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Phantoms Extend Playoff Series, SHL Finals, Carlson Hockey Games |
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PHANTOMS WIN 2-1 IN OT, FORCE GAME 4
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms stayed alive in the 2017 Calder Cup playoffs as they skated away with a 2-1 overtime road win against the Hershey Bears on Wednesday night. The Phantoms, who had the most comeback wins in the American Hockey League this season after trailing in the third period, faced a 1-0 deficit entering the third period.
Hershey leads the best-of-five series, two games to one. Game Four is Saturday in Hershey. If necessary, a fifth and deciding game will be played at the PPL Center in Allentown in Sunday.
The highest-scoring offense in the league, AWOL in a 1-0 overtime loss in Game One, was equally unable to solve Bears goaltender Phoenix Copley through 40 minutes. Overdue for a break in a series where the territorial play had been in their favor for the first two games and even in Game 3, the Phantoms finally got one.
Thirty-seven seconds into the third period, Phantoms captain Colin McDonald (1st goal of the series) shot the puck into the Bears' zone from center ice. The puck knuckleballed past Copley and went into the net to tie the game at 1-1. Phantoms defenseman T.J. Brennan received the lone assist.
The game, scoreless midway through regulation, saw Hershey get the game's first goal at 11:35 of the second period. The play unfolded after the Phantoms nearly scored but missed the net and the Bears countered on a 3-on-1. The resulting goal by puck carrier Stansislav Galiev (2nd of the series) gave Hersey a rare lead. Entering Game 3, the Bears had played with a lead for all of 33 second despite their two-game advantage in the series.
Through regulation, shots were even at 29-29. Each team had one shot in overtime but the Phantoms made theirs count.
After Andy Miele blocked a shot, Chris Conner picked up the puck. He split the defense to race off on a breakaway, beating former teammate Copley at 1:49 to score his first goal of the series and send the series to a fourth game.
Pressed into starting duty in net after injuries to Anthony Stolarz and Alex Lyon, Martin Ouellette responded by turning aside 29 of 30 shots to earn the first Calder Cup playoff win of his career. Along the way, he made a great pad save from point blank range on Hampus Gustavsson early in the game. Later, Oullette denied Riley Barber on an odd-man rush. For Hershey, Copley saved 28 of 30 shots.
Special teams were a virtual non-factor in Game 3. The Phantoms killed off a carryover penalty in the final half-minute of the first period and at the start of the second period. The rest of the game was played at 5-on-5 without any further penalties on either team. For the series, the Phantoms are 7-for-7 on the penalty kill and 2-for-8 on the power play.
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QUICK HITS: APRIL 27, 2017
1) Oskar Lindblom, Felix Sandström, Bucks County native Ryan Gunderson and the rest of Brynäs IF have a chance to win the Swedish Hockey League championship on Thursday as they face off with HV71 Jönköping in Game 6 of the finals. Game time is 1:15 p.m. EDT.
2) The Carlson Hockey Games preparation tournament for the 2017 IIHF World Championships get underway on Thursday in Stockholm (Sweden vs. Russia) and the Czech Republic (Czechs vs Finland). Ivan Provorov and Roman Lyubimov are playing for Russia, Jakub Voracek and Radko Gudas are suiting up for the Czech Republic and Valtteri Filppula is playing for Finland.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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