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Phantoms Defeat Charlotte in Game 1
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms prevailed, 4-3, on Tuesday evening over the Charlotte Checkers in Game 1 of their Atlantic Division first-round playoff mini-series at the Bojangles Coliseum. With a one-game lead in the best-of-three series, the Phantoms will have an opportunity to close it out on Thursday evening. If necessary, a deciding Game 3 will be played on Friday.
Tyson Foerster notched a pair of goals for the Phantoms in Game 1, while Adam Brooks (1g, 1a), Cooper Marody (1g, 1a), and Olle Lycksell (2a) also had multii-point games in the opener. Artem Anisimov and Louie Belpedio chipped in an assist apiece for Ian Laperrriere's club.
Goaltender Samuel Ersson was not very busy in the first two periods, only being called upon for a few tough saves among 15 stops on 16 shots. However, his net was under siege in the third period as Ersson was peppered with 15 shots in the final 20 minutes. Although the Phantoms saw a 4-1 lead shrink to a single goal, Ersson came up big repeatedly during the final stanza. He finished with 28 saves on 31 shots.
The Phantoms trailed first in the game, as high-scoring Charlotte defenseman Lucas Carlsson scored from the slot on a secondary rebound at 8:28 of the first period. The Phantoms drew even at 12:54 when Brooks potted a rebound after Lycksell turned a Charlotte turnover into a scoring chance. The game went to the first intermission knotted at 1-1.
In the second period, the Phantoms came out storming and struck quickly for back-to-back-to-back goals that turned a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 Lehigh Valley lead before the frame was five minutes old. At the 46-second mark, Foerster gained the attack zone, cradled the puck and beat goalie Mack Guzda (13 saves on 17 shots) with a filthy shot. On the very next shift, Marody added to the lead at 1:02. At 4:46, Anisimov won a faceoff and Foerster shot the puck, which trickled off the Charlotte netminder into the net for a sudden three-goal lead.
Guzda was pulled from the game after the fourth goal in favor of veteran J-F Berube (eight saves on eight shots). The Phantoms carried the 4-1 lead for the rest of the second period into the middle stages of the third.
In the third period, the Checkers took the play to the Phantoms throughout. Ersson kept Charlotte at bay even as they racked up a 9-1 shot edge. Finally, with Bobby Brink in the penalty box for slashing, veteran Riley Nash scored on a Carlsson rebound to cut the deficit to 4-2 at 9:40. With play back to five-on-five, Santtu Kinnunen made it a 4-3 game on the next shift. Cameron Morrison and former Phantoms/Flyers forward Connor Bunnaman assisted at 10:18.
Charlotte had several opportunities to tie the game but Ersson slammed the door. Third period shots on goal were 15-5 in Charlotte's favor.
Flyers Daily: Tortorella on Accountability, Ristolainen, TK and more
Immediately after speaking to the beat writers at his end-of-season press conference on Monday, Flyers head coach John Tortorella sat down with Jason Myrtetus as the guest for a special edition of "Flyers Daily". Tortorella expanded upon some the main themes from his press conference. A portion of the discussion focuses on Tortorella being pleasantly surprised when Noah Cates' play didn't tail off during his first full pro season as the minutes he played started to pile up. Tortorella also talked about how he'd ideally like to slot Cates come next season.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the discussion centers around a not previously told story from the season. With Rasmus Ristolainen struggling mightily during the early part of the season, "Torts" laced into the player during a group video session. Tortorella then discusses how Ristolainen responded, first by verbally going right back at Tortorella in front of everyone and then channeling it on the ice. Tortorella also describes how Ristolainen's Flyers teammates responded by rallying around him immediately, rooting him on from the bench in the very next game.
Tortorella reiterated something he said during the main press conference: he views player/coach (or player/teammate) conflict as a positive as long as it's strictly on a hockey level and not meant as a personal attack. Torts is of the opinion that too many players do not hold teammates accountable nor do they truly want honesty from their coach.Tortorella said the players will get the blunt honesty from him, whether they want it or not. Players who embrace accountability as Tortorella defines it will eventually win him over if their play reflects it. Those who do not grasp -- or do not accept -- it will be subtracted. Tortorella said that it's not at all a reflection of whether he likes them as people or even if they thinks they are good hockey players individually. Someone could be the right fit for one team mix but not another. His team-building concept's foundation is steeped in building a squad that accepts his version of being acccountable to teammates and the coach.
Tortorella said that accountability doesn't mean a player has to stifle his personality. He gave Travis Konecny as an example. There was a lot of back-and-forth between player and coach within the season, and there will almost certainly be times where they'll disagree moving forward. However, Tortorella said that he also pretty quickly came to trust Konecny as a player. Like most players, as long as the coach keeps sending him over the boards regularly, TK can handle the occasional conflict. For the coach, as long as the player delivers, Tortorella can, too.
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