Bridgeport Evens Season Series
Lehigh Valley Falls 5-1
Allentown, PA – Early disruptions to the Phantoms’ lineup caused some changes on the go while an inspired Bridgeport Islanders team was ready to take advantage to the tune of a 5-1 victory at PPL Center on Friday night. The Islanders avenged an early 6-2 setback to the Orange and Black back on November 5 in their building as the season series was evened at 1-1 with both teams pulling off lopsided wins at the opposing arena.
Chris Terry (4th, 5th) led the way for the Islanders with his 334th and 335th career goals in the AHL. Jacob Gaucher (6th) picked up a deflection goal in the second period to get the Phantoms back into the game while he scored for a fourth time in the last five games. But that would be it for the Phantoms who were unable to cash in during some of their other chances at the net front. Lane Pederson had a post shot in the first and also a point-blank blast in the third that Hogberg somehow got a glove on.
Both teams traded some strong chances in the first period before Bridgeport eventually broke through. Oliver Bonk drove into the high slot to find Perderson who offered his massive blast off the post. That was one of three solid scoring tries on the evening for Pederson. Cam Berg found iron for Bridgeport and then so did Chris Terry.
Meanwhile, Garrett Wilson took exception to a violent collision dealt by Gleb Veryemyev and the Phantoms captain was more than ready to make him pay the price in the first of two fights on the evening at 13:39 into the first period.
Joey Larson (10th) accepted a centering feed in the middle when the Phantoms couldn’t find a clear on the power play. His quick snipe, shortly after Terry hit the post, put the visitors ahead 1-0 at 16:55 into the game.
Sean Day (1st) scored his first in the AHL in two years when a blocked shot tricked Carson Bjarnason who was contending with a mess of traffic. After popping out to the left circle, Day was ready to crank it home into a mostly open net at 3:38 into the period to make it 2-0.
Terry buried his first of the evening after wa wide shot popped back out to him shortly after Lehigh Valley couldn’t find an exit. The 36-year-old sniper propelled the Islanders to a 3-0 cushion at 9:49 into the second period.
Phantoms head coach John Snowden used his timeout at that point in efforts to reset his team.
Lehigh Valley pushed ahead to get one of them back on an Adam Ginning shot from the point that was deflected en route by Gaucher for his fourth goal in the last five games. Alexis Gendron also assisted on the sharp play that began with some quick entry-work through the neutral zone to get the attack going.
The Phantoms were on the hunt to gain even more momentum into the locker room. But, instead, it was Terry who would strike again. This time on the power play when he was ready to pull the trigger from the right dot after a Larson shot banked off a Phantoms block. Just two minutes later, the B-Isles were ahead by three again.
Tucker Robertson kept the energy high after another hard hit near the Bridgeport bench sent players from both sides scrambling and ready to square off. Eventually, it was Robertson who emerged in a scrap with Larson and the energetic forward showed his heart with a solid win in the bout. Unfortunately, the Phantoms couldn’t turn that energy into a win in the actual game.
Luke Rowe’s shot from the point was redirected between the circles by Adam Beckman (8th) just barely wide of the glove of Bjarnason to conclude the scoring at 11:54 into the third period and provide the 5-1 final result.
The Phantoms are back on Saturday for the annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by Big Woody’s against the Hartford Wolf Pack as Lehigh Valley looks to push past 11,800 total donations in the chaotic and crazy Teddy Bear chaos!
After the holiday break, the Phantoms host the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday, December 27.
Sunday, December 28 is a 3:05 start against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins featuring Postgame Autographs with the Phantoms players presented by NJM Insurance.
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