Phantoms Preseason - Game 1 vs. Charlotte
Phantoms blown out by Checkers in Lehigh Valley's preseason opener
It was a preseason opener to forget for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Friday night at the PPL Center.
The Charlotte Checkers came into downtown Allentown for the weekend ready to play, preseason or not. Five first period goals - including three in a span of 55 seconds - were more than enough in a 8-1 decision.
Former Ohio State University standout Nick Schilkey had himself a night in his first AHL game, tallying a hat trick and adding an assist for Charlotte in the win. Sergei Tolchinsky added three assists, while Spencer Smallman, Patrick Brown and Warren Foegele each added a goal and an assist to pace the Checkers' attack.
Derek Whitmore tallied the lone goal for Lehigh Valley in the loss, stemming from a great play by Mikhail Vorobyev to force a turnover and find Whitmore in front of the net.
These two teams will face-off against each other again Saturday night.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Danick Martel - Mikhail Vorobyev - Chris Conner Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Tyrell Goulbourne - Mike Vecchione - Matt Willows Carson Twarynski - Radel Fazleev - Derek Whitmore
Will O'Neill - Mark Alt Mark Friedman - Phil Myers James de Haas - Reece Willcox
Leland Irving - John Muse
Scratches: Steven Swavely, Corban Knight, Max Lamarche, Frank Hora, Chris McCarthy, Mark Dekanich, Alex Lyon, Alex Krushelynski, Nolan Zajac, Mike Huntebrinker, Mark Naclerio, T.J. Brennan and Ryan Segalla
GAME RECAP
Simply put, the Phantoms were not ready for this one. From the opening face-off through the opening five minutes, Charlotte controlled the play - setting up shop in the offensive zone and firing pucks at Phantoms' goaltender Leland Irving at will.
The Checkers took the 1-0 lead 5:44 into the contest after two Phantoms engaged Checkers' forward Mike Ferrantino along the end boards behind the Phantoms' net. Nick Schilkey was able to jar the puck loose from the board battle and bring it around the net and out in front, sliding a pass across to Spencer Smallman on the back door for an easy tap in.
The Phantoms got into a little bit of penalty trouble about nine minutes in.
Charlotte cashed in and then some to the tune of three goals in 55 seconds - blowing the game open midway through the first fame.
First, Philip Samuelsson got a puck at the center point on a 5-on-3 power play and fed Schilkey for a quick one-timer past Irving from the left-wing circle at 10:11.
Then, 41 seconds later the Checkers cashed in on the other Phantoms' penalty. A floating pass below the goal line from Sergey Tolchinsky was partially blocked down by a Phantoms' defender, but the puck made it through right to Patrick Brown at the top of the crease to make it a 2-0 Checkers lead.
Just 14 seconds after Tolchinsky's goal, a quick trio of passes from center point to right-wing to just inside the left-wing circle saw Steven Lorentz finish a quick shot past Irving.
And just like that, it was a 4-0 game with 8:35 left in the first period.
To make matters worse, the Checkers got a late first period power play and made it 3-for-3 on the night with the man advantage.
Brown sent a pass from the right wing boards to the high slot for Schilkey, whose knee-drop one-timer was wired to the top shelf on a great shot that beat Irving to the spot. Five goals and 18 shots through 20 minutes had Charlotte off and running.
To be clear, blaming goaltender Leland Irving for that first period is not only unfair but not true at all. The coverages in the defensive zone by Lehigh Valley would have made it tough for peak-performance Martin Brodeur or Patrick Roy.
Simply put, the Phantoms came out flat and the Checkers were ready to go in the first frame.
The Phantoms had a little better go of it in the middle frame, getting an early power play in the opening minute of the 2nd period, and gaining some momentum before getting on the board near the six-minute mark of the period.
A great hustle play by Mikhail Vorobyev getting in on the forecheck and disrupting the Checkers' defense led to a turnover and a quick pass from the play-making Russian born forward. Vorobyev sent a pass from behind the net out in front to Derek Whitmore, who was able to beat Charlotte's Alex Nedeljkovic to make it a 5-1 deficit for the Phantoms.
In fact, some of the Phantoms' rookies started to get things going and making smart plays. Unfortunately, Lehigh Valley was just buried in the first frame and wasn't able to recover.
An interesting decision by Irving to play a loose puck ended up seeing the Phantoms' goaltender handling the puck in the right-wing circle. It ended as you'd expect, with a turnover in the corner boards and a quick pass from Warren Foegele to Andrew Miller out in front for the Checkers' sixth goal of the contest.
Schilkey completed the hat trick late in the third period to complete the 8-1 final score.
POST-GAME REACTION
Coming soon! Stay Tuned!
EDIT: Having some trouble embedding tonight's post-game interviews.
Here's my chat with defenseman Will O'Neill.
Here's an honest assessment from forward Danick Martel.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
5:44: CHA - Smallman (1) - Schilkey, Ferrantino 8:54: LV - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Willows) 10:11: LV - (PP) Martel, minor (slashing) 10:30: CHA - PPG Schilkey (1) - Samuelsson, Tolchinsky 11:11: CHA - PPG Brown (1) - Tolchinsky, Bishop 11:25: CHA - Lorentz (1) - Bishop, McKeown 15:32: LV - (PP) Fazleev, minor (slashing) 17:15: CHA - PPG Schilkey (2) - Brown, Smallman
2nd Period
0:23: CHA - (PP) Foegele, minor (hooking) 5:52: LV - Whitmore (1) - Vorobyev 15:20: CHA - Miller (1) - Foegele
3rd Period
2:26: CHA - (PP) Wesley, minor (hooking) 4:19: CHA - (PP) Kanzig, minor (slashing) 12:03: LV - (PP) Myers, minor (tripping) 13:44: LV - (PP) Martel, minor (slashing) 15:34: CHA - PPG Foegele (1), Tolchinsky, Miller 15:42: CHA - (PP) McKeown, minor (holding) 17:53: CHA - Schilkey (3) - unassisted 19:00: CHA - Tolchinsky, minor (roughing) 19:00: CHA - Tolchinsky, ten-minute misconduct 19:00: LV - Willcox, minor (roughing) 19:00: LV - (PP) Willcox, minor (roughing)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 1 - 0 = 1 Charlotte 5 - 1 - 2 = 8
Shots
Lehigh Valley 4 - 13 - 8 = 25 Charlotte 18 - 13 - 10 = 41
Goalies
LV - Leland Irving (33 saves - 41 shots) CHA - Alex Nedeljkovic (24 saves - 25 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-4 CHA: 4-for-6
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-6 CHA: 4-for-4
Attendance: 5,477
