Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! Game 18: Providence - 1 at Lehigh Valley - 2
ALLENTOWN, PA -- After arguably the best start to a hockey game this season for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, it was a complete 180 for the home team the rest of the night - letting a 2-0 lead in the opening 67 seconds of the contest turn into a 6-3 drubbing at the hands of a Providence Bruins team that entered the evening in last place in the Atlantic Division standings.
Tonight's Gameday 'Live Blog' with a full recap of the action -> http://insideahlhockey.com/article/gameday-game-18-providence-6-8-3-at-lehigh-valley-10-5-2-715-pm-et
THREE THINGS
1. Hot & Cold
Friday night against Hershey, it was a sluggish start for the Phantoms as they went down 1-0 early before responding positively the rest of the way - breaking the game open later in the third period in route to a 6-2 win.
Tonight against Providence, it was essentially the opposite.
The Phantoms tallied two quick goals in the opening 1;07 of the contest, but seemingly played worse as the game continued - seeing their 2-0 lead slip away on their way to being outscored 6-1 after the two-goal outburst on the opening few shifts of the game.
"Kind of the opposite of what we usually do, like you said," Bardreau said when asked about what went wrong after the opening surge. "I don't know what happened there, but change of momentum and we were fighting it toward the end of the game and it ended up killing us."
2. Playing The Right Way
Head coach Scott Gordon talked about playing the right way, saying the Phantoms weren't playing to their strengths and what makes them successful.
And what is that? Playing with speed.
In the opening minute, the Phantoms were buzzing. Nicolas Aube-Kubel took a pass at the blue line and took it in-stride on his way to driving to the net and scoring his fourth of the season.
After that, it seemed the Phantoms had a hard time getting in on the attack. And it was because of their approach entering the offensive zone - whether it was not entering the zone with speed or making the wrong read to chip a puck in or carry it in, etc.
The end result was a very frustrating night for the Phantoms.
3. More Milestones
It was another milestone night for the Phantoms, as defenseman T.J. Brennan appeared in his 600th career AHL game Saturday night. Brennan has 154 goals and 290 assists in those 600 games to go along with being a five-time AHL All-Star and a two-time Eddie Shore Award winner given to the league's top defenseman, voted annually by AHL media and coaches.
Greg Carey's goal 38 seconds into the contest marked his 100th career AHL tally in what was his 300th career pro game (270 AHL, 30 ECHL). 71 of Carey's 100 career goals have come in his 164 games with the Phantoms.
POST-GAME REACTION
Head coach Scott Gordon
On the fast start being a point of emphasis tonight:
Wasn't worth it, was it? Yeah, that was start we wanted. We had a good penalty kill. and I think after that we did some things that got us away from playing the right way. Turning down shot opportunities, turning pucks over, losing battles. We got to the 2nd and there wasn't much improvement in our play and it was almost inevitable it was going to happen. We got the 3rd one and it should have woke us up, and it didn't.
On only registering four shots in the third:
They didn't register on the clock, but we did have some shots that were pretty good opportunities but just not enough. Not enough in-zone time, that was more bothersome to me than what the final shots were. We had ample opportunities to score, and we didn't hit the net. That's the way it goes.
