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Phantoms Down Bridgeport, Clinch Playoff Spot
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (31-30-9) became the final Atlantic Division team to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs as they skated to a 3-0 road victory over the Bridgeport Islanders (24-38-9) on Friday evening behind the shutout goaltending of Cal Petersen (23 saves).
The Phantoms took an early 1-0 lead in the game, as Elliot Desnoyers (5th) and the fourth line got the club on the board at 6:27 of the first period. The tally ended a nightmarish 40-game goal drought for Desnoyers, who led the team in goals as a rookie last season with 23 (three more goals in one fewer game than Tyson Foerster, now with the Flyer, played). The assists went to Zayde Wisdom (1st AHL assist this season) and defenseman Victor Mete.
Lehigh Valley dominated the first period, coming close on four or five occasions to extending the lead. Bridgeport goalie Henrik Tikkanen kept the game within a goal.
The Phantoms got off to a slow start in the second period, but Petersen's play in net and a couple of key defensive stops by Adam Ginning, Hunter McDonald and others, helped protect the narrow lead. Over the first 23-plus minutes of the game, Olle Lycksell generated three takeaways and intercepted a pressured turnover for scoring chances.
Finally, it paid off at 4:43 of the second period. Tanner Laczynski forced a Bridgeport turnover and Lycksell set up Adam Brooks (13th goal of the season) one-on-one against Tikkanen. Brooks finished it off for a 2-0 lead.
To their credit, Bridgeport competed despite having nothing to play for at this point of the season. Petersen made 11 saves in the middle stanza. The Phantoms caught a break when Ashton Calder hit the post on a breakaway. Lehigh Valley had a couple of multi-shift momentum waves of their own but could not extend their two-goal lead.
In the third period, the Phantoms were unable to capitalize on their first and only power play of the game. Lehigh Valley is currently mired in a 0-for-29 and 1-for-42 drought on the power play that dropped their leaguewide power play ranking from first to 19th. However, the arrival of key reinforcements such as Bobby Brink, Lycksell, and Ronnie Attard should (hopefully at least) get the team back on the right track.
After the Phantoms were unsuccessful on their power play, they had to kill off a McDonald slashing minor midway through the period. They did so successfully. That's an encouraging sign because the Phantoms' PK has recently been struggling, too, falling from the middle of the pack to the lower end of the league.
Bridgeport had one final mini-push left but Lehigh Valley neutralized it. The Islanders pulled Tikkanen for an extra attacker and called a timeout.
After Rhett Gardner won a defensive zone faceoff and McDonald sent the puck down the ice, Brink outraced an Islanders player and stashed the puck into the empty net (7th AHL goal this season) to seal a 3-0 win. Bridgeport went quietly the rest of the way. Petersen completed the shutout with seven saves in the third period.
With the win, the Phantoms can use the final two games of the season as tune-ups for the playoffs. They may also rest some players. For example, perhaps Laczynski, who took a painful slash on the hand in the first period on Friday but stayed in the game, might benefit from a night off (depending on how he's feeling). Belarusian goalie Alexei Kolosov is already the confirmed starter in goal for Saturday, when the Phantoms host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (38-24-8). On Sunday, the Phantoms close out the regular season with a home game against the Charlotte Checkers (38-25-7).
Phantoms rookies Samu Tuomaala and Emil Andrae were unavailable in Friday's game. Both players are dealing with injury/illness. With the playoffs clinched, there is no need to rush either player back into the lineup for Saturday or Sunday. Again, it depends on how the two players are feeling.
Among other Hockey Operations staff members, Flyers general manager Danny Briere and head coach John Tortorella will be at balcony level at the PPL Center to watch Ian Laperriere's team play this weekend.
Mathematically, it is still possible for the Phantoms to play either the Penguins (85 points) or the Charlotte Checkers (83 points) in the best-of-three first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. Last year, the Phantoms played Charlotte, and did not have any home games because of AHL travel rules about flying distance series in the first round. If the Phantoms play the Pens, they'll have one home game in the series.
Last year's series against Charlotte was a heartbreaker. The Phantoms prevailed in Game 1. The second game went nearly 99 minutes of game action before the Checkers ended sudden death at 18:48 of double overtime. Game 3 was the very next night, and a completely out-of-gas Samuel Ersson kept the game scoreless before giving up four goals in the second period and being relieved by Reading Royals goalie Nolan Maier. The Checkers went on to win, 6-0.
This year, the Phantoms' goal is to win at least one round. If they make it to round 2, they'll run into the Hershey Bears (111 points to date with one regular season game remaining) in a best-of-five series. Under the AHL playoff format, the first-place and second-places teams receive a bye in the divisional quarterfinal mini-series. In the next- round, the first-place team plays the lowest-ranked remaining team while the second-place club gets the higher-ranked winner.
Phantoms lineup from Friday's game:
28 Olle Lycksell - 9 Tanner Laczynski - 24 Adam Brooks
20 Cooper Marody - 22 Rhett Gardner - 23 Bobby Brink
17 Garrett Wilson - 56 Jacob Gaucher - 13 Brendan Furry
91 Elliot Desnoyers - 16 J.R. Avon - 14 Zayde Wisdom
37 Adam Ginning - 12 Ronnie Attard
19 Hunter McDonald - 2 Helge Grans
98 Victor Mete - 7 Louie Belpedio
40 Cal Petersen
[35 Alexei Kolosov]
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Briere and Tortorella End-of-Season Press Conferences
Look for a "Five Takeaways" article today on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com from the end-of-season press conferences held on Friday at the Flyers Training Center with head coach John Tortorella and general manager Danny Briere. Below are the two interview seasons, which ran roughly 30 minutes apiece.
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