(Nina Weiss/Sports Talk Philly)
By Tommy Hendricks, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
In front of another sellout crowd in downtown Allentown, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms returned to the ice to kick off the new season and did so in style with a 4-2 win against the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Four of the Phantoms offseason acquisitions, Will O'Neill, T.J. Brennan, Andy Miele and Mark Zengerle all had points to prove their worth to the Lehigh Valley faithful.
The Phantoms started their season off with a bang just 56 seconds into the game. A shot from the near boards from Chris Conner handcuffed Springfield goalie Mike McKenna. The rebound went right through the other side to Zengerle, who not only scored the first goal of the season for the Phantoms, but his own first goal as a Phantom.
After trading power plays through the first seven minutes, a 4-on-4 opportunity would open the ice up for more chances. Danick Martel would capitalize on a breakaway that saw him just snap a puck past McKenna to make it a 2-0 game.
The Thunderbirds cut the lead in half with less than four minutes to go, on a bad-angle shot from below the goal line that was just able to bank off the pad of Anthony Stolarz from the stick of Anthony Greco.
A late power-play opportunity saw the Phantoms offseason acquisitions go to work. Pretty passing from Miele and O'Neill put the puck on the stick of Brennan. Brennan circled from below the dot out along the boards and back to the slot. Once there, he picked a corner behind McKenna and wristed one of the bar in the corner of the net to reestablish the two-goal lead with just five seconds left in the period.
The Phantoms kept the ball rolling in second period. Martel got his second goal of the night on a two-on-one, electing to shoot and beating McKenna on the blocker side to extend the lead to three. Lehigh Valley controlled the pace for most of the period, with the shot total only remaining close.
Another five penalties would be handed out during the course of the frame, but neither team would be able to capitalize on their man-advantages. The fifth of the five, a cross-checking call on Springfield's Ryan Horvat, came late enough that the Phantoms were left with 46 seconds of power play time to start the third.
Lehigh Valley generated scoring chances with that extra 46 seconds of power play time to start the third, but could not convert. Springfield would get their own man-advantage opportunity just minutes later and would capitalize on a shot from between the circles off the stick of Dryden Hunt that cut the lead to two.
The Phantoms would take another two penalties less than a minute apart to give Springfield a 5-on-3 opportunity and a chance to get back into the game. The Thunderbirds would shoot themselves in the foot however, taking two infraction calls of their own just 18 seconds apart to even the ice to 3-on-3 play. Neither team would score as they traded being up a man as each of the four penalties expired.
The physical intensity picked up from there with each team laying booming checks in or around the corners to try to gain an advantage.
In the end a 31-save performance from Stolarz and an offensive outburst of four goals on 35 shots saw the Phantoms cruise to a 4-2 win at home to start the 2016-17 season on a high note.
Quotes
T.J. Brennan on starting the season on a high note: "It seems like, for the past month or so, we've been itching to get started. So to have the first game finally here is really nice, and to get a win is obviously nice. You can't win them all if you don't win the first one so it's nice to get off to a good start, a lot of positives in our game but we have some work to do."
Danick Martel on his two goal performance: "He left a space on the blocker side, I don't know why, but I found it though. And great pass from [Travis Sanheim] on my second goal, just took the shot and kept it easy. Everything is coming for me."
Head coach Scott Gordon on his team's overall performance: "I thought we had a great first period, a mixed bag of a second period, and then in the third period, I think, it's a great learning experience for our guys because, when it's all said and done, we know we have the personnel to create offense. But if we go about it the wrong way, as I said to the guys after the game, you're going to get into situations where, instead of generating chances in the offensive zone, were going to have to play defense and kill penalties. And that's what happened in the third period. It didn't bite us tonight but when you're giving up opportunities for the wrong reason, hopefully we use that as a learning lesson. Because for the first period, and I'd say the first half of the game we were a hard team to play against because we were forcing the issue and everything took care of itself."
Notes
- Cole Bardreau, Andy Miele, Will O'Neill, and Taylor Leier were named alternate captains to serve alongside captain Colin McDonald for the 2016-2017 season.
3 Stars
3. Anthony Stolarz - 31 saves on 33 shots
2. T.J Brennan - goal, assist, +2, 3 shots on goal.
1. Danick Martel - 2 goals, +2, 3 shots on goal
The Phantoms return to action next Friday night as they take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. That night they will also honor Ed Snider, the late great Flyers owner, with Ed Snider Tribute Night.
