The Lehigh Valley Phantoms continued their road trip Friday night at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena to take on the Binghamton Devils. The Phantoms were looking to bounce back after losing to the Springfield Thunderbirds 2-1 Wednesday.
The first period had action but no scoring. The second period was when the scoring began. Devils Josh Jacobs (2) delivered a shot that went underneath the legs of Phantoms goalie Jean-Francois Berube for the first goal seven minutes and nine seconds into the second period and put the Devils up 1-0. Egor Sharangovich (2) and Marian Studenic (2) assisted in Jacob’s goal.
The Devils went on a power play after Phantoms forward David Kase was called for hooking. The Devils would capitalize on the man advantage as Ben Street (7) put the puck underneath Berube’s legs for the goal to expand the Devils lead 2-0. Kyle Cumiskey (2), and Brett Seney (8) assisted in Street’s goal.
After failing to capitalize on their first two power plays, the third time was the charm for the Phantoms. Devils defensemen Michael Paliotta was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking. The Phantoms Andy Welinski (3) blasted the puck underneath the legs of Devils goalie Louis Domingue to cut the Devils lead 2-1. Cal O’Reilly (7), and Greg Carey (6) assisted in Welinski’s goal. The Devils headed to the locker room with a 2-1 lead over the Phantoms at the end of the second period.
The Devils would get an insurance goal three minutes and fifty-four seconds into the third period as Mikhail Maltsev (1) got his first goal of the season to put the Devils back up by two goals 3-1. Fabian Zetterlund (1) assisted in Maltsev’s goal. Late into the third period, the Phantoms pulled goalie Jean-Francois Berube to add an extra attacker, but the Devils stood their ground, and as the horn sounded, the Binghamton Devils defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-1.
Both teams were even in shots at twenty-seven. The Phantoms were one for five on the power play while the Devils were one for four. Phantoms goalie Jean-Francois Berube stopped twenty-four out of twenty-seven shots allowing three goals while Devils goalie Louis Domingue stopped twenty-six out of twenty-seven shots allowing one goal.
The three stars of the game were Devils left-winger Mikhail Maltsev had one goal, Devils goalie Louis Domingue with twenty-six saves, and center Ben Street with one goal.
The Phantoms will now head to the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza to take on the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins Saturday at 7 pm.
