Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! Game 16: Lehigh Valley - 2 at Springfield - 3
SPRINGFIELD, MA - Through the opening two periods of play - a 1-1 tie between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-5-2) and Springfield Thunderbirds (9-4-2) - the team played pretty well.
Taylor Leier summed it up best after the game - a 3-1 loss.
"All it took was five minutes"
Call it what you will, but the Phantoms got away from things and it cost them dearly to the tune of two goals 97 seconds apart in the opening 3:58 of the final frame - the turning point.
Tonight's Gameday 'Live Blog' with full recap (restricted to our subscribers) --> http://insideahlhockey.com/article/gameday-game-16-lehigh-valley-9-4-2-at-springfield-8-4-2-705-pm-et
THREE THINGS
1. Drawing First Blood
Tonight, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms - in Game #16 on the season - opened the scoring and took a 1-0 lead for just the fourth time this season. Though the lead was short-lived, it's something the team should try doing more often despite being 7-4-1 in the 12 games they fell behind early. That's a trend that is unlikely to continue if the Phantoms routinely find themselves trailing the game early.
2. Penalty Kill Streak Ends
It only took four seconds into the first penalty kill of the evening for the Phantoms' streak of 28 straight and seven straight games without a power play goal against ended, but it's worth noting the turnaround for the PK in back-to-back nights. Got some interesting answers from Taylor Leier about the penalty kill in both Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia, which I'll share later in the week.
3. Hart Responds
After being pulled 13 minutes into his start last night in Providence - his second early dismissal of the season - Hart was given the net tonight in Springfield and responded well after a tough outing less than 24 hours ago.
Hart played well enough to win, but veteran Michael Hutchinson played a great game and won the goalie duel.
Hart will be fine. "It's all part of the process" as head coach Scott Gordon said after tonight's game.
POST-GAME REACTION
Head coach Scott Gordon
On the first four minutes of the 3rd:
Just a couple lost opportunities to start a cycle, get a puck in, sloppy on the breakout. Whatever that time frame was - I don't know if was five minutes or seven minutes - to me the rest of the game was well played by our guys. I thought we did a lot of good stuff consistently. I think their goalie played pretty well too.
On it being frustrating to not see those chance go in:
We've scored a lot of goals. There's going to be nights where the goalie is up to the task. We've been fortunate because we average four goals a game - we still got two - but if a different guy is in net maybe it's a different story.
On how deflating two quick goals:
It's part of the process. We've had our share of games where we weren't good for two periods and had great third periods. So it's all a wash.
Forward Taylor Leier
On the two goals against in the third:
Yeah, we had a couple minutes off. We just got away from keeping it simple on the road. I think this building plays fast, and it felt like the game tonight was completely different than the game we beat them 8-2. We had success when played together, and played simple. All it took was five minutes and they got two goals, so that was the turning point.
On not feeling rattled down:
Same thing as last night. Last night we played worse obviously down 4-1 after the first. But we have so many skilled players, so many guys capable of scoring. I wouldn't say it's not a worry, but we're not intimidated by a deficit in the second or third period.
