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Phantoms Advance to Eastern Conference Final; Sunday CHL & Worlds Games

May 13, 2018, 3:38 AM ET [87 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
PHANTOMS CRUSH CHARLOTTE, 5-1, ADVANCE TO EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL

Coming off their victory in the longest game in American Hockey League history, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms showed killer instinct in pouncing on and dismantling a demoralized Charlotte Checkers team in Game 5. With a 5-1 victory on Saturday, the Phantoms closed out the series and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Marlies.

After splitting the first two games of the series in Allentown, the Phantoms prevailed in three straight games in Charlotte's Bojangles Coliseum, where the Checkers had heretofore been nearly unbeatable this season. The Phantoms had gone 1-3-0 in Charlotte during the regular season.

Phantoms goaltender Alex Lyon stopped 27 of 28 shots. After eight periods of shutout hockey, he was finally solved for a heavily screened goal by Roland McKeown (1st of the playoffs) at 5:58 of the third period but it was the only one that eluded the second-year pro, Lyon improved his playoff record this spring to 6-1-0, with a 1.49 GAA and .959 save percentage.

For the Charlotte series, Lyon posted a 4-0 record, 0.73 GAA, and .979 save percentage. Since rejoining the Phantoms at the tail end of the AHL regular season after Brian Elliott returned to the Flyers' lineup from core muscle surgery, Lyon has gone 7-1-0, 1.43 GAA, .959 SV%.

The Phantoms received balanced scoring in Game 5, getting one goal apiece from Corban Knight (1st of the playoffs), Chris Conner (4th), Tyrell Goulbourne (1st), Philippe Myers (2nd) and Colin McDonald (1st). Rookie left winger Oskar Lindblom chipped in two assists, while Maxim Lamarche and Alex Krushelnyski had one helper apiece.

McKeown's goal, which temporarily cut the gap to 4-1 early in the third period was assisted by Philip Samuelsson and Nicolas Roy. In goal, Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 19 of 24 shots. The Phantoms went 0-for-1 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill in Game 5.

After getting outshot -- often heavily -- in seven of the eight periods played in Game 4, the Phantoms owned a slight edge in shots (10-9, 10-8) and on the scoreboard (1-0 at the first intermission, 3-0 at the second break) in each of the first two periods on Saturday evening.

Knight put the Phantoms ahead to stay at 9:22 of the first period. Lindblom pressured a Charlotte turnover on the defensive boards which Knight claimed. From the left point, Knight wristed a shot at the net that found its way into the long side for a 1-0 lead. Lindblom was initially credited with an assist on the goal but the scoring was later changed to an unassisted tally for Knight.

The narrow lead held up through the midway mark of the game until the Phantoms doubled their advantage at 13:56 of the second period. Conner lifted the stick of Charlotte right winger Andrew Miller (minus-four in Game 5) and poked the puck away at the Phantoms blue line. Conner then sped off on a breakaway. Pulling the puck to his backhand and then back to his forehand, Conner slid the puck through the five-hole to make it a 2-0 game. The goal was unassisted.

Entering Game 5, rugged Phantoms winger Goulbourne was officially a game-time decision after missing the previous match due to injury. He ultimate played in Game 5, with Radel Fazleev sitting out due to injury. At 17:02 of the second period, a Lindblom shot attempt was blocked but the loose puck was pounced on by Goulbourne, who scored on a turnaround shot from the slot to expand the lead to 3-0. Lamarche got the secondary assist.

In the third period, the desperate Checkers piled up an 11-4 shot edge. The Phantoms, as they so often have in the playoff run to date, bent but didn't break as Lyon shined in nailing down the victory.

At 4:04 of the third period, the Phantoms built a 4-0 lead. Lindblom won a puck battle on the boards and sent the puck up high to fellow rookie Myers. From the right point, Myers fired a shot through traffic that beat Nedeljkovic and found the net.

The Checkers got the goal back at 5:58. After the puck was moved D-to-D, McKeown's screened right point shot eluded Lyon. Unfortunately for Charlotte, the Phantoms re-established their four-goal cushion shortly thereafter, forging a 5-1 lead at 7:18. McDonald won a forechecking battle, and the puck was claimed by Krushelnyski in the left corner. Krushelnyski then centered the puck out to McDonald, who scored stick-side from close range.

Lyon took care of the rest. Before the traditional end-of-series handshake line, the Phantoms players mobbed their goalie. They knew that this series easily could have gone the other way if not for Lyon's play throughout series but especially in the pivotal 4th game that marked the difference between a 2-2 tie and a commanding 3-1 lead. The 5-OT loss in Game 4 seemed to psychologically devastate the Checkers, as it would most every team that came up on the losing end of such a marathon match.

Back when the Flyers won their 5-OT marathon against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, the victory punctuated by Keith Primeau's picturesque top-shelf game-winner tied the series at 2-2 after the Flyers had lost the first two games at home. Thereafter, the Penguins didn't have much fight left in them as the Flyers prevailed in six games. A very similar scenario played out in the Phantoms vs. Checkers series in the aftermath of Game 4, except that the Phantoms only needed one more win to close out the series.

