Game 33 Recap: Phantoms Hang On In Wilkes-Barre
WILKES-BARRE - In the first game back after a short break for the holidays, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms found themselves in another close game in Wilkes-Barre in a rematch with the Penguins Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Though the Phantoms squandered a 2-0 lead in the second period, they were able to roll with the ups and downs and managed to open up a 2-2 game with a pair of goals 1:37 apart in route to a 5-4 win over their in-state rival.
The win, combined with Charlotte's 6-2 loss in Binghamton, moves the Phantoms into sole possession of 2nd place in the Atlantic Division with a pair of home games against Charlotte coming this weekend.
T.J. Brennan and Tyrell Goulbourne tallied a goal and an assist each in the win for Lehigh Valley while Goulbourne also recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick adding a second period fight with Penguins' defenseman Jarred Tinordi onto his stat line. Mike Vecchione, Chris Conner and Phil Varone all added a goal for the Phantoms.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms return home and host the Charlotte Checkers in a pair of games this weekend, beginning on Friday night at the PPL Center at 7:15 p.m. ET.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Tyrell Goulbourne Danick Martel - Corban Knight - Nicolas Aube-KubelOskar Lindblom - Mike Vecchione - Chris Conner Alex Krushelnyski - Steven Swavely - Radel Fazleev
T.J. Brennan - Reece WillcoxWill O'Neill - Max Lamarche James de Haas - Phil Myers
Dustin Tokarski - Alex Lyon
Scratches: Sam Morin, Cole Bardreau, Colin McDonald, Mikhail Vorobyev, Matt Read and Mark Friedman
Lineup Notes
Dustin Tokarski got the start in net Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre. Alex Lyon, fresh off his return from Philadelphia, served as Tokarski's backup.
With Lyon back in the AHL, the Phantoms loaned goaltender John Muse to Reading (ECHL). Muse performed ably during Lyon's call up to Philadelphia.
Mike Vecchione returned to the Phantoms lineup up front, his first game since taking a vicious hit from behind from Hershey's Jonas Siegenthaler on December 9th.
Mark Friedman was scratched to make room for Vecchione, as Lehigh Valley dressed 11F/7D Saturday before the holiday break.
POST-GAME REACTION
RECAP
The Phantoms were on their heels a bit in the opening minute or two, but caught a lucky break 2:57 into contest and took a 1-0 lead on a somewhat controversial goal.
T.J. Brennan floated a puck into the net from atop the left-wing circle, but Penguins' goaltender Casey DeSmith was at the side of the net recovering from being run into by his own teammate - forward Jean-Sebastien Dea. Dea appeared to be nudged into DeSmith by Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and was more apparent after the goal as Dea skated up to Aube-Kubel and started a scrum.
The goal counted, and the play resulted in a power play for Lehigh Valley as Dea was assessed an extra minor penalty in the scrum that followed the goal.
From there, the Penguins got to their game and had several moments where they looked like they were tying the game up at 1-1 but it never happened.
Most notably, a 3-on-1 shorthanded rush by the Penguins had Phantoms goaltender Dustin Tokarski beat to the backdoor but the pass hopped over Dea's stick.
The Phantoms later capitalized on that same power play, and extended their lead to 2-0.
Mike Vecchione, in his first game back with the team from injury on December 9th in Hershey, took a pass from Corban Knight and from down along the goal line in the corner was able to beat DeSmith to the short side from an impossible angle. It was Knight's second primary assist of the period, and Vecchione's 8th of the season. Phil Myers added a secondary assist.
A late period penalty on Vecchione for high-sticking gave the Penguins a power play heading into the middle frame, and just after the penalty expired the Penguins started the second period with a goal
Colin Smith scored two seconds after Vecchione's penalty had expired to cut the Phantoms' lead to 2-1.
Then, things opened up. In both a goal-scoring sense as well as in the physical department.
Tyrell Goulbourne and Jarred Tinordi dropped the gloves in a spirited bout, then it seemed like every whistle had some extra curricular activity with pushing and shoving.
Towards the middle of the period, the flood gates opened to the tune of four goals scored in a span of 3:03 of game action. Two for each team.
Gage Quinney started the goal scoring frenzy with his sixth of the season to tie the game at 2-2.
Tyrell Goulbourne was hooked on a break in to the net, and scored his sixth of the season to give the Phantoms the lead back at 3-2 just 1:09 after Quinney's tying goal.
Then, the Phantoms extended their lead to 4-2 on another goal scored on a delayed penalty call.
Steven Swavely was tripped in the neutral zone, but he was able to get the puck ahead to Radel Fazleev for a 2-on-1 rush. DeSmith stopped Fazleev's shot, but the rebound popped out to Chris Conner for the putback at 13:40.
Just 17 seconds after Conner's seventh of the season, Garrett Wilson made it a one-goal game - tucking one inside the post on Tokarski to again make it a one-goal game with 6:03 left before the second intermission.
Things calmed in the third period, and the Phantoms were able to tack on an empty netter to seal the deal as Goulbourne nudged a puck ahead to Phil Varone, who hit the empty net from center ice.
The Penguins closed the gap to one with 11.5 seconds left but that's as close as they would get as Lehigh Valley escaped with two points in a 5-4 victory.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
2:57: LV - Brennan (3) - Knight, Martel 2:57: LV - Aube-Kubel, minor (roughing) 2:57: WBS - Dea, minor (roughing) 2:57: WBS - (PP) Dea, minor (slashing) 9:54: WBS - (PP) Dea, minor (hooking) 10:53: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (elbowing) 12:53: WBS - (PP) Czuczman, minor (tripping) 14:35: LV - PPG Vecchione (8) - Knight, Myers 18:54: LV - (PP) Vecchione, minor (high-sticking)
2nd Period
0:54: WBS - Smith (4) - Wilson, Sprong 2:46: LV - Goulbourne, major (fighting) 2:46: WBS - Tinordi, major (fighting) 3:16: WBS - (PP) Wilson, minor (slashing) 5:23: LV - Myers, minor (unsportsmanlike) 5:23: WBS - Corrado, minor (roughing) 5:23: WBS - (PP) Wilson, minor (cross-checking) 6:48: LV - (PP) Martel, minor (interference) 10:54: WBS - Quinney (6) - Tinordi, Sprong 12:03: LV - Goulbourne (6) - Brennan 13:40: LV - Conner (7) - Fazleev, Swavely 13:57: WBS - Wilson (6) - Corrado, Quinney
3rd Period
18:39: LV - ENG Varone (10) - Goulbourne 19:48: WBS - Johnson (3) - Blueger, Dea
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 2 - 2 - 1 = 5 W-B/Scranton 0 - 3 - 1 = 4
Shots
Lehigh Valley 10 - 15 - 10 = 35 W-B/Scranton 11 - 15 - 10 = 36
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (32 saves - 36 shots) WBS - Casy DeSmith (30 saves - 34 shots)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-5 WBS: 0-for-3
Penalty Kill
LV: 3-for-3 WBS: 4-for-5
Attendance: 7,414
