Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! (12/17/21)

HARTFORD, CT - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (6-11-5) made it a season-high three-game win streak Friday night in Hartford, defeating the Atlantic Division leading WolfPack (12-5-3) in regulation with a gritty, character win on the road.

Friday night's game story -> https://insideahlhockey.com/article/game-story-lehigh-valley-3-at-hartford-1-121721

Three Things

1. A Solid Team Win On The Road

"On the road like this against a team like that, just have to play simple," Connor Bunnman told InsideAHLHockey Friday night in Hartford, summing up the Phantoms' third straight win pretty well in less than 20 words.

There wasn't anything flashy about Friday night's win in Hartford, a 3-1 decision aided by an empty net goal in the final two minutes of regulation. '

"That was a good road game. And, you know, the boys respected the game plan from minute one," Laperriere told InsideAHLHockey.com after the win. "It's great to see the guys playing the right way for 60 minutes. And again, it's never gonna be a perfect game. But they deserved the win tonight. And, you know, everybody was involved tonight and from our goalie up. We just need to keep learning from our mistakes and [we'll] become a better team."

The Phantoms have, seemingly, bought in fully to the new identity that Laperriere has been instilling since his first day on the job. And the hard work is beginning to pay off.

2. Playing To Win Vs Playing Not To Lose

The thing that stood out in last night's win was how the Phantoms attacked the third period, as the two teams entered the final frame in a one-goal game with the Phantoms ahead 2-1.

In that situation, more times than not the team holding the lead tries to do just that in the final 20 minutes. Hold on to the lead. They play conservatively, and they get out-chanced and out shot until they're clinging to the lead as their opponent pulls the goalie for the extra skater.

That's not what happened Friday night. Instead, the Phantoms arguably saved their best period for last - outshooting Hartford 15-4 in the third and not allowing the Wolf Pack to really generate much of anything offensively before Sushko sealed the deal with an empty net tally with 2:00 left to play.

"I'd love to score eight goals, don't get me wrong, but that's not winning hockey. When you score eight goals, it's because you're taking [a lot of] risks. Playing the right way, you 3-1 games," Laperriere said, adding, "When it really counts, well, in the playoffs, you don't see those 8-7 games. You want your team to be comfortable in those games."

3. Wade Allison Exits Early

In his third game back after a high-ankle sprain in the fall during the Flyers-Rangers rookie game, Wade Allison finished a check on a Hartford forward at the Phantoms' bench midway through the third period and ended up getting the worst of it as he circled back and headed to the bench in obvious discomfort.

To his credit, in a one-goal game in the third period, he stayed on the bench while being tended to by the team's training staff - missing one shift with his linemates Maksim Sushko and Cal O'Reilly before returning and nearly converting on a breakaway chance. That one shift back was his final one of the night as he later exited to the Phantoms' locker room after a stoppage in play with 6:29 left in the third period.

The only good news coming out of the Allison ailment is that it's an upper body injury unrelated to the high-ankle sprain he suffered in September. Still, it's another bump in the road for Allison as the injuries seem to be piling up on him in his young pro career. Allison's status moving forward, and availability for Saturday night's home matchup with Rochester, was not immediately known following Friday night's game in Hartford.