Get ready for what could be a roller coaster ride with the Phantoms this season.

The team is very young, and with that youth often comes inconsistency. Look at the first two games, and you’ll see the start of the ride.

The season opened with an impressive 6-3 win over Bridgeport, and in Game 2 of the season, the Phantoms looked flat and uninspired when they fell to Springfield 7-0 on the ice at the PPL Center.

In the opener, the Phantoms were aggressive and made some things happen, but against the Thunderbirds on Friday, they were completely passive and were out-skated by Springfield. The bottom line was that the team’s youth showed up and allowed their opponent to dictate how the game was played.

For starters, the Phantoms allowed seven power play opportunities for the Thunderbirds. On those seven opportunities, Springfield netted five goals. The penalty-killing phase for Lehigh Valley was passive and allowed Springfield to get open looks at the net.

Coach Scott Gordon wasn’t happy with how his special teams played, but he also admitted that the five goals on power play opportunities weren’t all their fault.

“We’ve got to get some saves on those, too,” said Gordon of the play of goalies Carter Hart and Anthony Stolarz. “We’re shorthanded and we’re going to give up some shots, but it wasn’t good all around; we didn’t get the saves, we didn’t get the blocks, the clears and we took some really horrific penalties. If your penalty kill is not going to be good, you can’t be going to the box and taking penalties for slashing and after the whistle cross-checks to the head.”

Phantoms goalie prospect, 20-year-old Carter Hart, was pulled from the game just past the halfway mark of the second period when he surrendered his fourth goal on 16 shots. The goal that changed the feeling of the game came late in the first period when Paul Thompson took a shot from a bad angle and snuck it behind Hart to give Springfield a 2-0 lead.

Gordon stammered through an explanation of his decision to turn to Stolarz in the post-game meeting with the media, stating, “I didn’t want to put him in a situation where he’s... you know. At that point, it’s four [goals]… if we’re going to have any chance, it’s got to happen soon.”

If there was any bright spot on the night, it was the play of the third line featuring Taylor Leier, Gernam Rubtsov and Colin McDonald. Leier and McDonald provided the muscle, and the line was consistently getting to loose pucks ahead of Springfield players. The bad news was that they couldn’t get good looks at the net for a chance to bring the Phantoms back into the game.

The roller coaster picked up some steam the following night in Game 2 of the two team’s home-and-home series when the Phantoms again allowed eight power play opportunities, but did not allow a goal in the penalty kill phase. Lehigh Valley skated away with a 5-4 win in a shootout. Stolarz got the start in goal and turned away 27 of 31 shots to record the win.

WE GOTTA HAVE HART ... For an unknown reason, Hart wasn’t made available to the media following the game. Generally, the starting goalie is always available, but there’s an exception to every rule. There was no explanation given on who made the call, whether it was Gordon, Flyers GM Ron Hextall, who was in attendance, or whether Hart made the call himself.

LEADING AGAIN ... Greg Carey led the Phantoms in goals scored in each of the past two seasons (31 in the 2017-2018 season and 28 in the 2016-2017 season) and he’s off to a hot start again. He leads the team with three goals and five points through the team’s first three games.

A CHANGE IN SITUATIONS ... This time last year, Danick Martel was all the rage for the Phantoms. He had a huge start to his season with Lehigh Valley, but a broken jaw would slow him greatly later in the year. A month ago, Martel was waived by the Flyers and claimed by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The good news for Martel is that he made the NHL roster for the Lightning, but he hasn’t gotten any ice time with them through their first three games.