Pirates Clamp Down on Lehigh Valley in 3-0 Decision
November 8, 2014
Portland, ME – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms concluded their three-game road swing through New England with a 3-0 loss at the Portland Pirates on Saturday night. Veteran goalie Mike McKenna turned aside 27 Phantoms drives to record the first shutout of the season for the Arizona Coyotes affiliate who remained the hottest team in the American Hockey League with their fifth win in a row.
Rob Zepp had another solid game in goal for the Phantoms with 37 saves on his way to being pinned with only his second regulation loss of the season. Brendan Shinnimin had a pair of nice assists for Portland while Jordan Szwarz (2nd), Henrik Samuelsson (3rd) and Lucas Lessio (5th) scored for the Pirates.
The Pirates improved to 7-5-0 while the Phantoms record moved back to the .500 mark at 5-5-1.
The first period saw a good amount of chippy play as emotions were running high between the two teams in their first meeting since a brawl-marred, penalty-filled game last February in Lewiston, Maine. Only one fight developed out of all the testiness though with Derek Mathers dropping the gloves for the second straight game in a duel with Mark Louis.
Shinnimin carried the puck up the right-wing in transition and patiently waited for Szwarz to catch up on the back-door for the first tally of the night in the closing minute of period one.
Henrik Samuelsson converted a couple minutes into the second from Alexandre Bolduc to push the lead to 2-0. And Lessio’s sharp wrister from the high-slot beat Zepp past the blocker with less than two to go in the middle period to close the scoring.
Earlier in the evening, it was announced that highly touted defensive prospect Shayne Gostisbehere will miss a few months with an injury to his left knee suffered at Manchester on Friday night in the third period when he crashed into the end boards. Gostisbehere will have surgery on the torn ACL on Thursday. Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said to the media in Philadelphia that he expected Gostisbehere will be able to return later this season but also that the young talent will have to miss multiple months.
Brett Flemming entered the lineup in place of the injured Gostsibehere. Mark Alt and Brett Hextall were both out of the lineup with their injury issues while Darroll Powe sat out for the final of his two-game suspension stemming from his match penalty at the end of Wednesday’s game at Worcester.
The Phantoms conclude their stretch of four consecutive away games next Friday night at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The Phantoms begin a nice run of home games on Saturday, November 15th against the Toronto Marlies. Lehigh Valley will play six home games at PPL Center in the two-week span from November 15th through 29th. Get ready for our big tilts on November 19th, 21st and 22nd against Hershey, Worcester and St. John’s. Tickets are available at pplcenter.com or by calling 610-347-TIXX (8499) or in person at the Mealey’s Furniture Box Office at the main entrance of PPL Center.
Check it out! Don’t miss the action and fun of Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey at PPL Center in downtown Allentown! Contact the Phantoms Front Office for information on season tickets and affordable partial-season plans by calling 610-224-GOAL (4625).
Lehigh Valley Phantoms 0 at Portland Pirates 3 – Status: Final
Saturday, November 8, 2014 – Cross Insurance Arena
Lehigh Valley 0 0 0 – 0
Portland 1 2 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Portland, Szwarz 2 (Shinnimin, Hanley), 19:10. Penalties-Hache Por (interference), 3:22; Manning Lv (unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:54; Delisle Lv (tripping), 12:17; Mathers Lv (fighting), 15:56; Louis Por (fighting), 15:56; Pettersson Lv (delay of game), 19:36.
2nd Period-2, Portland, Samuelsson 3 (Bolduc, Campbell), 1:44. 3, Portland, Lessio 5 (Shinnimin, Oberg), 18:17 (PP). Penalties-Louis Por (hooking), 6:35; Szwarz Por (kneeing), 9:48; Rosehill Lv (interference), 17:02.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Hanley Por (interference), 2:49; Johnston Lv (holding), 5:40; Manning Lv (slashing), 13:05; Gaudet Por (hooking), 16:48; Fyten Lv (boarding), 19:52.
Shots on Goal-Lehigh Valley 8-8-11-27. Portland 14-12-14-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Lehigh Valley 0 / 5; Portland 1 / 7.
Goalies-Lehigh Valley, Zepp 5-2-0 (40 shots-37 saves). Portland, McKenna 3-4-0 (27 shots-27 saves).
A-3,679
Referees-Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Landon Bathe (80).
Upcoming Home Games:
Saturday, November 15, 2014, Toronto Marlies vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 7:05 PM
Wednesday, November 19, 2014, Hershey Bears vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 7:05 PM
Friday, November 21, 2014, Worcester Sharks vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 7:05 PM
Saturday, November 22, 2014, St. John’s IceCaps at Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 7:05 PM
In their 19th season of operation, the Phantoms are currently in the midst of their Inaugural Season as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms playing at the brand-new PPL Center. Established in 1996, the Philadelphia Phantoms spent their first 13 seasons at the Spectrum before re-locating to Glens Falls, New York in 2009 where the team spent the next five seasons as the Adirondack Phantoms. A new era of Phantoms hockey began in the fall of 2014 when the Lehigh Valley Phantoms began play at the state-of-the-art PPL Center. Through 18 incredibly successful campaigns, the Phantoms have captured two Calder Cup Championships (1998, 2005), two Conference Championships (1998, 2005), two Regular Season Titles (1996-97, 1997-98) and four Division Championships (1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2003-04).
