Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! 2019-20 Season: Utica - 4 at Lehigh Valley - 2 (12/28/19)

Allentown, P.A. -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-15-1-4) fell to the Utica Comets (19-10-2-2) by a score of 4-2 on Saturday night at PPL Center. Here are some thoughts I had about one of the strangest games of the season.

Saturday night's game story -> http://insideahlhockey.com/article/game-story-2019-20-season-utica-at-lehigh-valley-122819

Three Things

1. A whole lot of nothing for 30 minutes

The first period and a half was one of the most uneventful portions of a hockey game I can remember. 10 minutes into the second period, shots for the entire game were 9-6 Utica.

Other than Utica wing Kole Lind’s late first period goal, both teams struggled to get any quality chances, mostly due to sloppy passing and puck handling.

Maybe it was because of both teams recovering from Christmas break rust or the fact that both teams played last night, as Scott Gordon brought up after the game, but it was not the most thrilling product to grace the PPL Center ice. That much is for sure.

2. Four in 4:42

As boring as the first 30 minutes were, the game picked up in a dramatic way over a four-minute stretch late in the second.

The Phantoms scored two goals in the span of 39 seconds courtesy of Kurtis Gabriel and Gerry Fitzgerald, which gave the team a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, just 1:18 later, Comets forward Wacey Hamilton tied the game, and 2:55 after that, former Phantom Justin Bailey gave Utica their second lead of the night. All four of those goals came within a 4:42 window.

It felt like the Phantoms were finally starting to build some momentum after their two goals. With all the injuries throughout the organization and all the players currently up with Philadelphia right now, goals have been, and will continue to be, hard to come by for Lehigh Valley. Despite their strong play in the third period, they were not able to rebound from giving those two goals right back in a matter of minutes.

3. Gerry Fitzgerald getting hot?

One player that has stepped up for the Phantoms so far this weekend has been Gerry Fitzgerald. The 26-year-old recorded his second goal in as many nights against the Comets and has tallied three points (2G, 1A) in his last four games overall.

With goals being so hard to come by right now for Lehigh Valley, the team hopes that Fitzgerald can continue his hot streak on Sunday afternoon against the Hershey Bears, who had their nine-game winning streak snapped by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night.