Rizzo First, Gordie for Garrett, Another Comeback Win

Lycksell Snipes in OT to Down Bruins 4-3

December 18, 2024

Allentown, PA – Trailing 2-0 late in the second period, Garrett Wilson decided to get the boys going. His fight before the second intermission helped spark yet another Lehigh Valley Phantoms comeback as the Orange and Black came from behind to post an overtime win in a 4-3 heartstopper against the Providence Bruins.

Olle Lycksell (6th) finished the night with his sharp-angle snipe top-shelf past the glove of Brandon Bussi for his third overtime goal of the season just 14 seconds into the extra frame. In so doing, Lycksell tied a 12-year-old franchise record for fastest overtime goal in Phantoms’ history. And his third OT goal of the season also tied a 21-year-old record for most in a season for a Phantoms player.

The Phantoms snapped Proviodence’s six-game win streak while Lehigh Valley won its second consecutive overtime game.

Jacob Gaucher (12th) stayed hot with his sixth goal in the last eight games. Garrett Wilson followed up his fight with a goal of his own to tie the game and then added an assist on Massimo Rizzo’s first as a pro that gave Lehigh Valley the lead.

Cal Petersen covered the crease on a penalty shot with 6:27 left to keep the game tied. And Lehigh Valley would go on to win its second consecutive overtime game while picking up its league-leading sixth overtime victory of the season.

At first, it looked like the Brandon Bussi curse was going to continue to plague the Phantoms. 40 minutes and 19 shots into the game and Lehigh Valley had yet to break through. Matthew Poitras (7th) extended his league-leading seven-game goal streak on a sharp-angle power-play snipe late in the first blasting home a seam-pass from Georgii Merkulov. And Riley Tufte got in down low with a shot that deflected up in the air and over the shoulder of Petersen at 5:07 into the second period to give the P-Bruins a 2-0 lead.

Lehigh Valley had three power plays in the first two periods but wasn’t able to generate too much. The third period was a different story. And the captain sparked it in an old-school way at the end of the second. Wilson dropped the gloves with Jeffrey Viel with 3:34 remaining in the second period to give a jolt for his teammates that would spill over to the beginning of the third period.

“He’s our captain for a reason,” Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere said. “He’s my kind of player. He’s the kind of guy that has a team-first attitude. He led the way with that fight. He didn’t like the momentum. I respect that a lot. I know it’s a hard job to do.”

Massimo Rizzo agreed that Wilson’s fight was a difference-maker and that it provided a spark for Lehigh Valley’s exciting rally in the third period.

“Definitely not a coincidence,” Rizzo said. “He’s an unbelievable captain. He knew what he was doing and the team responded really well. He’s great for us all the time and it was great to see him do that.”

Zayde Wisdom kept the play alive and Lycksell whipped a pass from the left corner to find Gaucher making a cut for a tap-in behind the defense at 1:54 into the third and suddenly the Phantoms were back in the game via Gaucher’s team-leading 12th goal of the season.

Brendan Furry’s shot dribbled behind Bussi where Garrett Wilson was able to quickly push through to be the first one there and knock it in for the tying strike at 3:19 to make it 2-2. The play also was the first career point for rookie Massimo Rizzo who received an assist.

Rizzo would have even more fun on the next Phantoms’ goal. Furry’s wrap-around try had Bussi leaning the wrong way allowing Wilson to retrieve behind the goal and find Rizzo on the right side of the cage for the go-ahead lamplighter at 6:11 into the third period to give the Phantoms the lead for the first time at 3-2.

“Huge weight off my shoulders for sure,” Rizzo said. “It’s got to be my longest stretch without one before. So it’s kind of just good to get that off my mind and help the team win. So hopefully can build from there.”

The lead was short-lived though as Riley Duran would crash the net in transition and push a tying goal past Petersen just 18 seconds later to make it 3-3.

Fabian Lysell sprinted between the defense and was hauled down on his breakaway thus affording him the first penalty shot we have seen this season. But Petersen was equal to the task with another big save in a big moment as he covered space across the crease sprawling backwards to deny Lysell’s attempt to move back to his forehand. The puck rolled off the stick of the righty shooter and over to the corner as the Boston first-rounder simply ran out of room and wasn’t able to get off a shot because of Petersen’s coverage.

In the team’s 12th overtime game of the season, Rhett Gardner had a faceoff in the left circle that was briefly tied up but Helge Grans hustled in to nudge it over to Lycksell who quickly stepped below the left dot for a top-shelf strike past the glove of Bussi for the fastest overtime win in Lehigh Valley history.

Brandon Manning of the Adirondack Phantoms also scored just 14 seconds into overtime on October 28, 2012 at Syracuse. And Hall of Famer John Slaney is the only other player to record three overtime goals with the Phantoms when he converted thrice in the 2003-04 season for the Philadelphia Phantoms.

It is the third time this season for the Phantoms to win consecutive games in overtime. Prior to this year, Lehigh Valley had done that only twice in 10 seasons (Nov 2019 with T.J. Brennan and Andy Welinski and also Feb 2024 with Cooper Marody and Bobby Brink scoring OT goals at W-B/Scranton and Charlotte).

The Phantoms lead the AHL with 12 overtime contests in just 26 total games played. Lehigh Valley is also the only AHL team with six overtime wins this season.  The franchise record for most overtime wins in a season is eight by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last year and by the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2005-06.

The Phantoms have played 18 one-goal games this season which is also the most in the AHL. Lehigh Valley is now 9-4-5 in one-goal games including 6-0-2 at home.

The Phantoms play their last home game before the Holiday Break on Friday night against the Toronto Marlies with a Holiday Extravaganza at PPL Center plus meLVin Youth Knit Winter Caps from Reilly Children’s Hospital.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st 18:50 – PRO, M. Poitras (7) (G. Merkulov, I. Mitchell) (PP) (0-1)

2nd 5:07 – PRO, R. Tufte (7) (F. Lysell, P. Brown) (0-2)

3rd 1:54 – LV, J. Gaucher (12) (O. Lycksell, Z. Wisdom) (1-2)
3rd 3:19 – LV, G. Wilson (5) (B. Furry, M. Rizzo) (2-2)
3rd 6:11 – LV, M. Rizzo (1) (G. Wilson, B. Furry) (3-2)
3rd 6:29 – PRO, R. Duran (4) (B. Harison, T. Pitlick) (3-3)

OT 0:14 – LV, O. Lycksell (6) (R. Gardner, H. Grans) (4-3)

Penalty Shot:
3rd 13:33 – PRO, F. Lysell vs. C. Petersen – No Goal

Shots:
LV 35 – PRO 20

PP:
LV 0/3, PRO 1/3

Goaltenders:
LV – C. Petersen (W) (6-8-2) (17/20)
PRO – B. Bussi (OTL) (5-6-1) (31/35)

Records:
Lehigh Valley (11-10-5)
Providence (14-10-3)

UPCOMING

Friday, December 20 (7:05) – Toronto Marlies at Phantoms – meLVin Youth Winter Knit Cap presented by Reilly Children’s Hospital

Saturday, December 21 (6:05) – Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins

Friday, December 27 (7:05) – Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins

Saturday, December 28 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms – Postgame Photographs with the Phantoms players presented by NJM Insurance

Tuesday, December 31 (7:05) – Charlotte Checkers at Phantoms – Light-up glow sticks from Penn Community Bank. World’s Largest Puck-Drop at Midnight!

 

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