EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL SERIES GAME 2: PHANTOMS @ MARLIES
Needing a Game 2 victory to even up the series before the venue shifts to Allentown for the next three games, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms take on the Toronto Marlies at the Ricoh Coliseum again on Sunday. Game time is 4:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised in Canada on TSN2, streamed on AHL Live and the free radio broadcast with Phantoms broadcaster Bob Rotruck on the call is
available here.
In Game 1 on Saturday, the Marlies prevailed, 4-3. Toronto scored the first two goals of the game, then the Phantoms got the next three to take a short-lived 3-2 lead in the second period. The Marlies re-tied the game in the latter portion of the middle frame and then won it with an early third period go-ahead goal that held the rest of the way.
Adam Brooks (2nd goal of the playoffs) scored the game-winner for the Marlies. Miro Aaltonen tallied twice; once on the power play and once at even strength for his 2nd and 3rd goals of the postseason. Ben Smith (2nd) scored the goal that knotted the game at 3-3.
The Marlies remained undefeated at home during the postseason. The club is now 6-0 in home games in the playoffs. Overall, the Marlies have scored first in seven of the 10 playoff games they've played to date, and are 7-0 in those games. Game 1, however, saw two lead changes over the course of the contest.
For the Phantoms, rookie defenseman Philippe Myers notched a goal (3rd) on a power play and also an assist. Chris Conner (power play, 5th) and Tyrell Goulbourne (2nd) also scored once apiece.
In goal, Garrett Sparks got the win for Toronto, stopping 26 of 29 shots. After a phenomenal first two rounds of the playoffs, Alex Lyon looked human in the first game of the conference finals in making 28 saves on 32 shots. The second year pro did make some tough stops along the way, including one ten-bell save, but was not quite as sharp as he'd been before the week-long gap between the end of the Charlotte series and the start of this round.
The lengthy separation between the conclusion of the second round and the beginning of the conference finals did have a benefit in terms of buying enough time for the Phantoms to get top-pairing defenseman Travis Sanheim (one assist, three shots, outstanding blue line keep, even plus-minus at -1 and +1) and American Hockey League MVP winner Phil Varone (zero points, one shot, E) back in the lineup.
The Phantoms went 2-for-4 on the power play in Game 1. The Marlies went 1-for-2, but outscored the Phantoms at even strength by a 3-1 margin.
Second-year pro Nicolas Aube-Kubel (one shot, -1) returned to the Lehigh Valley lineup after serving a three-game suspension from the AHL for a high hit in Game 2 of the Charlotte series.
Aube-Kubel took the first penalty of Game 1, sitting for slashing at 5:23 of the first period.
Toronto made the Phantoms pay, cashing in for a 1-0 lead at the 6:44 mark. Andreas Johnsson (two assists) passed the puck into the the slot where Aaltonen steered it home. The secondary assist went to defenseman Timothy Liljegren.
The lead for the Marlies doubled to 2-0 at 12:03. The sequence started with a failed clear by the Phantoms, who never recovered the puck. Johnsson fed Aaltonen inside the hash marks, and he found the five-hole through Lyon.
Lehigh Valley had a pair of excellent scoring chances of their own in the opening period, but couldn't solve Sparks until the final four minutes. Earlier, Conner was unable to pot a Vecchione feed on a 2-on-1 rush. Subsequently, Vecchione was denied by Sparks on a breakaway.
With winger Mason Marchment in the box for Toronto's first penalty of the game, the Phantoms pushed back for a power play goal at 16:04 to narrow the deficit down to 2-1. Phantoms captain Colin McDonald passed out to Myers at the right point and the rookie blasted a shot through traffic, off the post, and into the net. Mike Vecchione received the secondary assist.
The Marlies went to the first intermission with a 2-1 lead. Toronto outshot the Phantoms in the opening period, 11-9.
It did not take the Phantoms long into the second period -- a mere 35 seconds -- to tie the score at 2-2 and make it a brand new hockey game. Sanheim started the sequence with a perfect poke-check in the defensive zone, and the Phantoms broke out in an odd-man transition rush. Corban Knight fed to Goulbourne, who potted a goal from the slot.
The game remained tied until 12:57 of the middle frame.
During a 4-on-4 segment of play with Lehigh Valley rookie Mikhail Vorobyev still having 14 seconds left to serve on a hooking minor and Toronto's Johnsson having 1:06 left to sever after boarding Phantoms rookie left winger Oskar Lindblom, the Phantoms went to the power play at 11:18. Lindblom, who entered the series with seven points (4G, 3A) in seven games, left the game bleeding heavily after taking a high stick to the face from Travis Dermott.
Dermott received a double minor. The Phantoms 4-on-3 advantage (11:18 to 11:32) begat a 5-on-3 opportunity for 48 seconds (11:32 to 12:24), and then a 5-on-4 for the duration of the Dermott double minor. Lehigh Valley did not cash in the two-man advantage portion but later scored at 5-on-4 to grab a 3-2 lead. Myers made a stretch pass to Conner on the left wing, and Conner ripped a shot bar down to the long side.
Toronto stopped the Phantoms' three-goal run as they retied the game at 16:24 with a goal off the rush, Smith went to the net and deflected home a Chris Mueller shot to make it a 3-3 match. Dmytro Timashov collected the secondary apple.
Second period shots were 12-11 in the Phantoms' favor (22-21 in Toronto's favor through 40 minutes). A scrum broke out after the buzzer at the end of the frame after things got heated in the neutral zone near the Phantoms bench in the waning moments. Lehigh Valley's Danick Martel and Vorobyev as well as Toronto's Dermott and Mueller all received roughing penalties at the 20-minute mark.
Lindblom, who had missed the final eight-plus minutes of the second period while being repaired after the Dermott high-stick, returned to the game for the Phantoms to start the third period.
Toronto regained the lead at 3:18 of the final stanza. From the left wing, Brooks caught Lyon going down a bit too early and sniped a goal high to the short side over the goalie's right shoulder. The assists went to Moore and Marchment.
The Phantoms made a push in the latter portion in the third period after Toronto controlled the majority of the play beforehand. With Lyon pulled for an extra attacker, McDonald nearly tied the game on a rebound opportunity from near the right post -- in fact, Sanheim actually started to raise his stick in celebration -- but put the puck right into the sprawling Sparks in the final half minute.
Toronto held on for the win. Third period shots were 10-8 in Toronto's favor (32-29 in the Marlies' favor overall).
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MEMORIAL CUP UPDATE
The champions of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, prevailed over the Western Hockey League champion Swift Current Broncos on Saturday with a 4-3 overtime win in Regina, Sasketchewan on Saturday.
Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov played a solid overall game on Saturday, and also posted an assist on an Adam Holwell shorthanded goal in the third period to tie the game at 3-3. Liam Murphy won the game in OT for the Titan. Samuel Aselin scored twice for Acadie-Bathurst to cancel out a pair of goals by 21-year-old Swift Current overager Giorgio Estephan.
On Sunday evening, the Titan are right back in action as they take on the tournament host team, the Regina Pats. On Monday, the Ontario Hockey League champion Hamilton Bulldogs (featuring Flyers prospect Matthew Strome) oppose Swift Current. On Tuesday, Rubtsov and the Titan face off against Strome and Hamilton. Round-robin play ends on Wednesday as WHL teams Swift Current and Regina play each other.
With each team having played once apiece so far, the Titan and Pats each have two points, while the Broncos have one point and Hamilton has zero. Friday night's game between the Bulldogs and Pats seemed to be heading for OT before Regina's Nick Henry scored in the final 33 seconds to give the Pats their first and only lead of the game.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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