Surviving the Sound Tigers - Phantoms Hold Off Bridgeport
ALLENTOWN - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-1-0-1) got off to a strong start Friday night on home ice and although the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (1-3-0-0) made things interesting in the third period, Danick Martel and the Phantoms prevailed in a 5-2 decision to kick off this weekend's games.
Martel (two goals, one assist and a fight) was all over the ice tonight for Lehigh Valley in the win. His second period goal extended the Phantoms' lead to 2-0 and his AHL-leading 7th goal of the season late in the third period sealed the deal on the Phantoms' win.
Dustin Tokarski made his first start in a Phantoms' uniform and played well, stopping 31 of the 33 shots he faced including a Sportscenter Top-10 worthy save on Sound Tigers forward Casey Bailey in the first period.
Steve Bernier and Ben Holmstrom tallied goals 47 seconds apart in the third period to pull Bridgeport out of a 3-0 deficit and made it a one-goal game, but that's as close as they would get despite dominating the final frame. Kristers Gudlevskis (27 saves - 31 shots) made plenty of bigtime saves, but didn't get enough help from his teammates in front of him in tonight's loss for the Sound Tigers.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms are back in action Saturday night when they make their first trip to Binghamton for a 7:05 p.m. ET face-off against the Devils. You can follow the action while Lehigh Valley is on the road here at Inside AHL Hockey all season long!
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Steven Swavely Oskar Lindblom - Corban Knight (A) - Chris Conner (A)Danick Martel - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Tyrell Goulbourne - Mikhail Vorobyev - Radel Fazleev
Will O'Neill - Mark Alt Mark Friedman - Reece Willcox Sam Morin - Phil Myers
Dustin Tokarski - Alex Lyon
Scratches: Anthony Stolarz (knee surgery - out indefinitely), Cole Bardreau (upper body), Colin McDonald (lower body), Max Lamarche (healthy) and T.J. Brennan (undisclosed)
RECAP
The Phantoms got off to another strong on home ice Friday night, getting in on the forecheck early and causing turnovers which led to some early chances in the offensive zone.
The team's top line of Greg Carey, Phil Varone and Steven Swavely got the team on the board 4:36 into play - a reward for their hard work earlier in the period.
Varone sent a smooth pass through the neutral up to Carey at the offensive zone blue line, and Carey did the rest - skating the puck to the top of the left-wing circle before sniping one to the top corner on Kristers Gudlevskis for his third goal of the season. Mark Friedman added a second assist on the play.
From there, the Sound Tigers began to get a more consistent attack going. What was a 7-2 shots advantage for Lehigh Valley turned into a 10-9 Sound Tigers edge heading into the middle frame.
Bridgeport seemed content on simply getting pucks to the net, firing at will from the outside. For the most part, the Phantoms defenders were able to get into shooting lanes and block/trap the puck out of high-scoring chance areas. It was a bend, but don't break strategy for Lehigh Valley's defense in the opening 20 minutes and with Dustin Tokarski looking sharp in net the Phantoms carried their 1-0 lead into the second period.
On one particular play late in the first period, Tokarski was tripped up at the side of his net and was on his stomach with a Bridgeport shooter in the slot with the puck. Somehow, Tokarski threw up his glove as a last-ditch effort and snared the puck out of mid-air to keep his team ahead. A strong showing in his first start with Lehigh Valley through 20 minutes.
Still, a pretty evenly played first period and a one-goal game heading to the middle frame.
In fact, Bridgeport arguably had the edge in play early in the second period too - building upon their finish to the first frame. Dustin Tokarski and the Phantoms' defense held, and it was the Phantoms extending their lead to 2-0 on a big goal by Danick Martel with 5:37 left before the second intermission.
Mike Vecchione made a heads up play to create the goal. He sent a bank pass off the boards through the neutral zone to a speedy Martel, who caught the pass in stride and blew past the Sound Tigers defense before firing a quick shot past Gudlevskis for his AHL-leading sixth goal of the season.
The Sound Tigers had a chance to cut the Phantoms' lead in half, getting a power play opportunity with 2:01 left in the middle frame.
Instead, it was the Phantoms scoring a back-breaking shorthanded goal to make it a 3-0 game heading to the third period. Steven Swavely got to a loose puck that had been cleared out of harms way by Mark Alt, and Swavely turned on the jets - getting to the edge before firing a perfect pass across to Chris Conner who finished it off with an even better shot wired to the top shelf past Gudllevskis for an insurance marker.
Bridgeport didn't go away quietly into the night. Instead, they tallied a pair of goals just 47 seconds apart to make it a one-goal game with 12:50 left in regulation.
The Phantoms appeared to have numbers entering offensive zone, but a pass for Conner was off-target and caused him to fall to the ice - giving BRidgeport a 3-on-1 the other way. On the ensuing rush, Steve Bernier skated down the left wing and shot one off the post and in past Dustin Tokarski - ending his shutout bid in his first start with Lehigh Valley since being acquired in a trade earlier this month.
