Phantoms Top Hershey, 4-1
A three-goal outburst in the third period lifted the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (18-17-7) to a 4-1 victory over the AHL-leading Hershey Bears (35-8-2) at the PPL Center in Allentown on Friday evening.
Felix Sandström turned in perhaps his best game of the 2023-24 season, holding Hershey to a single first period power play goal on the way to stopping 30 of 31 shots and earning First Star honors. Wade Allison (9th goal of the season), Jacob Gaucher (5th), Brendan Furry (2nd) and AHL All-Star Game honoree Samu Tuomaala (PPG, 13th) scored for the Phantoms.
Elliot Desnoyers generated a pair of primary assists for Lehigh Valley. Bobby Brink, Cooper Marody (team-leading 27th), Furry, Allison, Victor Mete, and Emil Andrae all had one helper apiece.
In a losing cause, Hershey goaltender Clay Stevenson stopped 33 of 37 Phantoms' shots. Ethen Frank (PPG, 21st) tallied the lone goal for the Bears, assisted by Joe Snively and Mike Sgarbossa.
Sandström's net was under heavy attack at several junctures of the opening 40 minutes of the game, especially during a lengthy 5-on-3 power play (1:34 in duration) for Hershey late in the second period. The Phantoms went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. They were 1-for-4 on the power play. The score was deadlocked for most of the game's first 50 minutes. The Phantoms had the better of the play over the first half of the first period, and Allison's goal upstairs from the low slot gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead. Desnoyers and Furry earned the assists.
However, the lead would last just 59 seconds. With J.R. Avon in the penalty box for tripping, the Bears needed just seven seconds before Frank evened the score at 1-1 with a tip-in near the net. The Phantoms led in shots on goal by a 9-3 margin at one juncture but first period shots on goal ended up 16-14 in Lehigh Valley's favor.
The second period saw the Phantoms kill off three penalties, including the aforementioned two-man disadvantage with defensemen Adam Ginning (tripping) and Andrae (boarding minor) in the penalty box. Sandström made a ten-bell save on Ivan Miroshnichenko on a shot that initially seemed ticketed for the top corner of the net. In addition to Sandström's work in goal, Gaucher blocked a pair of shots and won a couple of faceoffs that helped kill precious time off the penalty clock. Ronnie Attard broke up a pass. Rhett Gardner came up with a block.
Second period shots on goal were 14-13 Phantoms. Subsequently, the Phantoms played one of their best third periods all season as they limited the Bears to just five shots on goal and eventually forged ahead to stay. On Hershey's best scoring chance, Sandström denied Frank on a 3-on-2 rush that Hershey turned into a mini 2-on-1 with Frank skating through the middle.
On a line change, Gaucher jumped into the play and took a pass-out from Brink and ripped the puck into the net through the five-hole for a 2-1 lead at 9:42 of the third period. The assists went to Brink and Mete.
Just 31 seconds later, at 10:13, the Phantoms had some insurance as they scored their prettiest goal of the night. Taking a lead pass from Desnoyers, Furry scored off the rush. Furry blew past a defender, outmaneuvered Stevenson and then tucked home the puck. The assists went to Desnoyers and Allison.
The Phantoms had an opportunity to put a stranglehold on the game when Vincent Iorio was sent off for cross-checking at 12:35. The Phantoms' power play has been inconsistent in recent weeks but stepped up big here. The Phantoms controlled the first faceoff and went right to work. Andrae jockeyed the puck with Marody. Finally, Tuomaala tipped a Marody shot/pass upstairs for a 4-1 lead at 12:46. Of the Finnish rookie's 35 points this season, 16 points (six PPG, 10 PPA) have come on the power play.
The Phantoms slammed the door from there. By the time Riley Sutter (son of former Flyers captain Ron Sutter) took a high-sticking penalty with 16 seconds left in the game, the outcome had already been sealed.
