GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Cleveland at Lehigh Valley 1/12/20

ALLENTOWN, PA --  The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (14-19-5) conclude a three-in-three weekend at home against another North Division opponent in the Cleveland Monsters (17-17-3) Sunday afternoon at PPL Center.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Line rushes in warmup:

Andy Andreoff - Morgan Frost - Kyle Criscuolo Greg Carey - Cal O'Reilly - Maksim Sushko Isaac Ratcliffe - Mikhail Vorobyev - Pascal Laberge Max Willman - Gerry Fitzgerald - Kurtis Gabriel

Tyler Wotherspoon - Nate Prosser Chris Bigras - Eric Knodel James de Haas - Reece Willcox

J-F Berube - Alex Lyon

Phantoms Scratches: Andy Welinski, German Rubtsov, Carsen Twarynski, David Kase, David Drake and T.J. Brennan

GAME STORY

1st Period

If the American Hockey League (AHL) really wants to promote the excitement that the top minor league affiliates bring on a regular basis, they should probably stop scheduling games to be aired nationally on NHL Network on the Sunday game of a three-in-three weekend for the two teams playing the televised game.

That's exactly what the opening 20 minutes looked like for Lehigh Valley - a third game in three days. The Phantoms managed just three shots in the opening 20 minutes, though Andy Andreoff had a chance hit the post early on in the period, which included whiffing on the game's first power play in the final 2:11 before the first intermission.

2nd Period

It was much of the same for the Phantoms in the middle frame, as they managed just one shot on goal in the opening half of the period. Their limited offensive attempts simply weren't getting through to Monsters goalie Brad Thiessen.

A pair of penalties in the middle of the period allowed Cleveland to continue to be in control, though the Phantoms' PK was able to successfully kill off 32 seconds of five-on-three and J-F Berube continued to keep his team in a scoreless tie.

If not for Berube - the former Cleveland Monsters goalie - the Phantoms would likely be in a huge hole heading to the third in a game where they were out shot 22-6 through 40 minutes of play. Somehow, the game remained scoreless heading to the third period.

3rd Period

As the third period got underway, everyone in attendance at the PPL Center was surely beginning to wonder if either team would score a goal in the contest.

Those in attendance had to wait all the way until the final two and a half minutes to witness the first goal of the hockey game, and luckily for the fans it was the home team coming through just as their second power play of the contest came to an end.

Mikhail Vorobyev got a puck to Morgan Frost along the left-wing wall, and after hesitating a bit to create some space for himself Frost delivered a thread-the-needle type of cross-ice pass to an open Cal O'Reilly at the far side of the net. O'Reilly faked a centering feed before slipping a quick shot through Thiessen to lift the Phantoms to a 1-0 lead with 2:14 left to play.

The Monsters took their timeout and pulled Thiessen for the extra attacker, but Maksim Sushko was able to hit the empty net from the defensive zone blueline to seal the deal on the Phantoms' second consecutive 2-0 win on the weekend.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

17:49: CLE - (PP) Johnson, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

3:09: LV - (PP) Carey, minor (high-sticking) 10:34: LV - (PP) Wotherspoon, minor (tripping) 12:02: LV - (PP) de Haas, minor (high-sticking)

3rd Period

12:22: CLE - Sherwood, minor (roughing) 12:22: LV - Prosser, minor (roughing) 15:44: CLE - (PP) Sherwood, minor (cross-checking) 17:46: LV - O'Reilly (3) - Frost, Vorobyev 18:59: LV - ENG Sushko (6) - Prosser

BOXSCORE

Cleveland  0 - 0 - 0 = 0 Lehigh Valley 0 - 0 - 2 = 2

Shots

Cleveland  9 - 13 - 13 = 35 Lehigh Valley 3 - 3 - 10 = 16

Goalies

CLE: Brad Thiessen (14 saves - 15 shots) LV: J-F Berube (35 saves - 36 shots)

Power Play

CLE: 0-for-3 LV: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

CLE: 2-for-2 LV: 3-for-3