The Phantoms continued their recently poor showings with a loss to Springfield on Friday, but they got back to winning ways by beating Hershey twice this weekend.
T.J. Brennan and Nicolas Aube-Kubel helped the Phantoms win twice with game-winners and game-tiers, but after a vicious hit by Colby Williams on Saturday, they could be without Danick Martel for a prolonged period of time.
Friday, Jan. 12th, 2018 vs. Springfield Thunderbirds (6-2 loss)
The Phantoms and Thunderbirds exchanged goals for the first half of the game, but ultimately Springfield’s four-straight goals downed the Phantoms, 6-2.
Jayce Hawryluk opened the scoring for Springfield midway through the first period with a deflection that was impossible for Lyon to react to. Minutes later, Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s wrister from the circle was enough to beat Springfield goaltender Samuel Montembeault. Montembeault tried to play Aube-Kubel a bit too aggressively and in doing that he left a lot of his left side open. Aube-Kubel took advantage of that.
In the second, Rob Hamilton took advantage of a flat-footed Mark Friedman and flew by him to cause trouble in the Phantoms’ defensive zone. Thinking that Chris Conner would be able to cover Edward Wittchow, who was skating into the slot from the right circle, Reece Willcox switched from covering Wittchow to Hamilton. Conner wasn’t close enough to stop a pass to Wittchow, and Hamilton was able to slide a pass through the crease for a goal by Wittchow to make it 2-1.
Phil Varone scored seven minutes later to tie the game once again, this time with a rebound off of a Greg Carey shot. Carey, after making his way to the high slot, just wanted to get a shot on net and threw the puck on goal. The oddly placed shot caused Montembeault some issues, and Varone swatted the puck in while falling.
After that the night went south for the Phantoms. Just a minute later the Thunderbirds scored their first of three goals in three minutes on a poor defensive clearance in front. Another goal came on a deflection, and the third on a defensive breakdown. Just four minutes prior, the Phantoms were tied! Springfield went on to score one more goal in the third to win, 6-2.
Lyon saved 22 of 28 shots in the loss, and Aube-Kubel led the team with four shots.
Saturday, Jan. 13th, 2018 vs. Hershey Bears (2-1 win)
The Phantoms took on the Hershey Bears on Saturday in what would be their first of three match-ups with the Bears in two weeks.
After a failed penalty shot attempt by Nathan Walker in the first period, the Bears got on the board in the second, courtesy of Riley Barber. On the power play Barber was able to fire a shot from the low-circle that caught a lot of Dustin Tokarski, but not enough as the puck squeaked by him.
Four minutes later, T.J. Brennan and Phil Varone caught the Bears on a two-on-one. Colby Williams was caught between Brennan and Varone and took the pass away from Brennan. Brennan took the shot and placed it beautifully, putting it right by Vitek Vanecek’s low glove to tie the game.
In the third period, the Phantoms took the lead. Matt Read deflected a harmless shot from the point by Reece Willcox and made it 2-1 for the Phantoms. The old adage of just getting the puck on net holds true here, as Willcox just floated the puck in looking for a deflection, and he got one. Vanecek couldn’t react in time, and the Phantoms held onto the lead to win, 2-1.
Dustin Tokarski came up big in the third and ended the game with 29 saves on 30 shots.
Saturday, Jan. 14th, 2018 @ Hershey Bears (2-1 OT win)
Travelling down to Hershey the next night, the Phantoms beat the Bears by the same 2-1 score, except it took an overtime session this time.
Hershey scored first (the Phantoms letting up the first goal has seemed to be a theme lately) as Chris Bourque whipped the puck by Alex Lyon in the slot. T.J. Brennan and Mike Vecchione let Bourque get free in the slot, and when Vecchione left the slot to try and take away the eventual pass to Bourque from Mathias Bau, Bourque got into empty space for the pass. Vecchione might not have even seen Bourque as he came into the slot after Vecchione started leaving it. Nonetheless, the Bears led, 1-0.
In the second period, the Phantoms were gifted a three-on-one with Vecchione leading the charge of him, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Oskar Lindblom. Hubert Labrie, in for Colby Williams, was tasked with defending the rush from the Phantoms, and he did a decent job. Vecchione had to rush a pass underneath the sliding Labrie, and the puck got through to Aube-Kubel who backhanded the puck in to tie the game at one.
The game headed into overtime, and Aaron Ness was assessed a holding penalty just 24 seconds into the extra period. On the ensuing power play, T.J. Brennan scored after walking into the circle, and the Phantoms won, 2-1.
Lyon saved 28 of 29 shots, but his counterpart in Pheonix Copley frustrated the Phantoms with some dazzling glove saves. T.J. Brennan was the only Phantoms with a multi-point game this week, as he recorded a goal and assist against Hershey.
Stars of the week
T.J. Brennan once again led the Phantoms offensively and scored three points and nabbed a first star award against Hershey on Sunday. There was nothing too flashy from him this week, but when it mattered, he got the job done. He scored the game-tying goal against Hershey on Saturday with a well-put and effective shot, and his two-point effort and game-winning goal on Sunday was enough to sway the Phantoms into the lead and win.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel also showed up for the Phantoms this week, scoring two goals. His goal against Springfield was, like Brennan’s against Hershey, beautifully placed, and his goal against Hershey was scrappy. On Saturday, Aube-Kubel came to the aid of Danick Martel and fought Colby Williams, and Aube-Kubel was slapped with 17 minutes of penalties for instigating and fighting.
Rinkside Notes
Tyrell Goulbourne was sent down to Lehigh Valley from the Flyers this week to practice with the Phantoms as the Flyers were on a bye-week. He was called up for the Flyers’ game against New Jersey on Saturday.
Danick Martel will miss at least a month after undergoing successful surgery on his broken jaw. Colby Williams was suspended three games for his hit on Martel.
Upcoming Games
- Wednesday, 1/17 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Saturday, 1/20 at Hershey Bears (AHL Outdoor Classic)
Originally published on SonsOfPenn.com