GAMEDAY: Game 16 - Lehigh Valley (9-4-2) at Springfield (8-4-2) 7:05 p.m. ET
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SPRINGFIELD, MA - Fresh off a come-from-behind win in Providence Friday night, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-4-2) made the overnight bus ride two hours west to Springfield, MA in advance of a Saturday night matchup against a Thunderbirds team (8-4-2) coming off a big win against Rochester last night where they scored NINE goals in a 9-4 win over the Americans.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes
With Alex Lyon called up to Philadelphia, Carter Hart got the start in net Friday in Providence but was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots in the opening 13:01 of play. Anthony Stolarz, who hadn't seen game action in over a month despite being fully healthy this season (last game: Oct 13 in Springfield), came on in relief of Hart and stopped all but one of the 25 shots he faced - allowing the Phantoms to claw their way back to a 5-4 win.
It'll be interesting to see who head coach Scott Gordon turns to this evening in net.
Forwards Cole Bardreau and German Rubtsov were banged up in Friday night's game. Bardreau was slammed into the boards by the penalty boxes in the third period and didn't return. He had trouble with balance and it took him several attempts to get up after the hit. Rubtsov took a hard hit along the boards and left the game with an upper body injury. It's unknown whether either will be available for tonight's game.
If Bardreau and Rubtsov can't go, Tyrell Goulbourne has served his two-game suspension and is eligible to return to the lineup and Radel Fazleev sat as an extra forward scratch in both of the team's games this week.
EDIT: Cole Bardreau and German Rubtsov are both out tonight for Lehigh Valley, presumed injured after both exited Friday's game in Providence and didn't return.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Taylor LeierCarsen Twarynski - Mike Vecchione - Chris Conner Tyrell Goulbourne - Mikhail Vorobyev - Colin McDonald Connor Bunnaman - Radel Fazleev - David Kase
T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Philip Samuelsson - Phil MyersZach Palmquist - Reece Willcox
Carter Hart - Anthony Stolarz
Scratches: Cole Bardreau (injury), German Rubtsov (injury) and Reece Willcox
Springfield's Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Joel Lowry - Harry Zolnierczyk - Paul ThompsonDryden Hunt - Jonathan Ang - Jayce Hawryluk Micheal Haley - Henrik Borgstrom - Anthony Greco Blaine Byron - Jake Horton - Bobby Farnham
Jacob MacDonald - Thomas Schemitsch Ian McCoshen - Ludwig BystromRiley Stillman - Julian Melchiori
Michael Hutchinson - Samuel Montembeault
GAME STORY
FIRST PERIOD
After a rather uneventful first six and a half minutes, things got interesting real quick after Thunderbirds captain Paul Thompson crashed Carter Hart's crease hard.
Thompson crashed the net, was shoved by a Phantoms' defender and fell/rolled over on Hart - dislodging Hart's helmet.
Hart got up, obviously upset that he was rolled over on - shoving a different Thunderbirds forward (Micheal Haley) in frustration. The Phantoms goalie certainly wasn't expecting what happened next.
Haley gave Hart a glove-on punch to the chops, starting a big scrum in the Phantoms' crease. T.J. Brennan came in and dropped the gloves with Haley.
That sequence 6:47 into the contest really set the tone for the game. Every shift, guys were finishing checks and not just the guys who normally do either. A very heated Taylor Leier was in the middle of a lot of first period scrums, playing a very uncharacterically chippy first frame.
The real story of the first period was missed opportunities for the Phantoms, who an extended 5-on-3 power play in the middle part of the period go by the wayside with nary a real, dangerous scoring chance.
Lehigh Valley later opened the scoring after Mark Friedman was the first man in on a forecheck during a Phantoms' line change. Friedman won a puck battle behind the net and the puck made its way to the bottom of the left-wing circle for a quick shot past Michael Hutchinson by T.J. Brennan - his 6th of the season.
The lead didn't last long, however, as Mikhail Vorobyev took a minor penalty on the next shift and the Thunderbirds converted on the ensuing man advantage, needing just four seconds to win a face-off and get a game-tying power play goal from Joel Lowry.
SECOND PERIOD
The two teams settled things down in the middle frame, and both teams got back to playing their game - producing a fast-paced and nearly penalty free middle frame prior to Chris Conner's high-sticking minor 11:25 into the second stanza.
It started to become a goalie duel between rookie Carter Hart (16 saves through 40 minutes) and veteran Michael Hutchinson (19 saves through 40 minutes), as both goalies came up big on a few stops to keep the game deadlocked at 1-1 heading to the third period.
THIRD PERIOD
The Thunderbirds took their first lead of the night early in the third period, with the fourth line getting a greasy rebound goal from Jake Horton 2:21 into the final frame to make it a 2-1 game.
It wasn't long after Horton's goal that the Thunderbirds extended their lead to 3-1 on another hard play at the net. Of all people, Haley was the last to get a stick on a puck as two Springfield forwards were in the blue paint behind Hart to stuff home a second/third chance opportunity on a delayed Phantoms' penalty.
Lehigh Valley clawed back to within one on a power play goal from Greg Carey, but came up short in Springfield by a 3-2 final score.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
6:47: LV - Brennan, major (fighting) 6:47: SPR - Haley, major (fighting) 6:47: SPR - (PP) Haley, minor (roughing - served by Ang) 10:26: SPR - (PP) Hawryluk, minor (slashing) 11:21: SPR - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Ang) 15:07: LV - Brennan (6) - unassisted 15:24: LV - (PP) Vorobyev, minor (holding) 15:28: SPR - PPG Lowry (4) - Schemitsch, Thompson
2nd Period
11:25: LV - (PP) Conner, minor (high-sticking)
3rd Period
2:21: SPR - Horton (3) - Schemitsch, Farnham 3:58: SPR - Haley (1) - Borgstrom, Greco 8:48: LV - (PP) Vorobyev, minor (holding) 11:44: SPR - (PP) Byron, minor (slashing) 15:10: SPR - (PP) Hawryluk, minor (tripping) 16:20: LV - PPG Carey (9) - Varone, Brennan
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 0 - 1 = 2 Springfield 1 - 0 - 2 = 3
Shots
Lehigh Valley 10 - 10 - 10 = 30 Springfield 7 - 10 - 10 = 27
Goalies
LV: Carter Hart (24 saves - 27 shots) SPR: Michael Hutchinson (28 saves - 30 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-5 SPR: 1-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-3 SPR: 4-for-5
Attendance: 6,018
