The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back in Newark Wednesday night to take on the Binghamton Devils in a makeup game that was supposed to be played last Friday. Earlier in the day, Mark Friedman was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Mason Millman, Matt Strome, Ralph Cuddemi, Chris Bigras, and Tyson Foerster were all scratches. The Phantoms also got David Kase, Derrick Pouliot, and Felix Sandstrom back from the Flyers. Zane McIntyre started in goal.
Two minutes and sixteen seconds into the first period, the Phantoms jumped to a 1-0 lead Pascal Laberge was able to rebound a shot by his teammate Brennan Saulnier. The Devils did not forget about the shutout last week, and we’re putting pressure on the Phantoms’ defense.
They were able to tie the game 1-1 when Josh Jacobs took a shot that Fabian Zetterlund tipped in. The Phantoms got the lead back at 11:42 as Max Willman put the Phantoms back up 2-1 with a shot to the upper right corner.
The Phantoms’ offense was playing well in the first period and kept the Devils in check. They would add another goal with 7:20 left when Ryan Fitzgerald passed to Linus Hogberg. Hogberg took the shot that deflected off the stick of Fitzgerald for a 3-1 lead. The Phantoms were down a player late in the first period for a hooking call against Logan Day.
The Phantoms maintained a 3-1 lead as the first period ended. The shots between the two teams were even at eight apiece. The Phantoms would start the second period, still down a man with fifty seconds left of the power play.
The tides turned at the start of the second period. The Devils were able to capitalize on the power play a minute and eight seconds in. Reilly Walsh took a shot that McIntyre blocked, but Nick Merkley was able to get it in after three tries to cut the Phantoms lead 3-2. That was the first power-play goal given up by the Phantoms this season.
The Phantoms were looking to get the two goals back. Devils defensemen David Quenneville committed a cross-checking penalty, putting the Phantoms on the power play for the third time. However, that did not stop the Devils even being short-handed.
While the Phantoms were in the Devils’ neutral zone, passing the puck to one another and setting up for the next play, the Devils stole the puck to create a two-on-one situation. Marian Studenic intercepted the puck and made a pass to Danick Martel.
At first, Martel’s shot was briefly stopped before hitting it a second time clipped McIntyre’s skate, and went in the net to tie the game up at three with fifteen minutes left.
While the Phantoms did get to the Devils’ zone several times, they could not add any more points. At times, the Phantoms were playing sloppy hockey. The Devils got to the Phantoms’ zone several more times, but Zane McIntyre made some key stops to keep the game at three apiece as the second period ended. The Devils controlled the shots total of 15-12.
As the third period started, the Devils kept their foot on the gas. They were able to keep the Phantoms in their zone while taking some shots in the process. The Devils would cash in about five minutes into the third period when Cam Darcy came right at McIntyre and made contact with him that allowed Nate Schnarr to finish the play and a 4-3 lead.
After that goal, the Phantoms, from out of nowhere, came alive. Derrick Pouliot took a shot that bounced off Evan Cormier’s pad, only for the puck to be rebounded by Linus Sandin. He finished it off to tie the game at four apiece.
After the Phantoms’ goal, both teams were going at it for the rest of the period, spending time in each other’s neutral zones, and taking shots when the opportunity came. Neither could find the net for the rest of the period, and the game would head to overtime. This was the Phantoms’ fourth overtime game of the season. The Phantoms had a nine to six-shot advantage.
In overtime, the Phantoms could’ve put the game away with 2:44 left when Tanner Laczynski stole the puck and passed it to David Kase, who had two chances to end the game and couldn’t get it done. Kase looked disappointed with himself, knowing he could’ve finished the game.
Pouliot and Kase battled for the puck with a couple of Devils players on them with less than a minute left. The puck got away, and Max Willman skated with it. Willman only had Evan Cormier to deal with, and he sealed the game with a low shot to give the Phantoms a 5-4 win.
This was the Phantoms’ fourth overtime win this season. The Phantoms finished the night with a 32-20 shot advantage over the Devils. The Phantoms went zero for four on the power play while the Devils went one for three. Despite giving up four goals, Zane McIntyre finished the night with thirty saves and remain in first place in the North Division with a 4-0-1 record.
Lehigh Valley will now to Wilkes Barre/Scranton to take on the Penguins this Friday, February 26th at 5 pm on AHL.tv.