Shortly after the conclusion of Game 5, the American Hockey League announced the schedule for the Eastern Conference Final, pitting the two teams with the league's best regular season records against one another. The Toronto Marlies won the Kilpatrick Trophy (the AHL's equivalent of the NHL's President's Trophy) for having the top record in the regular season. The Phantoms placed second. A perennial Calder Cup contender, the Marlies (top farm club of the Toronto Maple Leafs) have reached the Eastern Conference Final for the fourth time in the last seven years. The Marlies reached the Calder Cup Final in the spring of 2012, losing to the Norfolk Admirals.

The schedule of the 2-3-2 format series is as follows:

Game 1 - Saturday, May 19, 7:00 p.m. - Ricoh Coliseum
Game 2 - Sunday, May 20, 7:00 p.m. - Ricoh Coliseum
Game 3 - Wednesday, May 23, 7:05 p.m. - PPL Center
Game 4 - Friday, May 25, 7:05 p.m. - PPL Center
Game 5 - Saturday, May 26, 7:05 p.m. - PPL Center (if necessary)
Game 6 - Monday, May 28, 7:00 p.m. - Ricoh Coliseum (if necessary)
Game 7 - Wednesday, May 30, 7:00 p.m. - Ricoh Coliseum (if necessary)

The winner of the Eastern Conference Final will face off with the winner of the Western Conference Final for the Calder Cup Championship. The Western Conference Final pits the Texas Stars (Dallas Stars' farm team) against the Rockford IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks' farm team).

Unlike the NHL, there is no inter-conference play in the AHL during the regular season. Until the Calder Cup Final, the AHL's All-Star Game's divisional 3-on-3 mini-tournament is the only time players from the Eastern and Western Conferences oppose one another.

The Phantoms expect to have 2017-18 American Hockey League Most Valuable Player (Les Cunningham Award) winner Phil Varone back in the lineup in time to start the upcoming series against Toronto. Varone was injured in Game 3 of the first-round series against the Providence Bruins and missed the clinching game of that series as well as all five games against Charlotte. His return could be a boost for what has been an inconsistent offensive attack for the Phantoms in the postseason.

Standout defenseman Travis Sanheim, injured in Game 1 of the Charlotte series, may also return within the Toronto series. He sustained an apparent knee-to-knee hit from Charlotte's Valentin Zykov in the latter stages of the third period in the series opener. While the Phantoms converted the ensuing power play for what proved to be the game-winning goal, they lost Sanheim for the rest of the series. He had to be helped off the ice. However, he was reportedly seen walking without crutches or a limp in the days that followed.

Unfortunately, the injury sustained by defenseman Samuel Morin in the first period of Game 4 of the Charlotte series could be more severe. Morin appeared to seriously injure his right knee going into the side boards on a routine check. Per several reports, Morin was seen on crutches after the game.

Sanheim did not make the trip to Charlotte for Games 3-5 after it was announced he'd be out for the series. After his Game 4 injury, Morin returned to the Delaware Valley on Thursday to be examined by Flyers team doctors, per Inquirer beat writer Sam Carchidi.

In the absence of both players, Myers logged a staggering 66 minutes of ice time in the 5-OT contest in Game 4. In Game 5, rookie James de Haas replaced Morin in the Phantoms' lineup. Veteran defenseman Will O'Neill remained scratched.

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SUNDAY ROUNDUP

* OHL Finals: The Hamilton Bulldogs (Matthew Strome) lead the Ontario Hockey League Finals, three games to two, over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (Morgan Frost). The Bulldogs can win the Robertson Cup championship on home ice on Sunday afternoon. Game time is 2:00 p.m. EDT. If the Greyhounds prevail on Sunday, the championship winner will be decided in Game 7 in Sault Ste. Marie on Monday evening (7:07 p.m. EDT start).

* QMJHL Finals: The Acadie-Bathurst Titan (German Rubtsov) lead the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Finals, three games to two, over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. The Titan will have the opportunity to win the President's Cup championship on home ice on Sunday. Game time is 3:00 p.m. EDT. If the Armada win, Game 7 will be in Boisbriand on Tuesday evening (7:00 p.m. EDT start).

* WHL Finals: The Everett Silvertips (Carter Hart) trail the Swift Current Broncos in the Western Hockey League Finals, three games to two. The WHL series is played in a 2-3-2 format, and Games 3-5 were in Everett. The Broncos will have a chance on Sunday to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup on home ice. Game time is 9:00 p.m. EDT. If the Silvertips prevail on Sunday to force a Game 7, it will be in Swift Current on Monday (9:00 p.m. EDT).

* IIHF World Championships: Radko Gudas and Team Czech Republic take on Team France in preliminary round action on Sunday. On Monday, the Czech wrap up round-robin play against Michael Raffl and Team Austria. On Saturday, the Austrians finally earned their first victory of the tournament, blanking still-winless Belarus. Raffl scored his second goal of the tournament and added an assist. Flyers prospect Maksim Sushko was dressed for the game for Belarus but did not skate a single shift. The youngest player on his team, the 19-year-old Sushko has dressed in five of six games to date for the Belarusians.
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