Game 52 Recap: Phantoms Surge Continues In Springfield in Big Win, Move to First Place
SPRINGFIELD - It was a big night for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a big 8-2 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds Friday night in southern Massachusetts.
To say the Phantoms are rolling right now would be an understatement. Lehigh Valley has five wins in a row, a 9-1-1 record in their last 11 games and have scored five or more goals in each of their last four. Tells you all you need to know right now, right?
Corban Knight (three goals, one assist), Greg Carey (three assists), Cole Bardreau (three assists) and Danick Martel (two goals) led the attack tonight, while goaltender John Muse
The Phantoms' win, combined with a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 12-3 loss in Rochester (yes, you read that correctly), moves Lehigh Valley into first place in the Atlantic Division heading into Saturday's games.
Looking Ahead: No time to waste for Lehigh Valley, who will bus back to downtown Allentown, Pa. overnight from southern Massachusetts in advance of home contests Saturday and Sunday.
Phantoms Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Tyrell Goulbourne - Corban Knight - Cole BardreauDanick Martel - Mike Vecchione - Chris Conner Oskar Lindblom - Mikhail Vorobyev - Matt Read
T.J. Brennan (A) - Max LamarcheWill O’Neill - Mark Friedman Travis Sanheim - Phil Myers
John Muse - Dustin Tokarski
Scratches: Sam Morin (injured), Colin McDonald (veteran), Radel Fazleev (healthy), Reece Willcox (injured) and James de Haas (healthy)
POST-GAME RECAP
After a pair of blowout losses to Charlotte last weekend, the Springfield Thunderbirds had all week to think about their dreadful play leading into Friday's game against the Phantoms.
And for most of the opening period, the Thunderbirds dominated the Phantoms - recording 12 of the game's first 13 shots on goal. If not for a strong showing in net from John Muse to begin this contest, the final score may very well have been transposed.
Instead, the Phantoms got on the board with what was - at the time - the strangest goal of the season.
A Thunderbirds defenseman attempted to flip a puck from the corner behind his own net, but instead the puck hit the side of the net and bounced right to the feet of Danick Martel - in his first game back since the high hit from Hershey's Colby Williams broke his jaw on January 13th. Martel quickly banked one in off Springfield goalie Samuel Montembeault to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead with 6:58 left before the first intermission.
The goal seemed to make the momentum flip 180 degrees.
The Phantoms tacked on two more goals late in the period to extend their lead to 3-0 heading into the middle frame.
Martel got his second of the night, and 19th of the season, while Corban Knight tallied his 10th of the season on a bit of a flukey rebound of a Tyrell Goulbourne backhander with 1:38 left in the first frame.
The middle frame was more evenly played, but the Phantoms added to their lead with goals with a pair of power play goals from Phil Varone and Oskar Lindblom.
Chase Balisy would end Muse's shutout bid 10:19 into the period, but that's as close as Springfield would get.
Knight added his second of the night on the opening shift of the period, Nicolas Aube-Kubel made it 7-1 just 3:10 into the third period and Knight capped the hat trick on what is definitely the strangest goal of the season.
Goulbourne was guilty of a slashing minor, but play continued on a delayed call. Springfield got their goalie off for the extra attacker on the delayed call, but accidentally scored on their own net during the delayed call - passing a puck backward from the neutral zone that eluded everyone on its way into the empty net.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
13:02: LV - Martel (18) - unassisted 13:30: SPR - (PP) Hawryluk, minor (tripping) 15:41: LV - Martel (19) - Knight, Bardreau 18:22: LV - Knight (10) - Goulbourne, Bardreau
2nd Period
2:21: LV - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Martel) 4:09: LV - (PP) Myers, minor (delay of game) 4:37: SPR - (PP) Hawryluk, minor (goalie interference) 7:50: SPR - (PP) Farnham, minor (slashing) 8:00: LV - PPG Varone (12) - Carey, Brennan 10:19: SPR - Balisy (11) - Brown, Horvat 10:21: LV - (PP) Vecchione, minor (tripping) 18:58: SPR - (PP) Kurker, minor (holding) 19:25: LV - PPG Lindblom (14) - Varone, Carey
3rd Period
0:24: LV - Knight (11) - Brennan, Bardreau 3:10: LV - Aube-Kubel (15) - Carey, Myers 5:30: LV - ENG Knight (12) - unassisted 5:30: LV - (PP) Goulbourne, minor (slashing) 6:25: SPR - PPG Hunt (14) - Erixon, Hawryluk 9:28: LV - (PP) O'Neill, minor (roughing) 16:09: LV - (PP) Vorobyev, minor (goalie interference) 18:05: LV - (PP) Friedman, minor (interference) 18L05: SPR - (PP) Chase, double-minor (spearing - attempt)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 3 - 2 - 3 = 8 Springfield 0 - 1 - 1 = 2
Shots
Lehigh Valley 10 - 8 - 7 = 25 Springfield 13 - 15 - 10 = 38
Goalies
LV - John Muse (36 saves - 38 shots) SPR - Samuel Montembeault (6 saves - 9 shots in 18:22) and Evan Cowley (11 saves - 15 shots in 41:23)
Power Play
LV: 2-for-5 SPR: 1-for-6
Penalty Kill
LV: 5-for-6 SPR: 3-for-5
Attendance: 4,506
