The atmosphere Saturday night in the PPL Center was electric, with a sell-out crowd of almost 8500 fans ready for the opening night of Phantoms hockey!! Lehigh Valley took on the Syracuse Crunch in a game that entertained and frustrated the phans. The Crunch ultimately won the contest 4-3.
Both teams were aggressive to the puck and went up and down the ice for nine minutes before Syracuse opened the scoring with a goal by Mike Blunden. He was assisted by Mike Angelidis and Henri Ikonen. Getting behind didn’t get the Phantoms down. Just about two minutes later they tied up a game when Aaron Palushaj found the back of the net on a power play, assisted by Taylor Leier and Shayne “Ghost” Gostisbehere.
The Crunch then went on a roll and scored two goals in a relatively short amount of time. At the 14:31 mark, Jonathan Marchessault scored to make it 2-1. This time Joel Vermin and Dylan Blujus got the assists. It looked grim and the phans were getting upset just a few minutes later when Philippe Paradis took a rebound and put it right back towards the net and it went in. Tanner Richard took the original shot, to get the assist, and Anthony DeAngelo also was scored an assist. The ended a very active first period.
Syracuse continued the assault in the second period when Marchessault scored another goal at about the 6:00 mark, assisted by Blujus and Jeff Tambelini.
The Phantoms did not give up, even being down 3, and dug deep to cut into the lead with another score, this time by Chris Conner. Conner got a hold of a Pavel Padakin rebound and lit the lamp at 9:17. Michael Parks got the secondary assist. This goal ended the scoring of the second frame.
The third period was filled with a lot of excitement as they went up and down the ice, back and forth, for over 16 minutes before another puck crossed the line. Lehigh Valley made it a 1 score game at 16:31 on an even-strength tally by Danick Martel. Nick Cousins and Conner received credit for the assists.
All in all, despite the loss it was a good game for the home team. Good things happened throughout the contest and can be used to build upon for the future.
The Phantoms will be away for a couple weeks and their next home game will be Saturday, October 24th. Come on out and enjoy the show!
Until next time….. Have a good day!
Both teams were aggressive to the puck and went up and down the ice for nine minutes before Syracuse opened the scoring with a goal by Mike Blunden. He was assisted by Mike Angelidis and Henri Ikonen. Getting behind didn’t get the Phantoms down. Just about two minutes later they tied up a game when Aaron Palushaj found the back of the net on a power play, assisted by Taylor Leier and Shayne “Ghost” Gostisbehere.
The Crunch then went on a roll and scored two goals in a relatively short amount of time. At the 14:31 mark, Jonathan Marchessault scored to make it 2-1. This time Joel Vermin and Dylan Blujus got the assists. It looked grim and the phans were getting upset just a few minutes later when Philippe Paradis took a rebound and put it right back towards the net and it went in. Tanner Richard took the original shot, to get the assist, and Anthony DeAngelo also was scored an assist. The ended a very active first period.
Syracuse continued the assault in the second period when Marchessault scored another goal at about the 6:00 mark, assisted by Blujus and Jeff Tambelini.
The Phantoms did not give up, even being down 3, and dug deep to cut into the lead with another score, this time by Chris Conner. Conner got a hold of a Pavel Padakin rebound and lit the lamp at 9:17. Michael Parks got the secondary assist. This goal ended the scoring of the second frame.
The third period was filled with a lot of excitement as they went up and down the ice, back and forth, for over 16 minutes before another puck crossed the line. Lehigh Valley made it a 1 score game at 16:31 on an even-strength tally by Danick Martel. Nick Cousins and Conner received credit for the assists.
All in all, despite the loss it was a good game for the home team. Good things happened throughout the contest and can be used to build upon for the future.
The Phantoms will be away for a couple weeks and their next home game will be Saturday, October 24th. Come on out and enjoy the show!
Until next time….. Have a good day!