Game 73 Preview: Lehigh Valley at Bridgeport

Sunday, April 10, 2016
The Phantoms and Sound Tigers rematch in Bridgeport Sunday evening. Photo: Nina Weiss/The Home News
I'll have full coverage of tonight's Phantoms game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The puck drops at 5:00 p.m. ET, but make sure you're following me on Twitter -> @TonyAndrock and now on Facebook (be sure to like the Facebook page!) for all the latest updates and information this evening. Stay tuned here online after the game for a recap of the action.

You can help keep me on the road covering the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by making a donation via GoFundMe or PayPal.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (32-33-4-3) finish a three-game weekend with the second of a home and home series with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers  (38-26-4-3) this evening at the Webster Bank Arena in downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Unfortunately, I was unable to make the 360-mile round trip to cover the game live from the rink. I will, however, be covering the game from home via the AHL Live network and have full coverage with in-game updates on Twitter and a recap of the action online shortly after the game.

Lehigh Valley faces a Bridgeport team that is currently clinging to the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. The Phantoms hope to continue to play the role of spoiler. Last night in Allentown, the Phantoms didn't give the Sound Tigers their best effort. According to Cole Bardreau after the game, the team needs to bring it for a full 60 minutes today in Connecticut if they want to interrupt the Sound Tigers' march toward a postseason berth.

News, notes, stats, numbers and a whole bunch more after the jump.


By The Numbers

LV: 72 games played, 32-33-4-3 = 71 points
7th Place - Atlantic Division
Last 10 Games: 5-4-1-0
Streak: 0-1-0

BST: 72 games played, 39-26-4-3 = 85 points
5th Place - Atlantic Division
Last 10 Games: 6-3-1-0
Streak: 1-0-0

Special Teams

Power Play

LV: 16.9% - 14th in AHL
BST: 12.5% - 29th in AHL

Penalty Kill


LV: 83.5% - 15th in AHL
BST: 84.9% - 9th in AHL

Leading Scorers (Active)

LV: Chris Conner (55GP, 16G-38A), Taylor Leier (67GP, 19G-28A), Petr Straka (62GP, 19G-18A), Danick Martel (64GP, 21G-13A)

BST: Mike Halmo (70GP, 22G-18A), James Wright (69GP, 13G-27A), Ben Holmstrom (72GP, 4G-20A), Marc-Andre Cliche (40GP, 7G-13A)

Starting Goaltenders

LV: Anthony Stolarz (19-16-7, 2.65 GAA, .914 SV%, 0 SO)
BST: Parker Milner (2-2-0, 2.78 GAA, .909 SV%, 1 SO)

Season Series

This is the sixth and final scheduled meeting between Lehigh Valley and Bridgeport this season. The Phantoms are 1-3-0-1 against the Sound Tigers this season, with their lone win coming in Bridgeport back on January 17th. Last night, the Phantoms fell behind early and despite a late third period rally fell short to the Sound Tigers for the fourth time this season.

Head to Head Scoring Leaders

LV:  Chris Conner (4GP, 1G-6A), Taylor Leier (5GP, 3G-2A), Danick Martel (3GP, 4G-0A) 

BST: Kane Lafranchise (3GP, 1G-5A), Mike Halmo (5GP, 2G-3A) Jared Gomes (5GP, 1G-2A)

Goalies Head to Head Stats

LV: Anthony Stolarz - (3GP, 0-2-1, 3.61 GAA, .875 SV%, 0 SO)
       Connor Knapp - No Stats

BST: Stephon Williams - (1GP, 1-0-0, 4.00 GAA, .857 SV%, 0 SO)
         Parker Milner (1GP, 0-1-0, 4.01 GAA, .857 SV%, 0 SO)

Season Series Schedule


Sat. 12/26, Bridgeport - 2 at Lehigh Valley - 1
Sun. 1/17, Lehigh Valley - 4 at Bridgeport - 1
Fri. 2/5, Lehigh Valley - 3 at Bridgeport - 6
Sat. 2/20, Bridgeport - 5 at Lehigh Valley - 4 (SO)
Sat. 4/9, Bridgeport - 6 at Lehigh Valley - 4
Sun. 4/10, Lehigh Valley at Bridgeport - 5:00 p.m. ET

Lehigh Valley Phantoms 

Roster Notes

Anthony Stolarz is expected to get the start in net this evening. Last night, Stolarz got his first start in net since March 18th and looked every bit like a goaltender who hadn't played in nearly three weeks. Martin Ouellette was reassigned to Reading following Friday night's game, so Connor Knapp served as Stolarz's backup.

Travis Sanheim was a healthy scratch by design on Saturday, as head coach Scott Gordon said during the week at practice that he expected the incoming junior league players to play only 2 of the 3 games this weekend. Reece Willcox returned to the lineup in his place, but Sanheim will be back in the lineup today for Lehigh Valley.
Jay Rosehill will serve the final game of his three-game suspension tomorrow when Phantoms take on Bridgeport in Connecticut.

Veteran Jason LaBarbera has been ruled out for the season. It appeared as though the Phantoms would finish their final six games with Martin Ouellette and Connor Knapp, but the Flyers reassigned Anthony Stolarz to Lehigh Valley Thursday afternoon. Saturday morning, Ouellette was reassigned to Reading (ECHL).

Forwards Radel Fazleev (hand) and Travis Konecny (shoulder), both of whom have been eliminated from the junior league playoffs, will not play with the Phantoms this spring due their injuries.

Michael Parks has been skating in a yellow non-contact jersey at practice for the past two weeks. I had ruled him out for the season after a conversation I had with Parks about six weeks ago, but it's nice to see him skating out there. He's been out of the lineup since the Phantoms' third game of the season back on October 17th in Wilkes-Barre.

Goaltender Alex Lyon, whom the Flyers signed this week out of Yale University to an entry-level contract, will not be reporting to Lehigh Valley this spring per GM Ron Hextall.

Scratches: Jason LaBarbera (out for the season), Christian Marti (healthy), Tyrell Goulbourne (healthy), Michael Parks (out for the season), Aaron Palushaj (healthy), Radel Fazleev (out for the season), Petr Straka (healthy) Adam Comrie (healthy), Jay Rosehill (suspended - two more games) & Logan Pyett (out for the season)

Lines

Oskar Lindblom - Tim Brent - Chris Conner
Taylor Leier - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald
Danick Martel - Steven Swavely - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Dalton Smith - Phil DeSimon - Pavel Padakin

Sam Morin - Mark Alt
Davis Drewiske - Reece Willcox
Travis Sanheim - Robert Hagg

Anthony Stolarz - Connor Knapp

Recent Transactions

4/9: DEL - G Martin Ouellette loaned to Reading (ECHL)

4/7: ADD - G Anthony Stolarz returned on loan by Philadelphia (NHL)
4/4: ADD - RW Nicolas Aube-Kubel re-assigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Val d'Or (QMJHL)
4/4: ADD - LW Radel Fazleev re-assigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Calgary (WHL)
4/4: ADD - D Travis Sanheim re-assigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Calgary (WHL)
3/29: DEL - D Max Lamarche re-assigned by Philadelphia (NHL) to Reading (ECHL)
3/26: ADD - F Oskar Lindblom signed to ATO


You can help keep me on the road covering the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by making a donation via GoFundMe or PayPal.

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