PHANTOMS TAKE GAME 3, 5-1
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms earned a 5-1 road win over the Charlotte Checkers at the Bojangles Coliseum on Tuesday night to take a two games to one lead in their playoff series. Returning to the net after being rested in Game 2, Alex Lyon stopped 34 of 35 shots including a 19-save third period as the Phantoms got outshot 19-2 in the final stanza.
The loss was Charlotte's first on home ice since March 18. Game 4 is in Charlotte on Wednesday with Game 5 on Saturday. With the series being played in a 2-3-2 format, the Phantoms have assured themselves of at least a return trip to the PPL Center. Now they will try to put a stranglehold on control of the series over the next two games.
In Game 3, Oskar Lindblom led the way offensively for Lehigh Valley, with power play and empty net goals for his 3rd and fourth since rejoining the Phantoms for the playoffs. Mike Vecchione had the game's first goal (his 3rd overall in the playoffs) and later added an assist. Danick Martel (3rd) and Chris Conner (3rd) also scored for the Phantoms. Greg Carey (3rd and 4th assists), T.J. Brennan (3rd), Mikhail Vorobyev (1st), Radel Fazleev (1st), Max Lamarche (1st) and Colin McDonald (2nd) chipped in assists.
Valentin Zykov (4th of the playoffs) scored the lone Charlotte goal, assisted by Lucas Wallmark and Trevor Carrick. The Phantoms led 2-0 after the first period and Zykov's power play goal at 3:40 of the second period briefly cut the Lehigh Valley lead to a single goal before Conner restored a multi-goal edge.
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was pulled following Lindblom's first goal at 12:52 of the second period. Jeremy Smith went the rest of the way in goal.
Lehigh Valley went 1-for-2 on the power play. Charlotte finished at 1-for-4 on the man advantage.
The Phantoms took a 1-0 just 3:16 into the first period. Taking a pass from Carey, Veccchione was stopped by Nedeljkovic on an initial shot but collected his own rebound and backhanded it into the net. At 4:40, Vorobyev caught Martel in stride with a lead pass. Martel sped up the right side, cut across into the slot and was tripped up for a delayed penalty on Charlotte. However, as he was falling to the ice, Martel got off a shot that found space between Nedeljkovic 's skates.
Martel had a breakaway opportunity with a chance to build a 3-0 lead. He wasn't quite able to finish it off. First period shots were 13-8 in Charlotte's favor.
With Alex Krushelnyski in the penalty box for closing his hand on the puck, the Checkers cut the gap to 2-1 at 3:40 of the second period. Wallmark put the puck out of the net and Zykov batted it out of the air past Lyon.
The Phantoms went ahead 3-1 at 5:37. Phillipe Myers started the play in the defensive zone. After Vecchione caught Conner in stride, Conner scored off the rush as he snapped off a blocker-side side that found the twine.
The lead grew to 4-1 at 12:52. Lindblom claimed a Lamarche rebound on the doorstep and stashed it home for a power play goal. McDonald, who held in a failed clearing attempt and passed the puck to Lamarche, got the secondary assist. With Charlotte now staring at a three-goal deficit, Nedeljkovic was pulled in favor of Smith.
Second period shots were 10-3 Phantoms. In the third period, the Phantoms fell back into letting their opponent carry the entire attack and over-relying on Lyon to slam the door. He made several spectacular saves among the 19 he authored in the final 20 minutes, and the Checkers drew no closer. Defenseman Reece Willcox also bailed out Lehigh Valley in one sequence knocking the puck away from the goal line with his skate.
With Smith pulled for an extra attacker and a delayed penalty upcoming on Charlotte's Brendan Kichton for mugging Carey to prevent an empty net breakaway goal, Lindblom claimed the puck and scored into the vacant net to ice a 5-1 win.
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QUICK HITS: MAY 9, 2018
1) WHL Finals: The Everett Silvertips trail the Swift Current Broncos in the Western Hockey League Finals, two games to one. Carter Hart took third-star honors in a losing cause, stopping 29 of 31 shots before Glenn Gawdin completed a hat trick at 2:40 of overtime to win the game by a 3-2 final. The Silvertips had led 2-1 from late in the first period until 16:43 of the third period, when Gawdin's second goal of the game forced OT. Game 4 is on Wednesday in Everett.
2) QMJHL Finals: German Rubtsov scored a power play deflection goal and took first-star honors as the Acadie-Bathurst Titan earned a 5-2 home win in Game 3 of their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final series against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. The Titan hold a two games to one lead. Game 4 is on Wednesday in Bathurst.
3) OHL Finals: Game 4 of the Ontario Hockey League Finals between the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (Morgan Frost) and Hamilton Bulldogs (Matthew Strome) is on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs lead the series, two games to one, on the strength of an overtime road victory in Game 1 and 6-5 home victory in Game 3.
4) IIHF World Championships: Team Austria (Michael Raffl) opposes Sweden in preliminary round action, while Flyers prospect Maksim Sushko and Team Belarus play against Switzerland. Radko Gudas and Team Czech Republic play Russia.
5) Fewer than 10 registration spots remain available for the 2018 Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp in Atlantic City (Aug. 17-20). This year's instructors/coaches are Mark Howe, Danny Briere, Bill Barber, Keith Jones, Brad Marsh, Bob Kelly, Andre Dupont, Joe Watson, and Ian Laperriere. For more information,
click here.
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