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GAME 4 RECAP: PHANTOMS SEASON ENDS IN 3-1 LOSS TO MARLIES
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms' 2017-18 season is over. The team fell to the Toronto Marlies in a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals, completed by Toronto with a 3-1 win at the PPL Center in Game 4 on Friday night.
Three of the four games in the series went to the third period tied, and Game 2 was an OT decision for Toronto. Each of those games was decided either by one goal or by one plus an empty netter. A 5-0 blowout in Game 3 was the lone lopsided outcome. Nevertheless, the Marlies were clearly the better team pretty much throughout the series.
The Marlies did an excellent job in all three zones in the series, often keeping the Phantoms hemmed in deep with a swarming forecheck. Offensively, they gave the Phantoms matchup problems with their depth and, in particular, the Phantoms had no answers for stopping Andreas Johnsson, Carl Grundström and Miro Aaltonen. Defensively, they bottled the Phantoms up, confined them to the perimeter or low-to-high plays most of the time when Lehigh Valley did get entries.
In goal, Garret Sparks was outstanding for the Marlies, including a Game 3 shutout and 19 saves on 20 shots in Game 4. His best stops in the clincher came on Oskar Lindblom in the second period and especially against Phil Varone from the slot in the third period with the Phantoms looking to tie the game.
Varone, the AHL's MVP winner this season, had an ineffective series overall after returning from an injury that kept him out of the entire second round and the clinching game of the first round. He produced a secondary power play assist in Game 4 for his only point. Lindblom, who had seven points (4G, 3A) in his first seven playoff games after being assigned to the Phantoms from the Flyers for the duration of the playoffs, finished without a point in the Toronto series.
In Game 4, Johnsson (5th goal of the playoffs) scored a 5-on-3 power play goal to give the Marlies a 1-0 lead. In the third period, Johnsson scored again to put the Marlies ahead to stay. Trevor Moore added an empty net goal to ice the game and series.
Travis Sanheim scored a second period power play goal for the Phantoms to tie the game at 1-1. Of the six goals the Phantoms scored in the series, three were scored by defensemen. The others were a power play marker by Philippe Myers in Game 1 and a Mark Friedman goal in Game 2. Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon doled out massive ice time to Sanheim and partner Philippe Myers throughout the series.
In a losing cause, Alex Lyon stopped 26 of 28 shots. He made a spectacular kick save in the second period to keep the game tied. The game-winning goal by Johansson was a stoppable one but, overall, Lyon gave his team a chance to stay alive. He finished the playoffs with a 1.98 GAA and .944 save percentage.
The Marlies have won nine straight games in the postseason and will face the winner of the Texas Stars vs. Rockford IceHogs in the Calder Cup Finals. Toronto, who had the top record in the AHL during the regular season (the Phantoms were second), will be the favorite.
In Game 4, although the scoreless first period shot totals were 9-4 in favor of Toronto, the play itself was rather even. The Phantoms were the more physical team early on and got a forecheck going -- despite a lack of shots -- that forced several turnovers. Errant passes, which were a problem for the Phantoms all series, ended up taking away several of their own potential scoring opportunities.
With Myers caught up ice, Sanheim broke up a 2-on-1 for the Marlies and the Phantoms had a 4-on-2 the other way. The Phantoms killed off the game's first penalty in good shape, except for a bang-bang chance for the Marlies off a clean win on the first offensive zone faceoff of the advantage. Later, Lindblom had one particularly good forechecking shift and Danick Martel (himself rather quiet overall throughout the series) had a scoring chance on the next shift; perhaps the only back-to-back shifts in the opening period where the Phantoms had Toronto on their heels.
At the 58-second mark of the second period, the Phantoms were called on a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty. The Toronto 5-on-4 became a 5-on-3 with 48 seconds left on the original penalty, as Reece Willcox took a slashing penalty. The Marlies cashed in quickly on the two-man advantage to take a 1-0 lead at 2:24.
On the goal, the Marlies rapidly carved up the Phantoms' PK triangle. Taking a cross-ice pass from Chris Mueller (8th assist of the playoffs) a long stride away from the right post, Johnsson buried the chance to the short side. After the goal was scored, a frustrated Sanheim delivered a blatant cross-check to Johnsson's thigh but was not penalized. The secondary assist went to Calle Rosén.
Late in the remaining 5-on-4 time, the Phantoms caught a break on a wave of pressure from the Marlies. Lyon lost his stick and then, along the side boards, Sanheim briefly lost his stick, too, but quickly retrieved it.
Once play got back to even strength, the Phantoms generated a bit of momentum. Chris Conner was denied on a good scoring chance off the rush. Shortly thereafter, Alex Krushelnyski (playing in place of the banged-up Mike Vecchione, who took warmups but was a late scratch), broke through the defense but was stops by Sparks. The Marlies immediately countered the other way, and Lyon robbed Muller.
Shortly thereafter, Lyon erased a pair of mistakes -- one by Sanheim, beaten in one-on-one coverage, and then the goalie's own failed pokecheck attempt -- to make a 10-bell skate save on Colin Greening to keep the game tied at 1-1.
Lindblom had two great chances from close range to tie the game but could not finish off either play. At 11:45 of the second period, the Phantoms finally went on their first power play of the game as Pierre Engvall was boxed on a slashing minor.
