Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! (12/03/21)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-11-5) dropped another frustrating game Friday night in a 5-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers (9-9-2) in another game where the Phantoms took a first period lead but were unable to add to it or maintain it before letting it slip away in the third.

Friday night's game story -> https://insideahlhockey.com/article/game-story-charlotte-5-at-lehigh-valley-3-12321

Three Things

1. Solid Start

The Phantoms got off to a solid start, drawing themselves an extended 5-on-3 in the opening 5:12 of the contest and controlling the play in the early-going - jumping out to an 8-2 edge in shots on goal. That doesn't include the back-to-back shots off the posts to begin the 5-on-3 power play, otherwise perhaps Lehigh Valley would have opened up a big lead early.

Head coach Ian Laperriere didn't quite see it that way.

"No, I didn't like the effort tonight," Laperriere told Inside AHL Hockey after the game. "We did good things, but we give the game away, like, with brain cramp mistakes. I'm not happy about the way we played."

Instead, the two teams played to a scoreless tie until a Checkers' icing call in the final minute of the period gave the Phantoms an offensive zone draw.

Cal O'Reilly won the ensuing face-off, and the Phantoms were able to take a 1-0 lead into the middle frame thanks to a shot through traffic from the right point by Adam Clendening. Egor Zamula added his eighth assist of the season on Clendening's second goal of 2021-22, making Zamula the team's leader in assists.

"It would have been nice to get one early on on the powerplay get a little lead," Phantoms alternate captain Garrett Wilson told Inside AHL Hockey after the game. "But we still we still had a lead [coming] in after the first [period]."

2. Shaky Middle Frame

For as solid as the Phantoms were in the opening period, they came out flat in the middle frame and Charlotte dominated most of the period - at one point out shooting Lehigh Valley 14-2 in the middle frame.

They tied the game on the opening shift of the period, and kept the Phantoms on their heels most of the period - later taking the lead in the middle of the period on a deflection goal from Henry Bowlby.

"Had a slow start to the second, kind of turn one over, then we turn over another one and its in back of our net," Wilson explained, adding, "and then I don't know they kind of took it to us for a bit. They started working three high in our zone and we were kind of running around a bit."

Shortly after the Checkers took the 2-1 lead, however, came a big response from Lehigh Valley to tie the game at 2-2.

The Phantoms' fourth line of Isaac Ratcliffe, Matthew Strome and Nick Lappin stepped up in a big way, creating off of the forecheck and making life difficult for the opposition.

Lappin got stoned on an attempt from the slot, but Strome was able to get the rebound back to him and he made the most of the second opportunity - tying the game just 1:32 after Charlotte had themselves a go-ahead goal.

"Some good plays by my linemates there to get me the puck," Lappin said of his first with the Phantoms. "I had a couple of chances before that on the same, shift wasn't able to score and finally was able to get one. Yeah, that felt good. But, you know, we want to win."

3. End of the First Quarter

Through the first 19 games of the season - one-fourth of the team's 76-game schedule, the Phantoms have just three wins.

They are winless in their past eight games.

They are also winless on the season in one-goal games, losing all nine of them (0-4-5). And that doesn't include several one-goal games that ended with an empty net tally and a two-goal cushion in the final score like Friday's game against Charlotte.

Still, there's plenty of time left to right the ship. And the veteran players like Wilson and team captain Cal O'Reilly know this. They just have to help steer the ship through these rough waters.

"I mean we're in the games, so we're not too far off," Wilson said, explaining, "It definitely hurts a lot more being in it the whole game and losing these close ones. The one goal games... on the wrong end of all of them. So we have to stick together here, find a way and I mean there's still a lot of a lot hockey left in the season. So look at that at that as a positive and hopefully start stringing a few together here."