Game 70 Recap: Phantoms Hold Off Senators' Comeback Attempt
ALLENTOWN - It wasn't their best performance, but the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (44-17-9) jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held off the Belleville Senators in the third period to complete the weekend with a 4-2 decision Saturday night at the PPL Center.
Greg Carey, Colin McDonald, Mike Vecchione and Cole Bardreau all tallied goals in the win, while Dustin Tokarski stopped 27 of 29 shots to pick up his 19th win of the season
Playoff Update: The Phantoms' win combined with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's loss to Providence lowered the magic number to wrap up first place in the Atlantic Division down to six points. In fact, once the Penguins and Bruins are mathematically unable to own the ROW tiebreaker that number will drop by one more point. Currently, it's six points with six games left on the regular season schedule.
Looking Ahead: The Phantoms have a busy four-game week on the road next week beginning with a pair of mid-week games Tuesday and Wednesday night in Charlotte before playing weekend contests in Hartford on Saturday night and Providence on Sunday.
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Alex Krushelnyski Tyrell Goulbourne - Corban Knight - Colin McDonaldDanick Martel - Mikhail Vorobyev - Cole Bardreau Radel Fazleev - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman David Drake - Reece Willcox Will O'Neill - Max Lamarche
Dustin Tokarski - Felix Sandstrom
Scratches: Anthony Stolarz, Sam Morin, Phil Myers, Chris Conner and James de Haas
POST-GAME REACTION
POST-GAME RECAP
The Belleville Senators came out firing shots from everywhere on the ice in the opening period, out-shooting the Phantoms 14-4 in the opening 20 minutes of play. Thanks to some sharp stops from Dustin Tokarski, it was Lehigh Valley exiting the first frame with a 1-0 lead after a goal 12 minutes in from Greg Carey.
Phil Varone won a defensive zone face-off back to David Drake, and the newcomer on defense making his pro debut sent a pass up through the neutral zone to Greg Carey who came down the left wing and fired a wrist shot that trickled through Senators goalie Marcus Hogberg and into the back of the net.
It marked Carey's 30th goal of the season, making him the first Phantom to score 30 in a season since Jon Matsumoto tallied 30 in the 2009-10 season.
The Phantoms had a much better effort in the second period, extending their lead to 3-0 on goals from McDonald (power play at 9:56) and Vecchione (odd-man rush at 19:52).
Belleville wouldn't go quietly, scoring goals 2:01 apart early in the third period to make it a one-goal game. From there, the Phantoms were able to close out the win with an empty net tally in the final minute to complete the 4-2 final score.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
4:39: BEL - (PP) Gagne, minor (high-sticking) 12:10: LV - Carey (30) - Drake, Varone 15:50: LV - (PP) Krushelnyski, minor (hooking)
2nd Period
8:03: BEL - (PP) Sieloff, minor (roughing) 8:03: BEL - Sieloff, minor (cross-checking) 8:03: LV - Goulbourne, minor (cross-checking) 9:56: LV - PPG McDonald (6) - Vecchione, O'Neill 12:02: BEL - (PP) Moutrey, minor (high-sticking) 15:54: LV - (PP) Fazleev, minor (slashing) 19:52: LV - Vecchione (16) - unassisted
3rd Period
7:22: BEL - Murray (8) - Paul 9:23: BEL - Rodewald (12) - Lajoie, Selleck 19:31: LV - ENG Bardreau (10) - Aube-Kubel
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 2 - 1 = 4 Belleville 0 - 0 - 2 = 2
Shots
Lehigh Valley 4 - 9 - 10 = 23 Belleville 14 - 6 - 9 = 29
Goalies
LV - Dustin Tokarski (27 saves - 29 shots) BEL - Marcus Hogberg (10 saves - 13 shots in 39:44) and Filip Gustavsson (9 saves - 9 shots in 18:38)
Power Play
LV: 1-for-3 BEL: 0-for-2
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-2 BEL: 2-for-3
Attendance: 8,621
