GAMEDAY: Game 7 - Lehigh Valley (3-2-1) at Hartford (4-3-1) 7:00 p.m. ET
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HARTFORD - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms continue their season-high six game road trip with a weeknight matchup with the Hartford WolfPack (4-3-1) at the XL Center.
Full recap + latest news/notes from Sunday's game in Bridgeport ->
Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes
Michal Neuvirth was loaned to Lehigh Valley on a conditioning stint, and is expected to get the start in net tonight for the Phantoms who are now carrying FOUR goalies with Neuvirth's addition today.
Defenseman David Drake was assigned to the Phantoms' ECHL affiliate Reading Royals Tuesday. With Reece Willcox healthy, the Phantoms were carrying eight defensemen.
Inside AHL Hockey's lead photographer Nina Weiss took in Tuesday's Phantoms practice in Whitehall and jotted down the lines/pairings:
Phantoms Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Chris Conner - Mike Vecchione - Taylor Leier David Kase - German Rubtsov - Colin McDonald Tyrell Goulbourne - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald
T.J. Brennan - Philip Samuelsson Zach Palmquist - Phil MyersMark Friedman - Reece Willcox
Michal Neuvirth - Carter Hart
Phantoms scratches: Alex Lyon, Anthony Stolarz, James de Haas, Carsen Twarynski and Connor Bunnaman
Hartford WolfPack Roster Notes
WolfPack Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Cole Schneider- Peter Holland - Ty Ronning Ryan Gropp - Lias Andersson - Michael Lindqvist Tim Gettinger - Steven Fogarty - Bobby Butler Ville Meskanen - Gabriel Fontaine - Shawn O'Donnell
Libor Hajek - Rob O'Gara Ryan Lindgren - Chris Bigras Brandon Crawley - John Gilmour
Dustin Tokarski - Marek Mazanec
WolfPack scratches: Shawn St. Amant, Vince Pedrie and Sean Day
GAME STORY
FIRST PERIOD
Hartford opened the game with a shift of pressure in the Phantoms' defensive zone. A loose puck in the slot seemed like trouble for Lehigh Valley, but Michal Neuvirth made a save in close and from there the momentum shifted heavily to the road team.
Three goals and four shots later, they had chased their former teammate from the WolfPack net. Dustin Tokarski got the start, but was victimized for three goals on four shots in the opening 4:36 of play - leading WolfPack head coach Keith McCambridge to take his timeout and make a change in net.
Quick recap of the goals:
Phil Varone got a puck down low and spotted Greg Carey inside the right-wing circle. Enough said. Carey fired one past Tokarski just 1:05 into the contest to get the Phantoms off and running.
On a power play - T.J. Brennan got one to the right point for German Rubtsov, who skated to the top of the circle before sending a perfect 'slap-pass' to the net front right onto Chris Conner's tape for an easy tap in goal. Great vision from Rubtsov, who continues to impress.
Less than a minute after Conner's 2nd of the season, Colin McDonald won a puck battle down low and got one in front to Rubtsov for a quick shot past Tokarski for Rubtsov's 4th of the season.
Tough to blame Tokarski, the team in front of him simply was flat. But in came Marek Mazanec in an attempt to re-write the script.
Meanwhile, Michal Neuvirth sort of quietly went about his business in the opening period - stopping all 13 shots he faced in the first 20 minutes.
In particular, a glove save on a breakaway attempt from Peter Holland highlighted his performance in the opening frame.
Chris Conner was feeling it in the first period. He got a puck in transition in the neutral zone in the final minute of the period, and turned on the jets before toe-dragging a defenseman out of his way and sniping one to the top corner short side on Mazanec to extend the Phantoms' lead to 4-0 heading into the middle frame.
SECOND PERIOD
Most times, the tendency for a team up 4-0 is to take their foot off the proverbial gas pedal.
That's not exactly what the Phantoms did, as Mike Vecchione collected a loose puck in the high-slot from a Zach Palmquist point shot that had been blocked down. Vecchione shoveled one into the net past Mazanec to make it a 5-0 game just 30 seconds into the second period.
The middle frame was largely a special teams affair as the referees handed out seven power plays - including a partial 5-on-3 power play for each team.
Hartford broke Neuvirth's shutout shortly after Vecchione's goal, as Philip Samuelsson was whistled for slashing and the WolfPack quickly converted on the ensuing man advantage. Neuvirth made the initial stop on John Gilmour, but the rebound darted out to the right to Steven Fogarty for an easy rebound goal before Neuvirth could recover and get to his right post.
Both teams whiffed on a partial five-on-three power play in the middle of the period, but Hartford closed the gap to 5-2 before the second intermission on another rebound goal allowed by Neuvirth, who came up big on Justin Fontaine after the Hartford forward got behind the Phantoms' defense. Unforunately for Neuvirth and the Phantoms, the rebound kicked out to the middle for a follow-up by Shawn O'Donnell for his first goal of the season.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
1:05: LV - Carey (5) - Varone 3:16: HFD - (PP) Holland, minor (interference) 3:40: LV - PPG Conner (2) - Rubtsov, Brennan 4:36: LV - Rubtsov (4) - McDonald, Friedman 13:51: LV - (PP) McDonald, minor (slashing) 19:21: LV - Conner (3) - Carey
2nd Period
0:30: LV - Vecchione (2) - Palmquist 1:16: LV - (PP) Samuelsson, minor (slashing) 1:26: HFD - PPG Fogarty (4) - Gilmour 4:38: HFD - (PP) Hajek, minor (holding) 5:32: HFD - (PP) Lindgren, minor (cross-checking) 7:44: LV - (PP) Carey, minor (hooking) 9:41: LV - (PP) Friedman, minor (elbowing) 12:03: HFD - O'Donnell (1) - Fontaine, Schneider 12:51: HFD - (PP) Lindgren, minor (interference)
3rd Period
2:53: LV - (PP) Myers, minor (interference) 8:04: LV - Bardreau (2) - Goulbourne 9:13: HFD - O'Donnell (2) - Hajek, Fontaine 12:23: LV - (PP) Bardreau, minor (slashing) 18:47: LV - ENG Samuelsson (1) - Carey 19:34: LV - (PP) Willcox, minor (cross-checking)
### BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 3 - 2 - 2 = 7 Hartford 0 - 2 - 1 = 3
Shots
Lehigh Valley 10 - 10 - 13 = 33 Hartford 13 - 13 - 8 = 34
Goalies
LV: Michal Neuvirth (24 saves - 25 shots) HFD: Dustin Tokarski (1 save - 4 shots in 4:36) and Marek Mazanec (14 saves - 16 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-4 HFD: 1-for-7
Penalty Kill
LV: 4-for-5 HFD: 3-for-4
Attendance: 1,367
