T-Birds Take Overtime Victory Amidst Controversy
November 4, 2023
Springfield, MA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms hung on and competed in a hard-fought battle at the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday night to earn a standing point in a third consecutive game but Dylan Coghlan’s second goal of the night came in overtime on the power play to provide Springfield with the bonus standings point in a 3-2 final.
Garrett Wilson (2nd) and Brendan Furry (1st) scored for Lehigh Valley who never trailed until the overtime winner was scored. The Phantoms played to overtime in a third consecutive contest. Parker Gahagen (3-1-1) was sparkling in net with 29 saves on 32 shots.
Lehigh Valley (4-4-2) entered the contest with a 2-0-0 record against the T-Birds who recorded their first win against the Phantoms this season.
Springfield (6-4-0) received its second power play of the overtime, and sixth of the game, on a hooking infraction against Rhett Gardner which also induced a 10-minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct when he expressed his displeasure at the call. The T-Birds finally were able to cash in during the team’s sixth man advantage of the night after Lehigh Valley had successfully thwarted the previous five power plays.
Phantoms captain Garrett Wilson swatted home a rebound off a one-timer from Elliot Desnoyers just four minutes into the game for his 2nd goal of the season to give Lehigh Valley the early 1-0 lead. Friday night’s hero, Samu Tuomaala, recorded a strong assist on the cross-ice feed to Desnoyers to cap a 4-point weekend (1 goal, 3 assists) while also moving the 20-year-old rookie into a three-way tie for the team-lead at eight points along with Olle Lycksell and Tanner Laczynski.
Gahagen and the Phantoms held the T-Birds scoreless through the first 30 minutes until Dylan Coghlan ripped home a slapshot on a one-timer from the point past the blocker of Gahagen just after time
expired on a Brendan Furry penalty for hooking.
Furry would go on to pick up his first goal of the season just minutes later on the rush with a blast from the right wing beating Malcolm Subban to push the Phantoms back ahead at 2-1. Cooper Marody led Furry into the zone just as he was taking a vicious hit from Keean Washkurak in the neutral zone that would have been a penalty had Furry not scored on the play.
With the second stanza winding down, a wrist shot from T-Birds defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk in the high slot found its way through a sea of bodies and off the pad of Gahagen to knot the game again at 2-2 with 25 seconds remaining in the period.
Lehigh Valley had a late power-play opportunity with less than two minutes remaining in the third period with a chance to win the game. It was officially the first power play of the night for Lehigh Valley (not including the goal on the delayed penalty that would have been a power play). But Parker Gahagen was whistled for playing the puck behind the line and outside the trapezoid area for a delay of game infraction thus ending the Lehigh Valley man advantage and providing the T-Birds with a power play early in the overtime.
The Phantoms killed that penalty but expressed their displeasure at the subsequent infraction that provided the T-Birds with an additional power play. Coghlan’s drive on the 4-on-3 advantage from inside center-point gave the T-Birds the win.
Lehigh Valley and Springfield will rematch on Wednesday morning with a 10:30 a.m. start time in western Mass. The Phantoms are back at home on Saturday, November 11 against the rival Hershey Bears.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st 4:01 – LV, G. Wilson (2) (E. Desnoyers, S. Tuomaala) (1-0)
2nd 9:50 – SPR, D. Coghlan (4) (Z. Bolduc, M. Abramov) (1-1)
2nd 14:30 – LV, B. Furry (1) (C. Marody, H. Grans) (2-1)
2nd 19:35 – SPR, W. Kalynuk (1) (A. Gaudette, D. Coghlan) (2-2)
OT 2:29 – SPR, D. Coghlan (6) (A. Gaudette, M. Peca) (2-3)
Shots:
LV 22 – SPR 32
PP:
LV 0/1, SPR 1/6
Goaltenders:
LV – P. Gahagen (29/32) (OTL) (3-1-1)
SPR – M. Subban (20/22) (W) (2-3-0)
Records:
Lehigh Valley (4-4-2)
Springfield (6-4-0)
UPCOMING –
Wednesday, November 8 (10:35 a.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Springfield Thunderbirds
Saturday, November 11 (7:05 p.m.) – Hershey Bears at Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Sunday, November 12 (3:00 p.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Hershey Bears
Friday, November 17 (7:00 p.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Laval Rocket
Saturday, November 18 (7:00 p.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Belleville Senators
