Phantoms Strike First - Late Power Play Goal Gives Lehigh Valley Early Series Lead (LV leads 1-0)
ALLENTOWN - If Friday's Game One was any indication, this Atlantic Division Finals series between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Charlotte Checkers is going to be extremely fast-paced and feature a ton of offensive firepower from both teams.
The two teams combined for 62 shots, and if not for spectacular goaltending from both Alex Lyon (LV) and Alex Nedeljkovic (CHA) the game could have turned into a track meet.
Instead, a goaltender's duel kept the game tied at 1-1 heading late into the third period before an unfortunate neutral zone collision left Phantoms' defenseman Travis Sanheim - the Philadelphia Flyers' top defense prospect in the AHL - writhing in pain on the ice with 1:49 left to play.
Checkers' forward Valentin Zykov, who gave the Checkers a 1-0 lead in the first period before Alex Krushelnyski's game-tying goal in the middle frame, was whistled for tripping on the play that left Sanheim needing to be helped off the ice by his teammates. The Phantoms power play made quick work of the opportunity, as Corban Knight got a puck to the slot for Greg Carey who, on one knee, fired a puck past Nedeljkovic six seconds into the man advantage to give Lehigh Valley the deciding goal.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Danick Martel - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Oskar Lindblom - Corban Knight - Chris Conner Greg Carey - Mikhail Vorobyev - Radel Fazleev Alex Krushelnyski - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald
T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Travis Sanheim - Phil Myers Reece Willcox - Max Lamarche
Alex Lyon - Dustin Tokarski
Scratches: John Muse, Anthony Stolarz, Sam Morin, Will O'Neill, Steven Swavely, Tyrell Goulbourne, Carsen Twarynski, Phil Varone, Pascal Laberge, David Drake, James de Haas and Isaac Ratcliffe
POST-GAME REACTION
GAME RECAP
There wasn't much flow to the opening minute - five whistle stoppages! - but once the two teams got settled in it was Charlotte possessing the puck with extended offensive zone time early and often. Lehigh Valley seemed content on keeping the Checkers to the outside, and did a good job overall keeping the puck from getting to the slot or in high-danger areas.
The Phantoms had a few good odd-man rushes in transition, most notably a 3-on-1 early in the contest that saw Phil Myers join a rush and get a pass in the middle before going forehand to backhand. Unfortunately for Lehigh Valley, Checkers' goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic negated the play without needing to make a save as he skated hard into his left post and dislodged the net before Myers had a chance to finish off his fancy stick work with a shot on net.
It wasn't until there was 4:33 left before the first intermission that the game's first goal was had, and it came after an extended shift in the Phantoms' defensive zone.
Phil Myers and Valentin Zykov were engaged in a net-front battle that continued for a good 45 seconds, and the Checkers were able to cycle the puck around and eventually able to get to a rebound in the slot. Lucas Wallmark got to a loose puck first, nudged it to the inside of the left-wing circle for Zykov who had trailed away from the slot and the Russian forward fired a quick shot past Lyon to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead heading into the middle frame.
Lehigh Valley seemed to figure out what they needed to do in order to be more successful against Charlotte in the middle frame. They picked up the hitting and started setting up their forecheck with much more consistency than in the opening 20 minutes. No longer was Charlotte able to get the puck out of their zone as quickly as the puck came in, but instead were mucking and battling in 1-on-1 battles and unable to get a quick transition game going.
In fact, the Phantoms tied the game up at 1-1 as a direct result of being physical on the forecheck. Cole Bardreau chipped a puck into the offensive zone, and captain Colin McDonald was hard on the puck as the first man in - punishing the Checkers' defenseman behind the net and forcing a loose puck that Bardreau swooped in and collected before giving it back to McDonald at the side of the net. McDonald's stuff attempt was stopped, but he got his own rebound and shuffled it across to Alex Krushelnyski who slammed it home 6:17 into the middle frame.
From there, the goaltending duel between Lyon and Nedeljkovic continued.
Krushelnyski was all over the ice, and nearly gave the Phantoms a 2-1 lead late in the third period if not for a tremendous toe save by Nedeljkovic with just under five minutes left in regulation.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
5:58: CHA - (PP) Zykov, minor (high-sticking) 15:27: CHA - Zykov (2) - Wallmark 18:26: CHA - (PP) Zykov, minor (tripping)
2nd Period
1:24: LV - (PP) Bardreau, minor (hooking) 6:17: LV - Krushelnyski (1) - McDonald, Bardreau 10:05: CHA - (PP) McKeown, minor (high-sticking) 12:52: LV - (PP) Bardreau, minor (slashing)
3rd Period
2:45: CHA - (PP) Wallmark, minor (tripping) 18:11: CHA - (PP) Zykov, minor (tripping) 18:17: LV - PPG Carey (3) - Knight, Conner
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 1 - 1 = 2 Charlotte 1 - 0 - 0 = 1
Shots
Lehigh Valley 10 - 9 - 13 = 32 Charlotte 10 - 15 - 5 = 30
Goalies
LV - Alex Lyon (29 saves - 30 shots) CHA - Alex Nedeljkovic (30 saves - 32 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-5 CHA: 0-for-2
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-2 CHA: 4-for-5
Attendance: 5,549