At 13:11, the Phantoms scored on the power play to make it a 1-0 game. The sequence started with Sanheim keeping a play alive on the boards and getting the puck back to T.J. Brennan just inside the blueline. From there, the Phantoms generated good puck movement. Brennan went to Varone on the left circle. Varone passed to team captain Colin McDonald near the goal line well to the left of the net. Sanheim pinched into the right slot, took a perfect pass-out from McDonald, and blasted home a one-timer.
The Phantoms went back to the power play at 16:09 as Trevor Holl received an interference penalty for a late hit on Varone behind the net. Varone was down for awhile during the delayed call but eventually got up and seemed OK.
Unfortunately for the Phantoms, the second power play was a momentum killer. Lehigh Valley had trouble getting set up and the best chance of the two minutes was an odd-man shorthanded chance for the Marlies after Sanheim got turnstiled in trying to defend the rush.
The Marlies closed the second period with a big push. The Phantoms narrowly escaped as Johnsson and Grundström worked their magic again, and Lyon was dead to rights, but the shot was put back into the goalie. Second period shots were 9-9.
As the third period started, Sanheim had one of his best two-way shifts of the game. Twice, he did a good job creating pressure up-ice. In between, he showed a good defensive stick.
The 1-1 score held until the 3:27 mark of the third period. The Marlies got their forecheck going and the Phantoms could not get out of their defensive zone. Finally, from the right circle just below the dot, Johnsson used a quick release to wrist the puck through Lyon's five-hole -- a good shot but still a stoppable opportunity for Lyon --to put Toronto ahead to stay. The assists went to Aaltonen and Grundström.
Once they got the lead, the Marlies bottled up the Phantoms for much of the third period. Shots were 2-1 in favor of Toronto through the first 10:36. Finally, Nicolas Aube-Kubel (pointless in 10 playoff games after a breakthrough regular season) intercepted a puck and sprung Varone for a great chance from the slot. Coming way to challenge, Sparks made his most important save of the game.
With 7:31 left, Myers was called on a holding penalty. The Marlies did not score on the power play but it shaved two precious minutes off the clock. For the next several minutes, the Marlies dialed up their forechecking pressure and kept the Phantoms hemmed in deep. A failed clear by Myers and a play in which Sanheim failed to protect the puck against the end boards or pin his man til help arrived prolonged a lengthy defensive zone shift.
The Marlies iced the puck with 2:33 left. The Phantoms used the opportunity to pull Lyon for a 6-on-5 attack. There were a few opportunites generated, the best of which was a seemingly open opportunity for Lindblom that disappeared as Martin Marincin blocked it.
Finally, with 42 seconds left to play, Moore scored a long-range empty net goal from the defensive side of the red line. The goal was unassisted. The Phantoms kept Lyon on the bench but generated nothing of consequence in the final desperate push. Third period shots were 11-7 in Toronto's favor (29-20 overall in the Marlies' favor)
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HAMILTON FALLS TO REGINA IN MEMORIAL CUP SEMIS
The Ontario Hockey League champion Hamilton Bulldogs fell, 4-2, to the tournament host Regina Pats in the semifinal game of the 2018 Memorial Cup on Friday night in Regina. Flyers 2017 fourth-round pick Matthew Strome not figure in the scoring, had two shots on goal and was minus-one in a losing cause. He had two assists in four Memorial Cup games.
Regina, an 87-point team during the Western Hockey League regular season, was defeated in the first round of the WHL playoffs by the eventual champion Swift Current Broncos but earned an automatic spot in the Memorial Cup as the team representing the host venue. Now John Paddock's team is one win away from being the champions of the Canadian Hockey League.
On Sunday, the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan will provide the opposition for Regina in the Memorial Cup championship game. With Strome's team losing on Friday and the Phantoms being eliminated from the Calder Cup playoffs, Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov has the distinction of being the final Flyers-affiliated player to be playing this spring.
Swedish defenseman Linus Högberg won the SHL championship with the Växjö Lakers this season. Strome and Rubtsov won championships in their respective CHL-affiliated leagues, and Rubtsov has a chance to win the Memorial Cup. Top goaltending prospect Carter Hart won the gold medal at the 2017-18 World Junior Championships as a member of Team Canada. Hart (Everett Silvertips) and 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) played for teams that lost in their respective junior league playoff finals.
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QUICK HITS: MAY 26, 2018
* Defenseman Samuel Morin, who will miss up to about nine months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee suffered in the first period of Game 4 (the quintuple overtime game) of the Phantoms' second round playoff series against the Charlotte Checkers, posted the following on his Twitter account on Friday:
* Carter Hart is a finalist for both CHL Player of the Year and CHL Goaltender of the Year (an award he won two seasons ago). The winners will be announced on Saturday.
* Today in Flyers History: On May 26, 1995, the Flyers finished off a sweep of the defending Stanley Cup champion Rangers with a 4-1 win at Madison Square Garden. With the victory, the Flyers advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since a Wales Conference Final appearance in 1989.
May 26 also marks the nine-year anniversary of the passing of Peter Zezel at age 44 after battling hemolytic anemia, a rare blood disorder.
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