ALLENTOWN, PA – The Springfield Thunderbirds (2-9-1-1) could not withstand an offensive blitz from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-3-0-1) in a 7-3 defeat on Friday night inside the PPL Center.

For two teams that have each allowed more than 30 shots per game, the opening half of the first period started innocently enough.

Matt Luff had the best early chance to break the scoreless game when he rang a rising forehander off the crossbar in the opening minutes after beating Aleksei Kolosov over the shoulder.

The Phantoms’ team speed paid off for the game’s ultimate first tally at 10:12 when Alexis Gendron accelerated past the defense, accepted a feed from Devin Kaplan, and slid a forehander under the legs of Vadim Zherenko to give Lehigh Valley the 1-0 jump.

Springfield’s first power play o

See Full Page