Friday night's Phantoms starting lineup was as follows:
23 Bobby Brink - 22 Rhett Gardner - 20 Cooper Marody 13 Brendan Furry - 91 Elliot Desnoyers - 19 Wade Allison 16 J.R. Avon - 56 Jacob Gaucher 27 Samu Tuomaala 10 Evan Polei - 24 Adam Brooks - 48 Alex Kile
6 Emil Andrae - 12 Ronnie Attard 37 Adam Ginning - 2 Helge Grans 98 Victor Mete - 5 Ehan Samson
32 Felix Sandström [31 Parker Gahagen]
On Saturday, the Phantoms will host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (23-16-6). Game time is 7:05 p.m. ET (AHLTV stream). As part of the Phantoms' weekend-long celebration of their 10th anniversary in Allentown, Phantoms/Flyers alumni Sam Morin and Colin McDonald (former Phantoms captain) will do autograph signings in the PPL Center concourse prior to the game.
With the exception of a five-game winning streak back in November, the 2023-24 Phantoms have struggled to carry much momentum over after notching a seemingly big win. The game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is the final one before the AHL All-Star break (skills competition is on Sunday, the All-Star Game itself is on Monday in San Jose). The Phantoms will return to action next Friday (Feb. 9) for a rematch with W-B/S.
Personal note: Special thank you to Bob Rotruck and the Phantoms' staff for hooking up my nephew Sam Sherman and five of his fraternity brothers at nearby Muhlenberg College with tickets for this Saturday's game against the Baby Pens. Sammy is a lifelong hockey fan who has attended various NHL and AHL games and himself played goalie when he was younger (soccer later became his main participation sport). Several of his friends will be attending their first-ever hockey game.
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Quick Hits: February 3, 2024
1) The 2024 NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, featuring Travis Konecny (Team MacKinnon) in the four-team 3-on-3 tournament, starts at 3 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+) on Saturday. The NHL All-Star break concludes on Sunday afternoon.
Konecny was not among the 12 NHL players selected to participate in the All-Star Skills competition held on Friday at Scotiabank Arena. Edmonton Oilers superstar center Connor McDavid won the competition and the accompanying $1 million prize. McDavid won four events, including Fastest Skater (no suprise) and the concluding obstacle course event. Colorado Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev received $100,000 for making the most saves among the eight goalies participating in the one-on-one challenge.
The Flyers will hold a 2 p.m. practice on Sunday at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL. The team, with Konecny back on the ice, will practice again in Sunrise late on Monday morning for an 11:30 a.m. session. The Flyers will play the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday evening.
2) Confession time: I barely watched the NHL All-Star Skills Competition. I had it on TV with the the volume muted while simultaneously watching the stream of the Phantoms' game but only periodically (during stoppages) paid attention to the Skills Competition.
I used to look forward to the old-school Skills Competitions more than the All-Star Game the next day with their 10-8 and 12-10 type of final scores. Ray Bourque would usually go 4-for-4 or 4-for-5 (at worst) in the Target Shooting event. Pavel Bure was the annual favorite in Fastest Skater. Al Iafrate or Dave Manson were threats to top 100 MPH in the Hardest Shot competition. I also fondly remember the big cheer that went up at the Spectrum when Rod Brind'Amour (the Flyers' lone representative in 1992) scored during the concluding breakaway relay, which was always fun to watch in the pre-shootout age.
As the Skills Competition got more and more gimmicky and "comedic", I lost more and more interest. There were exceptions. I liked the introduction of the long-range saucer passes into small nets and the goalie goals event. Overall, though, I'd mostly watch just to see how Flyers reps and other select players would fare in their events. It's been nearly 30 years since i last remembered within a couple days who'd won a Skills event.
3) Special thanks go out to Bob Rotruck and the Phantoms for hooking up my nephew, Sam Sherman, and five of his fraternity brothers at nearby Muhlenberg College with tickets for Saturday's game against the Baby Pens at PPL Center.
