The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back in action Monday night in Newark against the Binghamton Devils. The last time the Phantoms were in Newark was March 26th, getting a 3-2 win when Tanner Laczynski scored a hat trick.
Lehigh Valley is 4-0-1 this year against the Devils and is on a four-game winning streak. On the other hand, the Devils are on a five-game losing streak. The last time Lehigh Valley played the Devils was back on March 27th in a 6-3 win.
Scratches for tonight’s game were Egor Zamula, Tanner MacMaster, Mason Millman, Ralph Cuddemi, Brennan Saulnier, Pascal Laberge, Felix Sandstrom, and David Kase. Zane McIntyre got the start at goalie. McIntyre is 8-1-2 this year.
A minute and eight seconds into the first period, the Phantoms went on their first power play of the game. They had a couple of chances to get on the board but were unable to. The Phantoms looked sluggish to start the game, while the Devils were slightly more energetic. Wade Allison had a chance to score after stealing the puck, but his shot went out of play.
Wyatte Wylie was called for high-sticking with less than a minute left. After the first period, the game remained scoreless, with the Phantoms having a 9-8 shot advantage. The Devils would have 1:18 left to start the second period.
Lehigh Valley was able to kill off the power play. However, they did not do themselves any favors. Two more calls went against them within two minutes, putting the Devils in a five-on-three power play. The Phantoms were able to kill off both power plays.
At 4:27, Devils goalie Gilles Senn was called for a bench minor, and Michael Vukojevic served the penalty for Senn. Lehigh Valley could not convert on the power play.
The Phantoms kept getting chances to score. At 10:19, a tripping call against Devils defenseman Michael Vukojevic put the Phantoms on their third power play of the game. Ten seconds into the power play, Devils winger Marian Studenic fought for the puck and had a breakaway. He put the puck under McIntyre’s legs to put the Devils up 1-0 on a shorthand goal.
Lehigh continued to struggle to shoot the puck. They were missing their shots, either wide right or wide left. Wade Allison headed to the locker room with an injury after being hit by a puck. He would return to the ice in the third period. Despite giving up the game’s only goal, McIntyre’s saves kept the Phantoms in the game. Lehigh Valley trailed 1-0 after the second period and were outshot by the Devils 9-6.
The Phantoms started to show some signs of life as the third period was underway. So far this season, the Phantoms are 5-3 when trailing after the second period. At 4:06, Wade Allison found Linus Hogberg, who had nothing but ice in front of him, and ripped the shot under the pad of Gilles Senn to tie the game at one apiece. The Phantoms had more chances to get the lead; however, they could not find the net. Zane McIntyre continued to make some great saves sending the game to overtime tied a one apiece. The shots were even at ten apiece.
In overtime, the Phantoms had to kill off another power play and were able to do so. Lehigh Valley had several chances to end the game, but Senn was stopping the pucks. Neither team scored, and the game headed to a shootout for the second game in a row.
Tyson Foerster scored first, followed by Devils winger Graeme Clarke. Ryan Fitzgerald scored on the second attempt, followed by Nolan Foote. Wade Allison missed his shot in the third attempt, and Devils center Fabien Zetterlund finished it off to snap the Phantoms four-game winning streak in a 2-1 loss. With the win, the Devils snapped a five-game losing streak.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 27 shots, 0-4 on the power play, and Zane McIntyre made 27 saves, while the Devils finished the night with 29 saves, 0-4 on the power play and Gilles Senn made 26 saves. Zane McIntyre earned the third star, and Linus Hogberg earned the second star.
The Phantoms will return to the PPL Center this Saturday, April 5th, against the Hershey Bears at 7:05 pm on AHL.tv.
