GAMEDAY: Game 75 - Lehigh Valley (37-30-7) at Providence (37-25-11) 7:05 p.m. ET

PROVIDENCE, RI - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (37-30-7) are on the road for the final time this season, facing a Providence Bruins (37-25-11) team that needs just one standings point in three games this weekend to clinch the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and thus mathematically eliminate the Phantoms from postseason contention - a team that faces long odds to make the playoffs even if the PBruins drop their final three games all in regulation.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)

Greg Carey - Corban Knight - Chris ConnerTyrell Goulbourne - Byron Froese - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Carsen Twarynski - Connor Bunnaman - David Kase Matthew Strome - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald

Phil Samuelsson - Phil Myers James de Haas - Mark Friedman T.J. Brennan - Reece Willcox

Felix Sandstrom - Mike McKenna

Phantoms' Scratches: David Schlemko (injured/veteran), Zach Palmquist (healthy), Steven Swavely (healthy), Mikhail Vorobyev (injured), German Rubtsov (injured), Jori Lehtera (healthy/veteran), Mike Vecchione (injured) and Rob Michel (healthy)

GAME STORY

FIRST PERIOD

Felix Sandstrom racked up some early saves in his North American pro debut - six in the opening four minutes and change - before Lehigh Valley jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals less than three minutes apart in the opening eight minutes of the contest.

First, a good cycle in the offensive zone by the fourth line saw Cole Bardreau get the puck behind the net to Matthew Strome. Strome spotted and quickly fired a pass to Colin McDonald in the slot, and the Phantoms' captain snapped a quick shot past PBruins' goaltender Zane McIntyre to put Lehigh Valley ahead 1-0 at the 5:18 mark of the period.

Then, some good passing along the blue line in the offensive zone between defense partners James de Haas and Mark Friedman resulted in Froese's 21st of the season. Friedman took a pass from de Haas, skated skillfully to the center point and got off a good shot - partially blocked down by Froese in front of the PBruins' net. McIntyre made a pad save, but Froese was in position to slam the rebound home to extend the Phantoms' lead to 2-0 with 12:09 remaining in the opening period.

The Phantoms need a miracle to overcome the odds of making the postseason, including what would come down to a fourth tiebreaker ( after standings points, regulation/overtime wins & head-to-head record) which is total team goal differential. Entering Friday's game against Providence, the PBruins had a +19 goal differential to the Phantoms' -5.

Tonight's goal-differential will count double as the Phantoms are playing the PBruins. The 2-0 lead after 20 minutes has the 26-goal swing in goal differential down to 22, for those curious.

SECOND PERIOD

Cole Bardreau was clipped by a high stick in the final minute of the first period that resulted in a double-minor, giving the Phantoms 3:20 of carry over power play time to begin the middle frame.

The Phantoms needed just over a minute to extend their lead to 3-0 on a power play tally from none other than Greg Carey, but not before some good work by Chris Conner to drive with the puck to the net and by Corban Knight to dig out a loose puck at the net before dishing to the top of the far circle for a one-timer from Carey past McIntyre. It marked Carey's team-leading 29th of the season.

From there, Sandstrom continued to look strong in net - making some tough saves through traffic as well as some point-blank stops from the slot and other high-danger areas - to help preserve the Phantoms' lead before Knight added to it with a shorthanded tally with 1:46 left before the second intermission.

With the Phantoms shorthanded, Cole Bardreau broke up a pass and Corban Knight gained possession - side stepping a PBruins defender and breaking in alone on McIntyre before slipping one past the goaltender's five-hole to make it 4-0 Phantoms.

Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, the PBruins cashed in on the power play before getting another man advantage and making it a 4-2 score heading to the third period on a second power play goal with 0.9 seconds left.

With the teams trading two goals apiece, the goal differential remained at 22 heading to the third period.

THIRD PERIOD

Providence made it interesting in the third period, getting to within one when Jordan Szwarz tallied a shorthanded goal with 10:25 left in regulation to cut the Phantoms' lead to 4-3.

The Phantoms took a pair of minor penalties after that, but Sandstrom (40 saves on 43 shots) and the penalty killers got the job done and the team held on for the 4-3 regulation win to once again stave off mathematical elimination from the postseason.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

5:18: LV - McDonald (12) - Strome, Bardreau 7:51: LV - Froese (21) - Friedman, de Haas 12:25: LV - (PP) Strome, minor (holding) 14:51: LV - (PP) de Haas, minor (tripping) 19:19: PRO - (PP) Cumiskey, double-minor (high-sticking)

2nd Period

1:04: LV - PPG Carey (29) - Knight 17:08: LV - (PP) de Haas, minor (high-sticking) 18:14: LV - SHG Knight (4) - Bardreau 18:45: PRO - PPG Carey (27) - Smith 19:22: LV - (PP) de Haas, minor (interference) 19:59: PRO - PPG Szwarz (23) - Smith, Stempniak

3rd Period

4:03: LV -  Goulbourne, minor (slashing) 4:03: PRO - Blidh, minor (cross-checking) 8:24: PRO - (PP) Pond, minor (elbowing) 9:35: PRO - SHG Szwarz (23) - Blidh, Zboril 11:48: LV - (PP) Knight, minor (boarding) 15:28: LV - (PP) Carey, minor (holding)

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley 2 - 2 - 0 = 4 Providence  0 - 2 - 1 = 3

Shots

Lehigh Valley 5 - 15 - 9 = 29 Providence  13 - 16 - 14 = 43

Goalies

LV: Felix Sandstrom (40 saves - 43 shots) PRO: Zane McIntyre (25 saves - 29 shots)

Power Play

LV: 1-for-3 PRO: 2-for-6

Penalty Kill

LV: 4-for-6 PRO: 2-for-3

Attendance: 7,845