In the Lehigh Valley Phantoms first game since the All-Star break, they picked up where they left off, losing 5-2 to the Cleveland Monsters for their fourth loss in a row. “Frankly, I’m sick and tired of it. I’m sick and tired of the same story and no one wanting to make a change,” head coach John Snowden stated, reflecting the frustration of not just the coaching staff but the team, fans, and everyone who expected better from a once-promising group.
The hope was that a break would change things. Likewise, the return of Alex Bump, their top winger, who was out for nearly two months with an upper-body injury, was meant to provide a spark. None came. The Phantoms led 2-1 after the first period, and after allowing three unanswered goals in the second period and an empty netter in the third, lost 5-2.
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With the way the Phantoms have played, it’s debatable whether Bump will turn their season around. It’s debatable if there’s anything that can turn things around. This team was one of the best in the Atlantic Division in the first two months and is now fighting for a playoff spot. “Everyone is sick of losing, it’s gone on too long,” Bump added after the game. Sure, he’s an impactful player buy how impactful? Not enough based on the team’s recent game.
Phantoms Are Struggling Around Bump
The Phantoms have played well recently and haven’t played well since the Denver Barkey call-up and the initial Bump injury. The Barkey loss particularly stung as the team lost an edge and that compete that the young Philadelphia Flyer provides on every shift (which is a big plus for the NHL team). “It hasn’t worked for about a month and a half now, and I’m tired of it, and they should be tired of it too,” Snowden added.
The offense hit a wall, or more accurately, for Lehigh Valley, it fell into a snowbank and stayed there. The defense has also been a mess, and Bump isn’t the type of player who fixes that. The latest game against the Monsters saw the defense give up multiple scoring chances, including some breakdowns to provide easy goals. The Phantoms allowed five goals in the game and have allowed 22 in the last four.
Snowden is trying everything he can to make the defense work with the players left on the roster. The recent game saw Oliver Bonk and Christian Kyrou on the top pair, which, for many fans, is a confusing combo since both are younger players and instinctively offensive-minded. “When you look at their underlying numbers when they did play together, when they have played together, they’ve looked good, so might as well give it a shot,” Snowden noted after the game.
The pairing, in some ways, speaks to the struggles the Phantoms have had for the past two months. The data suggests that the pairing works, and the numbers or stats suggest that the Phantoms are better than their record suggests. On paper, the Bonk-Kyrou pair works. But the game isn’t played on a sheet of paper; it’s played on a sheet of ice, and on the ice, good pairs and teams need to compete. The Phantoms don’t.
In the big picture, Bump doesn’t add much when the rest of the Phantoms aren’t playing well. Bump is talented but limited in what he can do, and unless the team is adding a complete player or at least someone with a motor like Barkey, the improvements aren’t expected any time soon.
Bump Was Thrown Into The Fire
“We had no restrictions on what we were going to do with him,” Snowden stated after the game. When a player returns from an injury that keeps them out for a while, there’s always the question of how the team should insert them back into the lineup. Bump last played on Jan. 3, and it was his only appearance since Dec. 19, so it was a curious case to see how much he’d play in his first game back.
Bump looked like a forward with personal limitations, certainly from the fan perspective. He has seven goals and 13 assists this season, while making his presence felt on the wing, and his latest game saw him register zero points, take a penalty, and end the night with a -2 plus/minus.
The eye test also suggests that he set limits for himself in the game. He didn’t skate to the dirty areas and wasn’t playing a physical game, allowing the Monsters to win multiple puck battles and make him a non-factor in a game the Phantoms needed him.
The ideal is that Bump is back and at full strength. The reality is, it will take time for him to get to that point. “It’s going to take a little bit of time to get himself back into the touch and feel of things,” Snowden added.
How The Phantoms Can Turn Things Around With Bump
Bump is working his way back into form, and the truth is that practice can only do so much. Prospects in general need the ice time and the minutes to get ready for the NHL, and Bump needs the live action to return to full form. Eventually, he’ll add a scoring presence to the top line, something they’ve lacked for months, and by default, the other lines will look better.
With Bump on the top line, Oscar Eklind, who was playing alongside Lane Pederson, can move to the Garrett Wilson and Zayde Wisdom line, which suits his checking style better. That change gives the Phantoms a scoring line that scored and a checking line that checks instead of what the past two months were, which was four slow lines that tried to play a game that didn’t work with their skill sets.
Ultimately, the only way the Phantoms can improve and turn around their season is with a complete buy-in from the players. The talent is there to rebound, and the compete isn’t. “We are too talented a team to continuously do this,” and Snowden is not wrong.
