Allison Scores Winning Goal in Third to Cap Three-Point Night
March 11, 2022
Lehigh Valley, PA – Wade Allison played in his first Phantoms game in almost two months and blasted home the winning goal on the power play early in the third period while assisting on two earlier goals as Lehigh Valley rallied from a 3-1 deficit to post a 4-3 victory over the Laval Rocket on Friday night at PPL Center.
Max Willman also returned to the Phantoms’ lineup for the first time in almost two months and recorded a goal and an assist in the comeback. Cal O’Reilly had one goal and two assists while Logan Day picked up a key goal to spark the rally and Linus Sandin had a pivotal assist on the game-winner.
For Allison, his game-winning blast from the left dot extended his interrupted goal-streak to four games. He also scored in his last three games for the Phantoms from January 14 through January 16 before a recall to the Flyers where he was injured in a game at Buffalo on Janaury 22.
Lehigh Valley (19-24-10) rallied from a second intermission deficit to post a victory for a third time this season.
The Phantoms raced out to a hot start with an 11-0 shots advantage against Laval goalie Kevin Poulin but were unable to break through until late in the first on a turnover from the endboards that came out to O’Reilly who cut across the low slot from left to right to flip a backhander past the sprawled Rocket netminder for his 14th of the season and a 1-0 lead.
But Kevin Roy (9th) would snipe on the rush a couple minutes later and shortly after he had been denied by Felix Sandstrom on a breakaway. The two teams exited for the first period deadlocked at 1-1.
Wade Allison left the game in the first period with a slice injury on his arm while diving for a puck in the low slot. But after getting stitched up, he was able to return for the second period which ultimately proved vital for the Phantoms’ comeback efforts.
Laval (26-20-3) started to pull away with a pair of goals in the second period. Rafael Harvey-Pinard had a mid-air swat in the slot following a save by Sandstrom on a drive from Jesse Ylonen as the Rocket took a 2-1 lead just over five minutes into the middle frame.
And Justin Ducharme’s top-shelf blast just past the midway mark of the game gave the visitors a little breathing room at 3-1.
But the Phantoms turned the momentum back in their direction and eventually struck for an important goal late in the second period to close the deficit to one. Allison’s pass on the rush from the right boards connected with Max Willman who left a little touch-drop for Logan Day who offered a powerful blast from the high slot that went off the upper portion of the cage for Day’s third of the season with just 1:52 remaining in the second period thus closing the count to 3-2.
Lehigh Valley then found the equalizing and go-ahead markers consceutively in the early minutes of the third period. Willman flew up the right wing and snapped a tying goal past the stick-side of Poulin to the far post with 18:26 remaining to forge a 3-3 tie. Allison and O’Reilly assisted on the play.
118 seconds later it was Wade Allison with a knee-drop one-timer from the left dot on the power play. The Phantoms’ first power-play goal in seven games came as a result of Linus Sandin’s strong decision in the slot to hang on to the puck and draw Poulin to the right side of the cage. Sandin then slid the puck sharply and perfectly onto the tape of Allison waiting to pull the trigger. Poulin had no chance and the Phantoms had taken the lead with 16:28 to go on Allison’s fourth of the season and also his fourth in his last four games going back to January.
Laval did not have too many chances in the third period as the Phantoms’ defense buckled down and enjoyed a 15-4 shots advantage in the final frame. After the goalie was pulled for an extra attacker, the Rocket watched in frustration as the Phantoms defenders successfully killed the remaining clock primarily holding the puck along the boards. Linus Hogberg and Adam Clendening were key in the clock-killing exercise as the Phantoms were able to grind down the time to all zeroes for the 4-3 victory.
The Phantoms return to PPL Center on Saturday night against the Hartford Wolf Pack. It is the team’s last home game in the month of March. The Phantoms will open six straight away contests on Sunday evening at 5:00 p.m. at the Hershey Bears.
SCORING SUMMARY:
1st 16:55 – LV, C. O’Reilly (14) (Unassisted) 1-0
1st 18:43 – LAV, K. Roy (8) (G. Bourque, T. Amorosa) 1-1
2nd 5:32 – LAV, R. Harvey-Pinard (12) (J. Ylonen) 1-2
2nd 11:42 – LAV, J. Ducharme (3) (D. Martel, T. Amarosa) 1-3
2nd 18:08 – LV, L. Day (3) (M. Willman, W. Allison) 2-3
3rd 1:34 – LV, M. Willman (9) (W. Allison, C. O’Reilly) 3-3
3rd 3:32 – LV, W. Allison (4) (L. Sandin, C. O’Reilly) (PP) 4-3
Shots:
LV 38 – LAV 24
PP:
LV 1/2, LAV 0/1
Goalies:
LV – Felix Sandstrom (W) (9-13-3) (21/24)
LAV – Kevin Poulin (L) (10-6-1) (34/38)
Records:
Lehigh Valley (19-24-10)
Laval (26-20-3)
