Game 32 Recap: Phantoms' Persistence Pays Off In Win Over Penguins
WILKES-BARRE - Heading into the third period, head coach Scott Gordon was thinking that the turning point of the night was going to end up being a sequence late in the second period after his team had found a way to get one past Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith to tie the game at 1-1.
Steven Swavely had a breakaway late in the period and was stopped, and the follow-up rebound attempt by his linemate was also turned aside. It eventually sprung the Penguins up ice the other way for a goal against - giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead on what at the time looked to be a deflating/frustrating goal.
Instead, the persistence paid off for Lehigh Valley in the final frame.
Oskar Lindblom had a big night, notching his first career three-point night as a North American pro. He helped set up Chris Conner's second period goal, and also got the play started on Nicolas Aube-Kubel's game-tying goal in the third. Then, Lindblom finished it off with the game-winning goal - going to the net and receiving a perfect pass from Conner in the slot to cap off a Phantoms' third period comeback.
Dustin Tokarski stopped 39 of the 41 shots he faced in the win.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms are on a brief hiatus for the holidays, and resume action in a rematch against these same Penguins on Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre before hosting the Charlotte Checkers in a pair of games next weekend on Friday and Saturday night.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Tyrell Goulbourne Danick Martel - Corban Knight - Nicolas Aube-KubelOskar Lindblom - Steven Swavely - Chris Conner Alex Krushelnyski - Radel Fazleev
T.J. Brennan - Reece WillcoxWill O'Neill - Mark Friedman James de Haas - Phil Myers
Dustin Tokarski - John Muse
Scratches: Sam Morin, Cole Bardreau, Colin McDonald, Mikhail Vorobyev, Mike Vecchione and Matt Read
Lineup Notes
Dustin Tokarski got the start in net Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre, his second straight start and playing both games for Lehigh Valley this week. John Muse served as his backup.
It's expected that Alex Lyon will return to Lehigh Valley after the NHL's roster freeze ends on December 28th, which would make him eligible to play in next weekend's games against Charlotte.
Phil Myers returned to the Phantoms' blue line for his first game since November 25th. Head coach Scott Gordon said he thought it was Myers' most consistent game, from start to finish, all season long.
Flyers GM Ron Hextall provided injury updates on several Phantoms players earlier this week.
Sam Morin will be out "awhile"
Colin McDonald missed tonight's game, but it sounds as though he's not too far off from a return.
Mikhail Vorobyev is expected to miss two weeks.
Mike Vecchione is nearing a return to the lineup as well, and has been skating with the team at practices.
POST-GAME REACTION
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RECAP
The Phantoms got off to a strong start and were dictating play in the opening six to eight minutes, but didn't get one past Penguins' goaltender Casey DeSmith to take advantage of their good work to start the contest.
Instead, the Penguins began to get to their game and with that gained momentum before scoring a late first period goal to take a 1-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley killed off the game's first penalty, but the Penguins continued to pressure and broke the scoreless tie with 1:44 left before the first intermission.
Zach Aston-Reese got to a loose puck along the half-wall and fired a high hard shot through traffic that Teddy Blueger was able to get a piece off on its way past Phantoms' goaltender Dustin Tokarski.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Jarred Tinordi got into a scrum late in the period, causing the two teams to begin the 2nd period four-on-four.
The Phantoms continued to grind away at their 1-0 deficit, but every time they generated Grade-A scoring chance it seemed DeSmith was in perfect position to make the save to keep Lehigh Valley at bay.
It wasn't until 4:25 left before the second intermission, on what appeared to be a seemingly harmless shot from along the boards on the left-wing, that the Phantoms were able to get one past DeSmith and tie the game up at 1-1.
Oskar Lindblom got the puck up to Corban Knight through the neutral zone, and Knight weaved his way into the offensive zone before feeding Chris Conner with a cross-ice pass. Conner's shot from the left-wing was a bit of a changeup that looked to catch DeSmith off-guard as the puck bounced/grazed off the goalie and into the net.
DeSmith more than made up for the strange goal he allowed moments later, making a game-changing series of stops in the final two minutes of the middle frame.
Steven Swavely got a breakaway bid on DeSmith, and although the rebound kicked up into the slot for a put-back attempt by Alex Krushelnyski, the Pens' goalie made that stop too - sending the Penguins an obvious lift.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton re-gained the lead late in the period on the next shift, as Tokarski was late sliding from his right to left to hug the short side post and Ryan Haggerty sneaked one in past him to put the Pens back on top, 2-1.
Still, the Phantoms continued to battle down one goal in the third period, creating no shortage of offensive chances and getting stumped by a confident goaltender.
The persistence paid off for Lehigh Valley near the midway mark of the period on another play that started with Lindblom, who won a puck battle behind the net and got it to Phil Varone - who quickly shuffled it to Nicolas Aube-Kubel for a quick shot from the bottom of the left-wing circle that beat DeSmith to the short side. Aube-Kubel's ninth of the season tied the game at 2-2 with 10:10 left in regulation.
Then, Lindblom did what Lindblom has been doing all season long - getting to the net, and more recently, finishing off the chances he's creating. It turned out to be the game winner with 6:07 left, and was setup by Corban Knight and Chris Conner - the latter of which flipped a backhand pass in the slot over to Lindblom cutting to the net.
Tokarski made the necessary saves the rest of the way to preserve the 3-2 win heading into the holiday break, which were kept mostly to the outside.
Head coach Scott Gordon said after the game that while the shot total was a little higher than he would've liked, that he was pleased with the general lack of shot quality the defense allowed.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
15:16: LV - (PP) Aube-Kubel, minor (holding) 18:16: WBS - Blueger (9) - Aston-Reese 19:30: LV - Aube-Kubel, minor (roughing) 19:30: WBS - Tinordi, minor (roughing)
2nd Period
5:37: WBS - Summers, minor (hooking) 9:20: LV - (PP) Varone, minor (slashing) 16:35: LV - Conner (6) - Knight, Lindblom 18:48: WBS - Haggerty (11) - Summers, Dea
3rd Period
2:45: LV - Goulbourne, major (fighting) 2:45: WBS - McGrath, major (fighting) 9:50: LV - Aube-Kubel (9) - Varone, Lindblom 13:53: LV - Lindblom (9) - Conner, Knight
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 0 - 1 - 2 = 3 W-B/Scranton 1 - 1 - 0 = 2
Shots
Lehigh Valley 9 - 12 - 11 = 32 W-B/Scranton 14 - 13 - 14 = 41
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (39 saves - 41 shots) WBS - Casy DeSmith (29 saves - 32 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-1 WBS: 0-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 3-for-3 WBS: 1-for-1
Attendance: 6,142
