Shorthanded Phantoms Defense Haunted by Hartford

Injuries on defense have allowed guys like Jesper Pettersson a chance to get extra ice time.

Though no one in the locker room will use it as an excuse, injuries on the back end throughout the organization are starting to catch up to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, evidenced by their 4-2 loss tonight to the Hartford Wolfpack.

Steven Delisle (upper body) was injured in the team's morning skate, forcing the Phantoms to play tonight's game with only five defensemen. Shayne Gostisbehere was re-assigned to the Phantoms from Philadelphia today but was not able to make it back to Pennsylvania in time for tonight's game.

Nevertheless, a tired Phantoms blue line was exposed in the third period tonight, as the Wolfpack tallied three goals in the final frame and broke open an otherwise low-scoring affair. Chris Bourque, Ryan Potulny and Justin Vaive all tallied a goal and an assist each in the win for Hartford.

Kevin Goumas and Nick Cousins tallied goals for the Phantoms in the loss, while Rob Zepp lost his first game in regulation this season - stopping 27 of the 31 shots that came his way.

The team has a few days of practice scheduled before their first extended road trip of the season next week throughout the Northeast. Wednesday night, they'll be in Worcester to take on the Sharks before a game Friday in Manchester and Saturday night in Portland.

The Phantoms got things started quickly tonight. Darroll Powe came in on a forecheck and forced a turnover behind the Hartford net on the opening shift of the game, finding Kevin Goumas alone in the slot for an easy goal 28 seconds into play. Linemate Brandon Alderson also added an assist on the play.

Fourth liner Derek Mathers took care of Nick Tarnasky in a scuffle 2:26 into the opening period and really gave the home crowd of 8,114 fans at the PPL Center something to cheer about.

But from there, Hartford really seemed to press the issue - causing several defensive zone turnovers by the Phantoms and getting quality chances on Zepp. Luckily for the Phantoms, Zepp stopped all 10 shots he faced in the first period to take the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

It was much of the same in the 2nd period between the Phantoms and Wolfpack, with Hartford having an edge in play early in the period.  Oscar Lindberg finished off a feed from Chris Bourque to tie the game at 1-1 about five minutes into the middle frame, on a play that Zepp didn't have much of a chance to stop. Lindberg picked a corner for his team-leading fourth of the season, while Bourque and Tommy Hughes added assists for the Wolfpack.

Tempers flared more in the middle frame with several post-scrum whistles, including a late 2nd period penalty for roughing by Hartfor's J.T. Miller, but the Phantoms were unable to capitalize,

The Wolfpack took a 2-1 lead early in the third period after Mat Bodie's shot from the point was tipped past Zepp by Ryan Potulny. Justin Vaive added an assist on Potulny's 1st of the season 2:03 into the 3rd.

Potulny and Vaive weren't done there either. On a seemingly harmless dump into the zone at the end of his shift, Potulny's clear in took a friendly Hartford hop and Vaive was there to slam home the puck to extend the Wolfpack's lead to 3-1 with 6:48 left in regulation.

A little over a minute later, on a nice individual effort by Chris Bourque, Hartford made it 4-1. Bourque was able to kick a loose puck out of his skates and past the defender with one swift movement on his way to a top shelf breakaway goal.

Nick Cousins tallied his of the season late in the third to draw the Phantoms within two at a 4-2 count, but it was as close as the Phantoms would get tonight.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

0:28: LV - Goumas (1) - Powe, Alderson
2:26: HFD - Tarnasky, major (fighting)
2:26: LV - Mathers, major (fighting)

2nd Period

4:35: HFD - Lindberg (4) - C. Bourque, Hughes
9:05: LV - (PP) Lamarche, minor (hooking)
19:19: HFD - (PP) Miller, minor (roughing)

3rd Period

2:03: HFD - Potulny (1) - Bodie, Vaive
5:32: HFD - (PP) Vaive, minor (slashing)
6:02: LV - (PP) Straka, minor (hooking)
13:12: HFD - Vaive (2) - Potulny
14:18: HFD - C. Bourque (2) - unassisted
17:38: LV - Cousins (3) - Stortini, Straka

ROSTER NOTES

Rob Zepp (27 saves - 31 shots) got the start in net tonight for the Phantoms, with rookie Anthony Stolarz serving as the backup.

With the Flyers signing Carlo Colaiacovo, they re-assigned Shayne Gostisbehere back to the Phantoms to open up a roster spot to take Vinny Lecavlier off injured reserve. Ghostisbehere didn't make it to Allentown for tonight's game but should be at practice on Monday,

Steven Delisle got injured in the team's skate this morning with what head coach Terry Murray called an upper body injury. The upper body ailment kept Delisle out of the lineup tonight and though the Phantoms tried to get an extra body on defense, it was too late and the team skated with five defensemen tonight.

Mark Alt will be out several weeks with an upper body injury sustained Saturday, October 25th in Binghamton.

Scratches: Mark Alt (upper body - out several weeks), Steven Delisle (upper body), Shayne Gostisbehere, Brett Hextall (upper body - "day-to-day")  and Jay Rosehill (suspension - 3 of 3)

Lines

Taylor Leier - Scott Laughton - Andrew Gordon
Petr Straka - Nick Cousins - Zack Stortini
Darroll Powe - Kevin Goumas - Brandon Alderson
Austin Fyten - Andrew Johnston - Derek Mathers

Robert Hagg - Jesper Pettersson
Oliver Lauridsen - Maxim Lamarche
Brett Flemming

Rob Zepp - Anthony Stolarz