The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were in Newark, NJ, Wednesday night to battle the Binghamton Devils. The Phantoms were looking to make it two wins in a row after winning the season opener last Saturday at Hershey. Tanner MacMaster, Mason Millman, Tanner Laczynski, Brennan Saulnier, and Tyson Foerster were all scratches for this game.
The Phantoms got off to a strong start in the first period controlling the puck and playing on the Devils’ side. Fifty-six seconds into the game, Garrett Wilson and Ben Thomson dropped the gloves, with Wilson getting in some good hits before the refs broke it up.
Six minutes and fifty-four seconds into the first period, Max Willman made a great pass to David Kase for a short-handed goal to put the Phantoms up 1-0. The Phantoms continued to create chances but could not add any more goals before the first period ended. The Phantoms had seven shots while the Devils only had three.
The Devils began to show life in the second period; however, the Phantoms remained aggressive, looking to increase their lead. The Phantoms had a couple of chances on the power play; however, they could not take advantage of either of them. The score remained 1-0, with the Phantoms having the shot advantage of 14-12.
Four minutes and thirty-eight seconds into the third period, Devils defenseman Michael Vukojevic shot the puck that bounced off of Zane McIntyre and right to Ben Thomson, who shot a backhand goal to tie the game at 1-1. The Devils nearly took the lead late in the game as Ryan Schmelzer attempted to score; however, McIntyre made an incredible save to keep the game tied. The game remained tied 1-1 heading into overtime. The Devils had the shot advantage 7-5.
It only took twenty-four seconds for the Devils to put the game away, with Ben Street getting the puck to Brett Seney to give the Devils a 2-1 win. Zane McIntyre finished the night with twenty-two saves. The Phantoms finished the night with 26 shots to the Devils’ 24, and both teams went 0-4 on the power play. The Phantoms will now head back to Hershey to battle the Bears on Sunday, February 14th at 1 pm on AHL.tv.
