Gaucher Hat Trick in Dominating Win
Five Fights and Five Goals as Phantoms Down Springfield
November 2, 2024
Springfield, MA – Jacob Gaucher racked up his first career hat trick while the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Springfield Thunderbirds had a veritable fight-fest on Saturday night as the Phantoms eventually emerged with a 5-2 win.
Lehigh Valley (3-3-2) won its second consecutive game on its three-game road trip with additional scoring contributions from Anthony Richard (4th) with a goal and two assists and also Samu Tuomaala (3rd) who had a goal and an assist. Oscar Eklind also had a pair of assists in helping Gaucher to his trifecta.
It is the second consecutive season for Lehigh Valley to land a hat trick at Springfield and comes barely more than a year after Olle Lycksell scored thrice in Western Massachusettes on October 20, 2023.
He can’t be stopped!
LV 4 – SPR 2#LVvsSPR | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/2HqdKo3McG
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) November 3, 2024
Gaucher had just been moved up from his usual fourth-line role all the way to the top line for this game and that lineup foresight from head coach Ian Laperriere seemed to pay off in a big way.
And then there were the fisticuffs. Garrett Wilson dropped the gloves with Sam Bitten just 21 seconds into the game. Hunter McDonald took exception to a hit on Samu Tuomaala and defended his teammate in a scrap with Springfield’s Hunter Skinner just a few minutes later. Next up was J.R. Avon who emerged from a dust-up behind the goal to fight Marcus Sylvegard. The game was less than eight minutes old and had not even reached the first promo timeout but both sides had already cranked out three fighting majors.
Two more fights came in the second period when Rhett Gardner rolled over the top of the back of a Springfield defenseman and landed on top of him drawing the attention of veteran Scott Harrington. At the same time, Ronnie Attard paired off with Dylan Peterson and both players received game misconducts for secondary altercations. The emotions were spilling over and the game felt like a flashback to some of that “Old Time Hockey.”
But the Phantoms were also taking care of business in the game itself as well as in the extracurriculars.
Jacob Gaucher’s first of the game would come in the last minute of the first period as he knocked in the rebound of a Samu Tuomaala shot off the pads of goaltender Colton Ellis for a 5-on-3 strike to give Lehigh Valley the lead.
The Phantoms dominated the second period with a 17-6 shots advantage and struck for two more goals in the early minutes. Gaucher’s second goal came shortly after a power play had expired. Oskar Eklind retrieved the rebound of a shot behind the goal and connected with Gaucher out in front to bury another.
And less than four minutes into the period it was Samu Tuomaala snapping home a low wrister from the left wing on the power play to push the Phantoms’ advantage to 3-0.
Springfield broke through against Lehigh Valley goaltender Eetu Makiniemi with five minutes left in the second period when Drew Callin nudged home the rebound of a shot within easy distance of the goal in the blue paint on the power play.
Gaucher’s hat trick came 6:33 into the third period when Eklind found him available out on front with Ellis perhaps leaning the wrong way. Gaucher buried it dead-center for his third goal of the game and Lehigh Valley extended its advantage to 4-1.
Springfield (3-7-0) got one of them back on a Dalibor Dvorsky (5) power-play tally just two minutes later as the 19-year-old first-round cut the margin to 4-2.
Anthony Richard stole a puck in the Lehigh Valley end and raced past everyone for a breakaway goal at 12:56 into the third period to conclude the scoring. Richard has goals in three of the last four games and is also riding a five-game point streak.
It was the most goals in a game for the Phantoms this season and Gaucher became the first Phantom to score multiple goals in a game. Gaucher and Richard both became the first Phantoms to record three points in a game this season.
Gaucher recorded the 21st hat trick since the beginning of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in 2014 and is the 15th Lehigh Valley Phantoms player to score three goals in a game. It is the 12th road hat trick in Lehigh Valley history.
Gaucher moved into a tie for fifth in the AHL with six goals and is the 11th AHL player to score a hat trick this season. The 23-year-old from Longueil, Quebec now has four goals in the last two games.
The Phantoms will again travel to Springfield for a rematch with the Thunderbirds on Friday, November 15.
Next up for the Phantoms is the finale of the team’s three-game road swing on Wednesday, November 6 at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The Phantoms return to PPL Center on Friday, November 8 against the Penguins on a Berks $1 Hot Dog Night and also Saturday, November 9 against the Utica Comets featuring a Postgame Skate with the Phantoms Players presented by NJM Insurance.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st 19:12 – LV, J. Gaucher (4) (S. Tuomaala, A. Richard) (PP, 5×3) (1-0)
2nd 0:38 – LV, J. Gaucher (5) (O. Eklind, H. McDonald) (2-0)
2nd 3:37 – LV, S. Tuomaala (3) (H. Grans, O. Lycksell) (PP) (3-0)
2nd 14:56 – SPR, D. Callin (2) (N. Alexandrov, S. Johannesson (PP) (3-1)
3rd 6:33 – LV, J. Gaucher (6) (O. Eklind, A. Richard) (4-1)
3rd 8:14 – SPR, D. Dvorsky (5) (M. Buchinger, H. McGing) (PP) (4-2)
3rd 12:56 – LV, A. Richard (4) (Unassisted) (5-2)
Shots:
LV 43 – SPR 23
PP:
LV 2/5, SPR 2/4
Goaltenders:
LV – E. Makiniemi (W) (1-0-1) (21/23)
SPR – C. Ellis (L) (2-4-0) (38/43)
Records:
Lehigh Valley (3-3-2)
Springfield (3-7-0)
UPCOMING
Wednesday, November 6 – Phantoms at W-B/Scranton Penguins
Friday, November 8 – W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms – Berks Dollar Dogs
Saturday, November 9 – Utica Comets at Phantoms – Postgame Skate with Players presented by NJM Insuranace.
Wednesday, November 13 – W-B/Scranton Penguins at Phantoms – Military Appreciation Night presented by Netizen
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