Providence, RI – Anthony Richard (5th) pulled the Phantoms to within a goal with just over two minutes to go but the Providence Bruins rode the goaltending strength of Simon Zajicek (30 saves) to barely hang on for a 3-2 win on Friday night at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Lehigh Valley (10-5-2) racked up 16 shots in the third, half of their game total. Zajicek was simply too good.
Karsen Dorwart (4th) also scored for the Phantoms while Alexis Gendron’s assist on the play pushed his point streak to six games in the opener of the team’s three-game road trip. Alex Bump was denied on a pair of breakaways while Carl Grundstrom and Ethan Samson were both robbed back-to-back right on top of Zajicek in the third.
The night also marked the milestone 900th pro game for captain Garrett Wilson, 302 of which have come with the Orange and Black.
Providence (13-2-0) took over first place in the Atlantic Division with Jake Schmaltz (2nd), former Flyer Patrick Brown (6th) and newly arrived Jacob Perreault (1st) providing the offense.
The Bruins didn’t waste time in striking first. Schmaltz started the play with his power move to the net from the left corner. Aleksei Kolosov shoved that initial try away but Joey Abate was right there on the other side with a quick secondary effort that was deflected at the net-front by Schmaltz. The Providence goal at just 2:20 into the game was the fastest surrendered the Phantoms this season.
Lehigh Valley countered quickly. Gendron slid a seam-pass across to Dorwart patiently waiting at the right dot where he had time to line up his power-play snipe at 3:59 to even the score at 1-1.
Providence scored on its own power play shortly thereafter with Victor Soderstrom snagging his second assist of the game on a center-point drive redirected at the net-front by Patrick Brown. The Bruins’ captain had played two seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2021-23.
A largely uneventful second period saw both teams tighten up their defense while yielding only nine combined shots on goal.
The third period was a different story. Bump rushed in on a breakaway only to be repelled by Zajicek again. Grundstrom slipped through on a quick partial break and then the trailer, Samson, was robbed point-blank on the second effort on perhaps Zajicek’s most brilliant denial of the evening.
Lehigh Valley got one of them back with the goaltender pulled and just 2:12 left with practically everyone crashing at the net-front. Grundstrom was again robbed from inches away but Richard was there on the right-wing side of the cage to knock it through and pull the Phantoms to within 3-2.
Providence held tough the rest of the way and deflected and broke up enough chances to hold off the Phantoms and preserve the win.
The road trip continues on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The Phantoms are back at home on Saturday, November 29 on Gritty Night featuring the return of the popular and crazy Flyers’ mascot when Lehigh Valley hosts the Laval Rocket, AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens.
Big congrats to loyal Phantoms Phan Richard Shewman attending his 1900th game! He holds the all-time record for most Phantoms games witnessed in person.
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