34

Goalies

LV: Pat Nagle (29 saves - 34 shots) UTI: Mareks Mittens (24 saves - 30 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-3 UTI: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

LV: 2-for-2 UTI: 3-for-3