The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back in action Wednesday night in Newark against the Binghamton Devils. The Phantoms are coming off another overtime win on Monday against the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. Before the game, the Phantoms got some good news. The Philadelphia Flyers sent Alex Lyon down to the Phantoms and recalled Felix Sandstrom to the Flyers Taxi Squad.
The Phantoms came into this came with the top penalty-killing unit allowing two goals in twenty-seven attempts. Meanwhile, the Phantoms are ranked 23rd in power plays. Tyler Wotherspoon, Maksim Sushko, Matt Strome, Max Willman, Linus Sandin, Logan Day, Ralph Cuddemi, Chris Bigras, and Eamon McAdam were all scratched for today’s game.
At 2:39, a hooking call against Phantoms defender Samuel Morin put the Devils on the power play. At 4:17, the Devils took a 1-0 lead after Graeme Clarke walked the ice and shot the puck between Alex Lyon’s legs. That was the third goal given up by the Phantoms on the power play. The Phantoms would answer back at 9:35 when Wyatte Wylie spotted Cal O’Reilly and passed the puck. O’Reilly buried the shot to tie the game at one apiece.
Both teams had numerous opportunities to score for the remainder of the period as the first period ended tied at one apiece. The Devils had a slight shot advantage of 11-10.
As the players were coming out to start the second period, the Phantoms were instructed to head back to the locker room while the Devils players were already on the ice and waiting to start.
Not long after the Phantoms players went to the locker room, the Devils players also headed back to the locker room. The PA announcer then announced that the game was suspended. The AHL Communications Twitter said that the game ended due to league COVID protocols.
It remains to be seen when this game will resume and what happens to the Phantoms. The Phantoms are scheduled to play the Devils again on Saturday, March 13th, at 7:05 pm from the PPL Center.
