GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 7 at Springfield - 4 (3/19/22)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms came into Springfield and took care of business, disposing of the Atlantic Division's top team for a second straight night en route to a 7-4 win.

Wade Allison had a game-high - and career-high - four points, recording two goals and two assists to lead the Phantoms' attack while captain Cal O'Reilly matched a career-high by tallying his 17th and 18th goals of the season in the third period to put Lehigh Valley ahead for good, while also adding an assist to complete a three-point night. Egor Zamula (three assists) also recorded three points in the win.

Felix Sandstrom got the start in back-to-back nights and picked up another win,

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

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

A late lineup change as Connor Bunnaman (along with the injured German Rubtsov) were traded to Florida Panthers as part of the Claude Giroux trade that landed the Flyers forward Owen Tippett, a 2023-3rd round pick and a 2024-1st round pick.

Ryan MacKinnon entered the lineup up front as the lone lineup change from Friday night.

Ryan Fitzgerald cleared waivers Saturday afternoon and was assigned to the Phantoms. 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, Brennan Saulnier, Nick Lappin, Ryan MacKinnon and Alex Kile

Lines/Pairings:

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

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

Felix Sandstrom - Kirill Ustimenko

GAME RECAP

1st Period

The Phantoms got the game's first power play, and made the most of it to take a 1-0 lead near the midway mark of the period.

Wade Allison kept a play alive at the left-wing circle before sending it around the net and out to Cal O'Reilly at the right-wing wall before the Phantoms' captain set it up top for a point shot by Adam Clendening. Isaac Ratcliffe was able to get a piece of the Clendening shot, re-directing it past Thunderbirds goalie Charlie Lindgren.

Lehigh Valley limited Springfield to just four first period shots in a fast-moving first frame before the officials started handing out penalties with regularity - including three minor penalties in the final 2:38 of the period. A theme that continued in the middle frame.

2nd Period

Springfield responded with a much better effort in the middle frame, as the intensity and physical play seemed to ramp up with every passing shift.

The Thunderbirds tied the game at 1-1 early in the period on Tanner Kaspick's fourth of the season, and the Phantoms were on their heels a bit from there - as directly after the goal Hayden Hodgson was whistled for tripping and allowed for Springfield to really seize momentum. They didn't score on the ensuing man advantage, but continued to fire pucks at will toward Felix Sandstrom - as the Phantoms goalie faced 18 second period shots compared to the four he faced in the opening 20 minutes.

Just past the midway mark, the Phantoms re-gained the lead after O'Reilly connected with a stretch pass to Wade Allison at the offensive zone blue line - springing Allison on a breakaway. His initial shot was stopped, but he followed it up by putting his own rebound into the back of the net to give Lehigh Valley a 2-1 lead with 8:48 left in the middle frame.

From there, it seemed like the Phantoms' frustration with the officiating started to affect their ability to brush off the bad calls and just play the game. Charlie Gerard was whistled for a hooking call that O'Reilly, the team's captain, was decidedly not very fond of. Head coach Ian Lapperiere had words for the referee as well.

That frustration really boiled over when Matt Strome was called for a pretty suspect cross-checking minor with 2:05 left before the second intermission. O'Reilly was irate with the referee who made the call, and when James Neal scored to draw Springfield within a goal on the ensuing power play the Phantoms' captain uncharacteristically skated back over to that referee to give him a piece of his mind.

Despite tempers flaring, and plenty of late hits and post-whistle scrums, the Phantoms found themselves in the lead heading to the final frame with some carry over power play time to begin the third..

Third Period

For as ticked off as O'Reilly showed he was at the officiating, he certainly turned in an all-time performance in the third period - expanding Lehigh Valley's lead to 4-2 with a power play blast from the right-wing circle in the opening minute of the period.

He wasn't done there, either.  After the Phantoms killed off a Logan Day interference minor, Adam Johnson forced a turnover behind the Springfield net and O'Reilly was in the right place at the right time - firing a quick shot past Lindgren for his 18th of the season - tying a career high in goals for O'Reilly that he put up in his rookie season in the AHL with Milwaukee during the 2006-07 season.

Down 5-2 in the final six minutes, Springfield pulled Lindgren for the extra attacker and were able to draw themselves within two when James Neal picked up his second tally of the night to make it a 5-3 game.

Springfield pulled Lindgren a second time, but Allison hit the empty net with 3:43 left to push the Phantoms back in front by three. The goal gave Allison a career-high four-point night (two goals, two assists). Johnson and Zamula added assists, giving the latter three helpers on the evening.

Charlie Gerard added an empty net tally in the final minute, while Will Bitten cherry picked a breakaway tally on the next shift to complete the 7-4 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

9:02: SPR - (PP) Alexandrov, minor (tripping) 9:37: LV - PPG Ratcliffe (6) - Clendening, Allison 17:22: SPR - (PP) McGing, minor (interference) 19:03: SPR - (PP) Kaspick, minor (slashing) 19:09: LV - (PP) Allison, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

3:20: SPR - Kaspick (4) - Tucker, Santini 4:15: LV - (PP) Hodgson, minor (tripping) 11:12: LV - Allison (5) - O'Reilly 13:20: LV - (PP) Gerard, minor (hooking) 15:54: LV - Wilson, minor (roughing) 15:54: SPR - Tucker, minor (roughing) 16:49: LV - Laczynski (4) - Zamula 17:55: LV - (PP) Strome, minor (cross-checking) 18:29: SPR - PPG Neal (10) - Anas, Rosen 19:55: SPR - (PP) Joshua, minor (slashing)

3rd Period

0:15: SPR - Peca, minor (holding) 0:15: LV - Clendening, minor (interference) 0:33: LV - PPG O'Reilly (17) - Allison, Zamula 0:57: LV - (PP) Day, minor (interference) 6:25: LV - O'Reilly (18) - Johnson 10:34: SPR - (PP) Neal, minor (hooking) 14:43: SPR - Neal (11) - Peca, Walker 16:17: LV - ENG Allison (6) - Johnson, Zamula 19:09: LV - ENG Gerard (6) - Sandin, Saulnier 19:36: SPR - Bitten (10) - Washkurak, Luce

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   1 - 2 - 4 = 7 Springfield     0 - 2 - 2 = 4

Shots

Lehigh Valley   7 - 13 - 9 = 29 Springfield     4 - 18 - 17 = 39

Goalies

LV: Felix Sandstrom (35 saves - 39 shots) SPR: Joel Hofer (22 saves - 27 shots)

Power Play

LV: 2-for-5 SPR: 1-for-5

Penalty Kill

LV: 4-for-5 SPR: 3-for-5