Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! (10/24/21)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (0-3-1) found a way to force overtime in the final minute of regulation, but came up short in overtime as Valtteri Puustinen tallied a game-winning snipe from between the top of the circles in the opening minute of the three-on-three.

"It was nice to get a point. It's a small victory, if you will. We'll build on that," Phantoms' head coach Ian Laperriere said after the game. "We have had a hard time scoring goals right now. Our power play? We're gonna work at it."

Three Things

1. There's A  Lot To Work On

That was the overarching theme of the weekend.

"There's a lot to work on," Laperriere said post-game Sunday. "Five on five, we can be a little bit more hungrier at the net and that we can work on in practice and same with the powerplay, and again there's a lot of stuff we need to work on."

The Phantoms have scored a total of four goals on the season, and zero of them have come at 5-on-5 (one power play goal, one shorthanded goal and two 6-on-5 extra attacker goals).

Only four goals on 106 shots through four games is concerning, but at the same time the under 4% shooting percentage can't possibly stay that low throughout the season.

The goals will come, and for now the Phantoms are looking to simplify things, establish their forecheck and create offense through winning puck battles and making the opposition turn pucks over.

Sunday's game story -> https://insideahlhockey.com/article/game-story-w-bscranton-2-at-lehigh-valley-1-ot-102421

2. The Power Play

The power play is 30th in the league out of 31 teams right now, converting on just one man advantage out of their near league high of 22 opportunities.

"You don't score and you're squeezing the stick. But the more you think about it you shoot when you should be passing you pass when you should be shooting it's just like that sometimes you play in your head," Laperriere said. "You have those games in your head and a lot of our guys right now that's what they're going through."

Captain Cal O'Reilly said it's about execution, and that right now is simply not cutting it.

"I mean, it starts right there," O'Reilly said of the power play units' struggle on breakouts and zone entries. "We've been getting lots of opportunities to get ourselves back in games and win games with the powerplay and we're not on the same page. There's no secrets on the powerplay, it's just execution and, you know, at times we're not doing that."

3. Injury Updates

The Phantoms' injured list currently has two names on it. Both defenseman Mason Millman and forward Linus Sandin are going to be on it for awhile based off of what Laperriere told Inside AHL Hockey after the game.

"Yeah, I think so," Laperriere said when asked if he expects Sandin will be out awhile. "We all saw the cross-check there, and the puck to the face. We're just waiting on the doctors to see what the next step is for him."

The chatter in the press box Saturday was that Sandin is likely awaiting surgery to repair/reset multiple fractures in his face. Sandin's father, Patric, sent a tweet last week saying he was flying to Philadelphia - likely to be with his son during what is quite an unfortunate injury.

Millman, on the other hand, has a lower body injury and was introduced in Saturday night's player introductions as he hobbled his way on crutches to the bench.

"I think he's weeks away," Laperriere said, confirming Millman's lower body injury.

It sounded like there was an improvement in his status the way Laperriere worded his update on Millman. Perhaps the injury is not as severe as initially feared.