By Tommy Hendricks, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms win streak was finally broken on Saturday night with a 5-2 loss at the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The game marked Lehigh Valley's third loss against Bridgeport this season and the third time the Sound Tigers have scored five goals against the Phantoms in three games this season.
The Phantoms found themselves in penalty trouble again in the first for the second game in a row. They took another four minors in the first, the first of which came just 2:31 into the game. They were able to kill it off, and take control of the game, even coming away with their own man-advantage opportunity three minutes after the kill.
Steve Bernier took a charging call, and the Phantoms third-ranked power play went to work. Danick Martel threw a pass from below the goal line up to Maxim Lamarche at the point, who skated and scored his second of the year and second on the power play during the weekend. The goal brought the Phantoms power play to 4-for-5 to this point of the weekend.
Bridgeport received another power play with Sam Morin taking an extra unsportsmanlike conduct minor out of a scrum, and the Sound Tigers tied the game a minute later as Michael Dal Colle found a loose puck at the side of the net and tapped it in before Lyon could get back across.
The Phantoms got the return of the penalty battle early in the second, as they ended up with a 5-on-3 chance for 14 seconds. Unfortunately, it would be Bridgeport who benefitted, as Bernier netted a shorthanded breakaway to make it 2-1.
The chippy play picked up from there, and Lehigh Valley got another power play. They could not convert again, and Bridgeport cashed in after their kill. Joshua Winquist was found wide open in the slot, and buried a shot past Lyon to make it 3-1.
The Phantoms ended up with one more power play at the end of the second, but Penn State product Eamon McAdam kept the Phantoms off the board, making them 0-for-4 on the man advantage after having gone 1-for-1 in the first.
T.J. Brennan wired a point shot on the power play just under two minutes into the third to make it a one-goal game. The Sound Tigers got their own power play a few minutes later, but the Phantoms PK stayed strong and held the score at 3-2.
The pace picked up from there, with the game turning from a slug fest to a skilled affair with the score reflecting the play. a back and forth affair would be broken through by the Sound Tigers, as Josh Ho-Sang buried one to make it 4-2. The Phantoms pulled Lyon with over three minutes remaining in an effort to erase the deficit. Bridgeport cleared the zone down a man, and Winquist got a stick to the clearing attempt and deflected the puck enough to send it on its way into the empty net.
The game ended shortly after, the final score 5-2 in favor of the Sound Tigers. McAdam came away with the win, the first of his professional career, and Lyon came away with his first lost in five starts, giving up more than three goals on the second straight night after having only given up one goal a piece in the first three of those starts.
Lehigh Valley returns to the ice next Wednesday against the Binghamton Senators and former Phantom Zach Stortini in Binghamton.
Notes
- The Phantoms are now 7-2-0 when they score the first goal of a game.
- Lehigh Valley has now scored two or more power play goals in 7 of their 15 games this season, going 5/10 over the two game weekend on the man advantage.
- Phantoms are 10-1-1 against the rest of the league to this point of the season, but are 0-3 against the Sound Tigers.
- The eight-game win streak marks the third longest in Phantoms history. The second longest came in the 1997-98 season, a nine-game win streak, and the longest being a 17-game win streak during the 2004-05 season. Both years the Phantoms won the Calder Cup.
- Eamon McAdam, from Perkasie, Pa, became the first Lehigh Valley native goaltender to have a professional win. McAdam played for Penn State during his college years, and Pennridge High School beforehand.
3 Stars
3. BRI Eamon McAdam – 26 saves on 28 shots
2. BRI Josh Ho-Sang – Goal, Assist, +1
1. BRI Joshua Winquist – 2 Goals, +3
