The Lehigh Valley Phantoms finished the home and home Saturday night at the PPL Center against the Binghamton Devils. The Phantoms won Friday night in Newark 3-2 on Tanner Laczynski’s hat trick. Alex Lyon once again got the start at goal. Scratches for tonight’s game were Egor Zamula, Tanner MacMaster, Maksim Sushko, Matt Strome, Ralph Cuddemi, Brennan Saulnier, Wyatte Wylie, Pascal Laberge, and Eamon McAdam.
Sixty-eight seconds into the first period, the Phantoms struck first. Linus Hogberg found Chris Bigras for a one-timer into the net for a 1-0 lead. The Devils responded two minutes later when Cam Darcy found Connor Carrick, who shot the puck that went over Lyon’s shoulder to tie the game at one apiece.
Lehigh Valley had a chance to retake the lead when Linus Sandin stole the puck, but his shot went wide left. At 10:23, the Devils took a 2-1 lead when Tyler Irvine found Ben Thomson for a one-timer to the top left circle. The Phantoms went on their first power play of the game thanks to a tripping call against Devils defensemen Jeremy Groleau. Lehigh Valley capitalized the man advantage at 14:21 when Wade Allison found Ryan Fitzgerald, who spun and shot the puck under Devils goalie Evan Cormier’s glove to tie the game at two apiece.
The Phantoms came close to taking the lead after Chris Mueller’s shot went over the crossbar. The game was tied at two apiece after the first period. Lehigh Valley had an 8-7 shot advantage.
The game would get physical in the second period. At 4:25, the Phantoms took a 3-2 lead after Max Willman used his speed to draw three Devils players with him and passed the puck to Wade Allison for a one-time shot into the net. The Devils got away with several penalties not being called against them, and the Phantoms took notice.
Chris Mueller and Josh Jacobs were both called for roughing, while Wade Allison was called for goaltender interference putting the Devils on another power play. About a minute later, the Devils tied it up at three apiece when Nate Schnarr shot the puck that Nolan Foote rebounded. Foote went around the net and passed the puck to Travis St. Denis, who shot the puck over Lyon’s shoulder for the goal.
More penalties were called on the Phantoms after the Devils’ last goal. However, the Phantoms’ penalty-killing unit did a great job stopping the Devils from adding any more goals. With 2:24 left in the second period, the Phantoms would again retake the lead when Wade Allison stole the puck and passed it to Tanner Laczynski for a backhand goal and a 4-3 lead. The Phantoms remained in front 4-3 at the end of the second period but trailed the Devils 10-8 in shots.
At 8:19 in the third period, the Phantoms extend their lead 5-3 when Chris Mueller cross-passed the puck to Max Willman for a shot in front of an empty net for the goal. Over a minute later, the Phantoms sealed the game after Ryan Fitzgerald stole the puck from Reilly Walsh and made another backhand shot for the goal to go up 6-3.
More penalties were called against both teams late in the third period, but the Phantoms’ penalty-killing unit did its job. Lehigh Valley would go on to sweep the Devils 6-3. The Phantoms had a 10-8 shot advantage in the third period.
The Phantoms finished the game with 26 shots, 1-2 on the power play, and Alex Lyon made 22 saves. The Phantoms penalty-killing unit killed off five penalties and only allowed one goal. Wade Allison earned the first star, Max Willman earned the second star, and Derrick Pouliot earned the third star of the game.
The Phantoms will return home on Wednesday, March 31st, against the Hershey Bears at 7 pm on AHL.tv.
