After having a week off, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-11-4-1) ended an eight-game losing streak Saturday night against the Cleveland Monsters (10-8-2-3) at the PPL Center. The Phantoms hosted their annual Teddy Bear Toss night.
The last time the Phantoms played was last Friday, December 3rd, in a 5-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers at the PPL Center. Due to COVID affecting both the Hershey Bears and Harford Wolf Pack, the Phantoms had to reschedule those games.
Felix Sandstrom got the start in goal, and the scratches were Cooper Zech, Linus Sandin, Brennan Saulnier, Sam Ersson, and Tyson Foerster. Wade Allison made his 2021 Phantoms debut.
The Phantoms got off to a fast start with a couple of shot opportunities. Then, at 7:14 in the first period, a slashing call against Liam Foudy put the Phantoms on the power play.
During the power-play, Wade Allison got a shot off that hit the pad of Daniil Tarasov, only for Gerry Mayhew to finish the play down low in the left circle that put the Phantoms up 1-0. Wade Allison (1) and Cam York (6) assisted Mayhew’s goal.
The game was delayed for the annual teddy bear throw. This occurs when the Phantoms score the first goal. All bears are collected and given to the local hospital when the Phantoms visit for the holidays. The Phantoms players helped the crew and fans get the teddy bears off the ice and into rollers before play resumed.
After the Phantoms’ goal, Gerry Mayhew headed to the penalty box for slashing, putting the Monsters on the power-play. The Monsters tied the game 1-1 off the faceoff when Cole Clayton (1) shot from the blue line. A screen was set up to prevent Sandstrom from seeing the puck. Kevin Stenlund (10) and Josh Dunne (4) assisted Clayton’s goal.
With 2:14 left in the first period, Gerry Mayhew and Garrett Wilson rushed for a two-on-one play. However, Mayhew did not take the shot. Instead, he passed it to Garrett Wilson, who missed the shot. Late in the first period, Isaac Ratcliffe had a shot opportunity, but his shot went high and out of play.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period with the shots 16-8 Phantoms. The Phantoms played a really good first period.
In the second period, Pat Nagle came in for Felix Sandstrom. It was unknown why Sandstrom was pulled from the game. The Phantoms were back on the power-play 39 seconds into the second period after a delay of game call against Billy Sweezey.
However, the penalty was cut short when Carson Meyer stole the puck before Egor Zamula tripped him, resulting in a penalty shot. Luckily for the Phantoms, Pat Nagle stopped the shot. With 10:15 left, the Monsters took a 2-1 lead after Thomas Schemitsch went around the net before finding Tyler Sikura (6) for the goal past the left pad of Nagle.
Cleveland continued to put pressure on the Phantoms. The Phantoms were tired and out of gas. The Phantoms caught a break at 11:52 when Olivier LeBlanc was called for tripping, putting the Phantoms on their third power-play.
With 7:28 left in the second period, Egor Zamula (2) made up for the penalty earlier by scoring his second goal from the center point that tied the game 2-2. Cal O’Reilly (5) and Matthew Strome (3) assisted Zamula’s goal. After two periods, the game remained tied 2-2 with the shots 12-7 Monsters.
The Phantoms were having issues on defense that allowed the Monsters to get a breakaway and fast-break chances. This game could’ve gone bad, but Pat Nagle was having an outstanding game.
In the third period, the Phantoms broke the tie 3-2 with 17:30 left after a three-on-one play resulting in a goal by Adam Clendening (3), who buried the shot to the lower-left circle past Tarasov. Matthew Strome (4) and Hayden Hodgson (3) assisted Clendening’s goal.
A minute and fifteen seconds later, Maksim Sushko (2) stole the puck and sprinted towards Tarasov before firing to the right circle for his first goal of the season for a 4-2 lead.
With 10:25 left, the Phantoms struggled in their zone as they desperately needed a line change. The Monsters were missing their shots but kept the puck in the Phantoms’ zone, not allowing the change.
The Phantoms were able to get the puck out of the zone, but icing was called, so no change could be made. After the faceoff, the Phantoms were able to clear the puck to make a line change. Meanwhile, both teams were creating turnovers but were not able to finish plays.
With 2:06 left in the game, the Monsters pulled Tarasov. However, a too many men penalty killed the extra attack as the Phantoms were back on their fifth power-play. Unfortunately, the Phantoms did not add another goal during the power-play.
The Phantoms defeated the Monsters 4-2 to end an eight-game losing streak. The shots in the third period were 10-8 Monsters.
The Phantoms finished the night with 31 shots, 2/5 on the power-play, and starter Felix Sandstrom made seven of eight saves. Pat Nagle finished the game with 21 of 22 saves.
The Phantoms look to make it two wins in a row when they play the Hartford Wolf Pack today at 3:05 pm from the PPL Center.