The Sound Tigers' second goal was the result of a deflected point shot. Former Adirondack Phantoms captain and current Sound Tigers captain Ben Holmstrom got a piece of Seth Helgeson's shot from the left point on the shift after Bernier's goal.
Just like that it went from a 3-0 Phantoms' lead with comfort to a one-goal hockey game with plenty of time left to play.
Bridgeport really took it to the Phantoms in the third period, at one point out shooting Lehigh Valley by a 13-2 margin in the period. Tokarski made the necessary stops after the two-goal outburst by the Sound Tigers, and Martel eventually added his second of the night and league-leading 7th of the season to seal the deal. Martel also won a race for a loose puck in the corner and fed a pass to Phil Varone for an empty net tally to cap the scoring in the Phantoms' 5-2 win.
POST-GAME REACTION
Head coach Scott Gordon
Q: Shorthanded goal late in second proved to be very important tonight?
A: Yeah, I mean that's a 3-0 game at that point. I thought the 2nd period was our best period - I don't think we gave up a lot, especially where we have been struggling from a numbers standpoint on our special teams. To be able to get a shorthanded goal, and also have a successful penalty kill tonight was a step in the right direction. Now we just have to get better on the power play.
Q: More of them bringing it or leaving foot off the pedal?
A: I didn't see the first goal that they scored, I think there was a collision? That's something that you can't plan for. And they score on it - if they don't score on it it's still 3-0. Then they get the second goal, it was a coverage situation that usually our coverage takes care of that. We got caught with some guys down low and we were just too aggressive on it.
I thought, with losing Myers in the first period, they were coming hard on the five D and our D started backing off a little bit, probably playing it a bit safe and just gave up some territory. It wasn't so much that they came harder at us, we just probably were playing a little too safe in the neutral zone.
Q: On how Tokarski looked?
A: He made that huge save in the 1st period where he got his legs taken out from underneath him and reached out and caught that puck. After that, I don't think he had a tough save until the third period. I thought we limited their chances. And in the third, I thought he tracked the puck really well and controlled the puck and made some big saves to get a face-off which is huge.
ROSTER NOTES
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Dustin Tokarski appears to be getting his first start in a Phantoms uniform tonight against Bridgeport. Tokarski relieved Lyon last Friday night against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. If this is indeed the case, it is almost certain that Lyon will get the net Saturday in Binghamton.
Forward Matt Read was called back up to Philadelphia, leaving the Phantoms with 12 healthy forwards on the roster. Steven Swavely made his season debut tonight after sitting out the first five games as a healthy scratch, and began the night taking Read's spot on the team's top line right wing alongside Phil Varone and Greg Carey.
Defenseman T.J. Brennan was said to be "banged up", according to head coach Scott Gordon, following his game misconduct for cross-checking Saturday night at home against the Penguins. After his cross-checking incident, Penguins enforcer Tom Sestito began throwing punches to the back of Brennan's head followed by a mostly-wrestling match with only one willing combatant. Brennan hasn't played since, and wasn't seen at practice with the team this week. Something worth keeping an eye on.
Gordon ruled Brennan out of Saturday night's game in Binghamton.
Forwards Cole Bardreau (upper body) and Colin McDonald (lower body) are not expected to be in tonight's opening lineup. Both are nearing returns to the lineup, and might not be too far off from returning to game action. Head coach Scott Gordon only said when word about the injured forwards' status entering the week and their impending return to action. "Soon."
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
4:36: LV - Carey (3) - Varone, Friedman 9:59: BST - (PP) Helgeson, minor (slashing) 18:40: BST - (PP) Fritz, minor (slashing)
2nd Period
4:51: BST - Burroughs, major (fighting) 4:51: LV - Martel, major (fighting) 10:10: LV - (PP) Alt, minor (cross-checking) 11:13: BST - (PP) St. Denis, minor (slashing) 14:23: LV - Martel (6) - Vecchione, Morin 17:59: LV - (PP) Knight, minor (slashing) 18:53: LV - SHG Conner (1) - Swavely, Alt
3rd Period
3:21: LV - (PP) Willcox, minor (hooking) 6:23: BST - Bernier (3) - Fritz 7:10: BST - Holmstrom - Helgeson, Aho 17:29: LV - Martel (7) - Alt, Aube-Kubel 19:46: LV - Varone (2) - Martel, Alt
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 2 - 2 = 5 Bridgeport 0 - 0 - 2 = 2
Shots
Lehigh Valley 9 - 18 - 5 = 32 Bridgeport 10 - 7 - 16 = 33
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (31 saves - 33 shots) BST - Kristers Gudlevskis (27 saves - 31 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-3 BST: 0-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 3-for-3 BST: 3-for-3
Attendance: 7,541
