October 12, 2024
Allentown, PA – Back in Orange and Black, back at PPL Center, and back in the win column. Opening Night at PPL Center to begin the 2024-25 regular season featured a thrilling 4-3 shootout victory for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Jacob Gaucher, Samu Tuomaala and Anthony Richard all hit power-play pay-dirt for the Phantoms, and Jon-Randall Avon and Olle Lycksell both contributed in the shootout.
To begin the 11th season in Allentown, over 8,000 fans packed PPL Center and energetically spun their rally towels as both Lehigh Valley and Hartford put forth a special teams clinic. Music outside and inside the arena enhanced the anticipation of the team’s official debut. And what awaited them was an intense and feisty and chippy and exciting affair that won’t soon be forgotten.
The teams combined for five power-play markers on 16 opportunities in a penalty-filled affair. By all rights, the Phantoms SHOULD have been able to put the game away earlier and before it almost slipped away. With a 49-25 shots advantage, Lehigh Valley largely dominated play but veteran lefty goaltender Louis Domingue kept the visiting Blue Shirts around in the contest and earned his team the standings point.
Late in the first period, Hartford notched its first goal of the season courtesy of Brett Berard on the man-advantage. The Phantoms out-shot the Pack by an 11-8 margin despite trailing 1-0 at first intermission.
Lehigh Valley drew even at 5:27 of the second period with Jacob Gaucher lighting the lamp for the team’s first goal of the season. In the dying seconds of the man-advantage, Gaucher’s hard work in the low-slot moved the puck near the blue line to Louie Belpedio. A blast from Belpedio deflected off Gaucher and past Hartford goaltender Louis Domingue to ignite the large crowd.
With less than eight minutes remaining in the stanza, Lehigh Valley nabbed its first lead of the season courtesy of Samu Tuomaala. An entry into the offensive zone smooth as silk saw the puck rimmed around the dasher boards as Tuomaala crept unmarked into the slot. A pass from Richard along the wing found an open Tuomaala who unleashed a wicked shot from right out in front for the go-ahead marker. The deuce in period two provided Lehigh Valley with a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes.
Hartford responded at 5:05 of the third period on a goal from Anton Blidh off a quick 2-on-1 to knot the score at 2-2. But only 2:15 later, Richard and Tuomaala again connected for a timely, sound response. The Phantoms cashed in on a 5-on-3 power play chance shortly after controlling the puck following an offensive zone draw. With the puck funneled near the net, Richard pounced on a juicy rebound near the goal mouth from the right of the cage to tally his first goal as a Phantom in his debut.
Once again, the Wolf Pack would not go down quietly and found another answer. Hartford took advantage of a late 6-on-4 power-play with Domingue pulled in favor of the extra attacker, and Casey Fitzgerald scored through a heavy screen in front of Alexi Kolosov to tie the game with just 1:05 left. But there was still work to be done. The Phantoms killed a full power play stemming from a double-minor penalty that carried from the end of the third for 65 seconds and then into the opening minute of overtime with Hartford enjoying extra space with a 4-3 opportunity. But the Phantoms scrapped and blocked their way through the pivotal P.K. to hold off the Pack and keep the game deadlocked.
In addition to Avon and Lycksell’s shootout heroics, Kolosov shut the door with two stops to provide Lehigh Valley with a 4-3 victory. J.R. Avon opened the shootout with a backhand toss past the left skate of Domingue to open the shootout. Avon tied for the league-lead in shootout goals as a rookie in the 2023-24 season going 5-for-7 and increased his career mark to 6-for-8 with the season-opening conversion.
Lycksell had a nifty backhand flip to the upper-right corner in the third round to put the Phantoms ahead and then Kolosov snagged Alex Belzile’s effort with a glove-save dandy to slam the door on the Wolf Pack and clinch the win before the roaring crowd.
Lehigh Valley returns to PPL Center on Saturday, October 19 to battle the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. It’s an Oktoberfest Stein Giveaway for the first 3,000 fans. Ticket information is available online at PhantomsHockey.com.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st 17:56 – HFD, B. Berard (1) (B. Othmann, C. Fitzgerald) (PP) (0-1)
2nd 5:27 – LV, J. Gaucher (1) (L. Belpedio, J. Avon) (PP) (1-1)
2nd 12:06 – LV, S. Tuomaala (1) (A. Richard, O. Lycksell) (PP) (2-1)
3rd 5:05 – HFD, A. Blidh (1) (A. Sykora, A. Belzile) (2-2)
3rd 7:20 – LV, A. Richard (1) (S. Tuomaala, R. Abols) (PP) (3-2)
3rd 18:55 – HFD, C. Fitzgerald (1) (A. Belzile, B. Othmann) (PP) (3-3)
SHOOTOUT
LV – J. Avon (Goal), A. Richard (X), O. Lycksell (Goal)
HFD – B. Berard (Goal), B. Othmann (X), A. Belzile (X)
Shots:
LV 49 – HFD 25
Power Plays:
LV 3/8, HFD 2/8
Goaltenders:
LV – A. Kolosov (W) (22/25) (1-0-0)
HFD – L. Domingue (SOL) (45/48) (0-0-1)
Records:
Lehigh Valley (1-0-0)
Hartford (0-0-1)
UPCOMING
Friday, October 18 – Phantoms at WBS Penguins
Saturday, October 19 – WBS Penguins at Phantoms – Oktoberfest – Stein Giveaway from Max and Butters (First 3,000 adults)
The post We are SO Back! Phantoms Wild Shootout Win on Opening Night appeared first on Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
