Zack Stortini – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa – The light at the end of the tunnel is coming. That was the message from Head Coach Terry Murray after the Lehigh Valley Phantoms saw their home losing streak extend to seven games. Chris and Ryan Bourque each had a goal, and Oscar Lindberg had the game winning goal as Hartford downed Lehigh Valley in overtime 5-4 at PPL Center.
Given the losing streak, nobody knew how the Lehigh Valley Phantoms would come out in the first period. It turns out they are pretty ticked off. Just 4 minutes in, Petr Straka hit the post, a few minutes after that, Wolfpack goaltender Jeff Malcolm stoned Scott Laughton on a two on one rush. Later in the period, Jason Akeson hit the post. Twice.
Malcolm was spectacular time and again, stopping all seven shots he faced in the frame, and it propelled Hartford to the lead. With Oscar Lindberg off for high-sticking, Dylan McIlrath fet Chris Bourque, who snapped a wrister between the arm and body of Phantoms’ netminder Martin Ouellete. Hartford had only three shots in the period.
The second period was, to quote Johnny Carson, “Some wild and crazy stuff”. There were five goals in the period, including one on the power play and one shorthanded, both for the Phantoms. First, with Hartford’s Steve Spinnell off for high-sticking, Zack Stortini tipped home a Brandon Manning point shot past Malcolm for his 13th of the season and second of the night, as he had scored earlier in the period. Danny Kristo tied the game 3:01 later, as he scored in tight off of a feed from Oscar Lindberg on Anthony Stolarz, who replaced Martin Ouellette after the third Hartford goal. The Phantoms had an apparent goal waved off later in the period, when referee Kendrick Nicholson ruled that Phantoms’ forward Austin Fyten interfered with Jeff Malcolm on a drive to the net.
Jason Akeson then made it 3-3 when he scored from the front of the slot, roofing the puck over Malcom’s shoulder. Chris Bourque, the ageless wonder, Put Hartford ahead 20 seconds into the third, as he pushed the puck through Stolarz’ legs. Nick Cousins pulled Lehigh Valley even at four at 12:24. With Dylan McIlrath off for cross checking, Cousins took the puck in the far circle, cradled it for a few seconds and snapped the puck to the far corner top shelf. It was his 17th of the season, and Jason Akeson picked up his third point of the night.
In overtime, both teams traded chances, until a fatal mistake gave Hartford the extra point. Scott Laughton fell down in the Hartford zone, and Oscar Lindberg had a 2 on 0 with Danny Kristo. As the game had gone into the three on three portion of the period, there was no one back to assist Stolarz. Lindberg faked a pass to Kristo and buried the shot, scoring unassisted at 5:48.
Notes: With the loss, Lehigh Valley falls to 0-5-2 in their last seven at home, picking up a point tonight and Wednesday against Binghamton. Nick Cousins’ third period marker ties him for the team lead in goals at 17. Zack Stortini on if tonight’s effort can be built upon going forward: “I thought the boys played really hard tonight. “From our goalies, to our D, to our forwards. It was a hard team fought battle and we gotta continue to do that. There’s a lot of big games coming up down the stretch, and we’re gonna need effort like that every night.” Terry Murray on if the light at the end of the tunnel is coming: “Yeah, you know the old country and western song, your going through hell, you gotta keep going? I really like the way we played here tonight. Our execution was good, we were ready to go from the very beginning…You gotta take that and say let’s keep going here guys.” Forward Darroll Powe was scratched with the flu, and Defenseman Steven Delisle was a healthy scratch. 3 Stars: 3) HFD- Oscar Lindberg (Game-winning goal, assist) 2)LV-Jason Akeson (2 Goals and an assist) 1) LV-Zack Stortini (2 Goals)
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