Sam and brother Matthew are lifelong hockey fans. Sam used to play goalie and Matty got hooked from doing the Flyers' Learn to Play Rookies' program. Both boys have attended various NHL (Flyers, Bruins and Islanders) and AHL (Phantoms) games. However, several of Sam's college friends who will be going with him to Saturday's game will be attending their first-ever hockey game in person. Short of playing, the best way to create a hockey fan is to take the person to a live game. Hope the boys from Muhlenberg see a good one!
4) When I was a kid, it was very hard to get tickets (except via scalpers) to Flyers home games. As soon as the Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships amid three straight trips to the Cup Final and six consecutive years of reaching at least the playoff semis, Flyers home games became one of the toughest tickets in town. The old Ticketron location where I grew up in Northeast Philly never had Flyers seats available in the mid-1970s to mid-1980s.
My first-ever live NHL game was on Nov. 27, 1979, when the Flyers defeated the Hartford Whalers at the Spectrum, 6-2. My childhood best friend, David Kramer, had a season ticket plan with his family and I went to a game or two each season for several years. The first one was on a Tuesday evening in the fall of '79.
On that night, I got to see the legendary Gordie Howe play in his final NHL season. He played along with son Mark Howe (my future favorite player), and early years Flyers fan favorite Andre Lacroix (who scored in this time) against the likes of my childhood idol Bobby Clarke (two assists), Bill Barber (two assists), Reggie Leach (two goals) and a rookie Brian Propp (one goal, one assist). Mike Busniuk scored in the opening minute of the game, and the Spectrum was rocking right away. Dennis Ververgaert followed up just a few minutes later.
That night, my mom gave me $10 of spending money for the game. I bought a "Goal!" magazine program (still have it), a 1979-80 Flyers yearbook (still have it, too) and a big orange foam hand that said "No. 1 Flyers fan" (no idea what ultimately happened to it, but I do recall that my family dog, King, bit a chunk out of the oversized index finger).
I remember pretty much every detail of that night's game. Norm Barnes' wife, Cyd, sang the Star Bangled Banner (Norm himself later scored a goal in the second period on a low shot from the point after Ken Linseman made a nice pass back to him). There were no fights in the game, but the whole crowd stood up after Blaine Stoughton high-sticked Clarke and Clarke gave him a two-hander in return. Later, Mel Bridgeman and Colin Campbell jawed at each other after the second period ended.
That Flyers-Whalers match was the first Flyers game I ever attended in person but it wasn't my first live hockey game. My mom took me to various Philadelphia Firebirds games at the Civic Center, both when the Firebirds played in the rough-and-tumble North American Hockey League as the Flyers' lower minor league affilate and, later, in the American Hockey League. In the early years, the Firebirds had Reggie Lemelin in goal, and the roster included the likes of Dale MacLeish (Rick's brother), Ray Schultz (Dave's brother) and, briefly, John Barber (Bill's brother). The club also had a player named Mike Clarke, but he was not related to Bobby Clarke.
The most memorable Firebirds game I attended was the April 14, 1976, home game in which the Firebirds defeated the Beauce Jaros, 5-2, to win the Lockhart Cup (NAHL) championship. My favorite Firebird, Gordie Brooks, had a big game, along with Bob Collyard.
Another fond Firebirds-related memory: One time, David slept over and we attended a Firebirds vs. Johnstown Jets game. My mom took us for Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's on Bustleton Avenue before we went to the game. I don't remember the final score but the Firebirds won and there was a heck of fight between Dean Boylan and a Jets player (don't remember who it was Boylan fought, but it may have been one of the Carlson brothers or Dave Hanson).
Many years later, for my 35th birthday, my wife bought me a Brooks home Firebirds jersey from Mitchell & Ness. It's still one of my favorites in my jersey collection.
In the message board, I'd be interested in hearing about the first game our readers ever attended and what they remember from it.