Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! (10/10/21)

HERSHEY, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back at it Sunday evening in their first of two preseason meetings against the Hershey Bears.

Sunday at Giant Center, with a lineup of mostly ECHL contracted players and tryout guys, the Phantoms were on their heels the entire first period - outshot by a whopping 22-1 margin in the opening 20 minutes. If not for the strong play of Felix Sandstrom, Lehigh Valley would have been dead in the water and in for a long night.

After trailing 3-0 in the first 33:02 of play, the Phantoms clawed their way back into the game on a late 2nd period goal from Wyatte Wylie during a delayed penalty call and a third period 5-on-3 power play rebound goal from Linus Sandin.

Ultimately, it was too little too late in what ended as a 3-2 decision going the other way.

Three Things

1. A Tough First Period

Lineup disparity or not, it was not a good first period for the Phantoms Sunday.

Take away the lopsided shot count, and it really came down to not winning many 1-on-1 battles and questionable decisions with the puck.

"You know what, you have to give them credit. They have a hell of a team on the other side there," head coach Ian Laperriere told Inside AHL Hockey after the game. "We had a lot of young guys - a couple of guys that I wanted to give them a chance to prove themselves, some ECHL guys. It was a tough first period, I won't lie to you, it was tough but I liked the response."

2. Saulnier Provides A Spark

A fight to begin the second period seemed to put some life into the Phantoms. It was 6-0, 170 pound Brennan Saulnier in a spirited bout against 6-4, 235 pound enforcer Dylan McIlrath in quite literally a David vs Goliath battle.

It caught the attention of Phantoms' head coach Ian Laperriere, who spoke with Inside AHL Hockey following the game.

"I gotta give that kid credit. He's crazy. Unbelievable. He's got a heart as big as this building," Laperriere said of Saulnier and decision to try to spark the team after a tough first period. "He's got a big set of you know what."

The two exchanged blows and while Hershey won the fight, it was the Phantoms who started to get to their game as the period wore on.

"I'll give him credit, like he did his job and I felt like the guys responded a little bit better afterwards," he added.

3. Sandstrom's Strong Outing

Sandstrom was under siege in his first AHL start this season, stopping 28 of the 31 shots he face including 20 saves in the opening 20 minutes of the contest.

"It was a tough, but fun game to play. It was a lot of work in the first," Sandstrom said post-game, adding, "I think the guys stepped up in the second period, and in the second half of the game I think we took it over more and more and gave it a real shot to take over the game. Tough loss, but it's [my] first game so just have to keep working."

"Sandstrom had a great camp in Philly, and he just carried that on into today," Laperriere said. "It's good news when you have good goaltending, and it helps build what you're trying to build as a coach"

I'll have a more in-depth feature on Sandstrom this coming week, so be on the lookout for that.

Video clip of Wyatte Wylie's 2nd period goal courtesy of Matt Trust/Hershey Bears