GAME STORY: Springfield - 2 at Lehigh Valley - 1 OT (11/13/21)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-7-3) battled their way to overtime Saturday night against Atlantic Division-leading Springfield (9-2-2), but it was the Thunderbirds getting the win in OT after a breakdown on a 2-on-1 rush left Thunderbirds' forward Hugh McGing open at the far post for the game winner 1:52 into the three-on-three.

Max Willman tallied his sixth of the season to send the game to the third period tied at 1-1, and Felix Sandstrom stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced, but it was ultimately in a losing effort for Lehigh Valley.

Tanner Kaspick opened the scoring for Springfield. Charlie Lindgren stopped 21 of 22 to earn the victory for the Thunderbirds.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Felix Sandstrom got the start in net Saturday night against Springfield, after coming on in relief of Kirill Ustimenko for the third period Friday night in Providence. Ustimenko served as Sandstrom's backup.

Some good news on the injury front, as Adam Clendening and Jackson Cates returned to the Phantoms' lineup. Ryan MacKinnon and Matthew Strome were scratched, respectively, to make room.

Phantoms Scratches: Samuel Ersson, Mason Millman (lower body), Matthew Strome, Linus Sandin (upper body), Wyatte Wylie (upper body), Charlie Gerard, Ryan MacKinnon & Tyson Foerster (upper body)

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

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

Felix Sandstrom - Kirill Ustimenko

GAME RECAP

1st Period

Similar to last night in Providence, the story of the first period was Phantoms' penalties.

On Friday, three Lehigh Valley penalties in the opening 11:26 allowed the PBruins to take a 2-0 lead early on a pair of power play goals.

Fast forward to Saturday, and the Phantoms found themselves shorthanded three times in the opening 12:46 of play. This time around, Felix Sandstrom and the PK units got the job done - keeping a Springfield Thunderbirds' power play at bay through the opening 20 minutes.

While the play at 5-on-5 was pretty even in the opening half of the period, the continued power plays allowed Springfield to begin generating more consistent pressure at the period wore on - as they ended up recording 16 shots on net in the opening 20 minutes.

Luckily for Lehigh Valley, Sandstrom stopped all 16 and got the Phantoms to the middle frame in a 0-0 game - a bit of a recurring theme for the orange and black in the opening 13 games of the season. While the shot disparity heavily favored the opponent, strong goalie play kept the Phantoms in a scoreless game.

2nd Period

Lehigh Valley came out shooting in the middle frame, racking up the first three shots of the period, but the shots mainly came from the outside and without any rebounds to contend for at the net front.

Max Willman went down in the offensive zone corner 3:39 into the period, and play was stopped. He was tended to by trainer Brian Grogetzky, and Willman exited down the tunnel to the Phantoms' locker room.

On the next shift, Springfield opened the scoring to take a 1-0 lead.

Keean Washkurak went from low to high up to Scott Peruvonich at the right-point, and while his shot was blocked down at the net-front it was Tanner Kaspick first to the loose puck - going to his backhand and lifting a puck over the blocker of Felix Sandstrom just under four minutes into the period.

Lehigh Valley started to generate pressure later in the period after their first power play chance, but negated their own momentum when Adam Clendening was whistled for cross-checking with 5:40 left before the second intermission. Or at least it appeared that they did.

A minute into the ensuing penalty kill, Morgan Frost made a great play. Relentless at the left point in the defensive zone, Frost forced a turnover and sprung himself on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush with Max Willman. Frost made a move, got the pass across to Willman and Willman did the rest - going forehand to backhand to tie the game with 3:39 left in the period.

The Phantoms out-shot the Thunderbirds 13-8 in the middle frame, and were much more assertive than they were in the opening 20 minutes.

3rd Period

The Phantoms didn't generate many shots on net, but they battled hard in a 1-1 game with the division-leading Thunderbirds all the way down to the final minutes of regulation.

Both teams had chances during some extended 4-on-4 play in the middle part of the period, but the goalie duel between Sandstrom (Lehigh Valley) and Lindgren (Springfield) forced overtime.

They had some chances late, but were unable to find a game-winner in regulation. The two teams played a tight-checking final frame, with the shots on net for the period reading just 5-3 in favor of the Thunderbirds.

Overtime

Lehigh Valley had a glorious chance on the opening rush of overtime, going into the offensive zone 3-on-1 with Willman, Frost and York looking to win the game in the first minute.

Willman deked and made the defender miss, but his shot caught the left post.

As the Phantoms changed personnel following a rush up ice, Springfield caught Lehigh Valley in the midst of a line change. German Rubtsov raced back to make it a 2-on-2 rush against, but Adam Clendening lost his man at the far-post and the pass from Nathan Todd was on the money for Hugh McGing.

McGing managed to get the puck over an out-stretched Sandstrom to give Springfield the 2-1 OT win.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

0:19: LV - (PP) Saulnier, minor (high-sticking) 8:54: LV - (PP) Wilson, minor (roughing) 8:54: LV - Wilson, minor (unsportsmanlike) 8:54: SPR - Lindgren, minor (slashing) 12:46: LV - (PP) York, minor (delay of game)

2nd Period

3:53: SPR - Kaspick (2) - Perunovich, Washkurak 7:50: SPR - (PP) Stevens, minor (tripping) 14:20: LV - (PP) Clendening, minor (cross-checking) 15:21: LV - SHG Willman (6) - Frost

3rd Period

10:31: LV - Wilson, minor (roughing) 10:31: SPR - Tucker, minor (roughing) 13:01: LV - (PP) Wilson, minor (tripping) 13:53: SPR - (PP) Anas, minor (hooking)

Overtime

1:52: SPR - McGing (2) - Todd, Perunovich

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Springfield     16 - 8 - 5 - 1= 30 Lehigh Valley   5 - 13 - 3 - 1 = 22

Goalies

SPR: Charlie Lindgren (21 saves - 22 shots) LV: Felix Sandstrom (28 saves - 30 shots)

Power Play

SPR: 0-for-5 LV: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

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