GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Lehigh Valley at Charlotte 12/21/19

INSIDE AHL HOCKEY HQ - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-12-5) got back to .500 on the season with a big road win in Charlotte to kick off the first of two games against the Checkers this weekend.

Pascal Laberge tallied two goals in the second period, while Mark Friedman's coast-to-coast power play goal in the third proved to be the game-winner after Charlotte tallied two goals 31 seconds apart to make the final 3:36 of regulation interesting.

Alex Lyon began the game strong, and finished with perhaps his best save of the season with the Phantoms facing a 6-on-5 in the closing minute of the game - stopping a rebound shot with his blocker hand after losing his goalie stick moments earlier in the flurry of pressure from the Checkers.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Lines/Pairings:

Greg Carey - German Rubtsov - David Kase Maksim Sushko - Connor Bunnaman - Pascal Laberge Carsen Twarynski - Gerry Fitzgerald - Isaac Ratcliffe Max Willman - Steven Swavely - Kurtis Gabriel

Tyler Wotherspoon - Andy Welinski Chris Bigras - Nate Prosser Mark Friedman - Reece Willcox

Alex Lyon - J-F Berube

Scratches: James de Haas, Matthew Strome, Cal O'Reilly, T.J. Brennan and Kyle Criscuolo

GAME STORY

An early Phantoms' penalty allowed Charlotte to grab a hold of momentum to begin the contest. The Checkers rattled off nine of the game's first 10 shots in the hockey game, nearly taking a 1-0 lead if not for a big stop from Alex Lyon.

Lyon kept Lehigh Valley in a scoreless first period until they started to get their game going offensively in the final three and a half minutes before the first intermission.

Still, the teams headed to the first intermission in a scoreless tie. The Checkers saw their large edge in shots on goal slim to a 10-7 margin heading to the middle frame as momentum shifted in Lehigh Valley's favor.

The Phantoms carried the momentum over into the second period, where Pascal Laberge tallied a pair of goals to get Lehigh Valley ahead 2-0.

His first of the night came after good communication on the blueline between Chris Bigras and Mark Friedman. The two blueliners cycled the puck just inside the offensive zone blue line before Bigras spotted Laberge heading to the back door. Laberge tapped in Bigras' hard pass for his fourth of the season to get the Phantoms the 1-0 lead 8:35 into the middle frame.

Laberge made it 2-0 with 1:03 left before the second intermission, knocking a rebound of Maksim Sushko's shot in past Checkers' goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Gerry Fitzgerald had the first rebound attempt, and was credited with the primary assist on Laberge's fifth of the season.

Instead of playing back in the third with a 2-0 lead, Lehigh Valley put Charlotte on their heels - getting a power play and making the most of it when Friedman went coast-to-coast, splitting the defense and burying a breakaway in his first game back since an injury forced him out of the lineup on December 6th.

Friedman's goal gave Lehigh Valley a 3-0 lead with 8:19 left to play, but Charlotte made things after they tallied goals 31 seconds apart to make it a one-goal game with 3:36 left to play.

Lyon saved the day in the waning moments, making two or three ten-bell saves - the last of which came without a goalie stick where Lyon threw his blocker hand up to deflect a rebound out of harms way.

The Phantoms' win Saturday in Charlotte was their first road win since November 2nd in Bridgeport. They had gone 0-9-1 in their previous 10 road contests entering the game. On the season, Lehigh Valley is just 3-9-2 while away from home.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

1:57: LV - (PP) Fitzgerald, minor (hooking) 7:20: LV - (PP) Laberge, minor (hooking)

2nd Period

8:35: LV - Laberge (4) - Bigras, Friedman 8:47: CHA - (PP) Sheppard, minor (hooking) 18:57: LV - Laberge (5) - Fitzgerald, Sushko

3rd Period

10:02: CHA - (PP) Lorentz, minor (hooking) 11:41: LV - PPG Friedman (2) - Bigras 15:53: CHA - McCormick (7) - Forsling, Priskie 16:24: CHA - Bishop (1) - Forsling, Smallman

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley  0 - 2 - 1 = 3 Charlotte  0 - 0 - 2 = 2

Shots

Lehigh Valley  8 - 13 - 14 = 35 Charlotte  10 - 11 - 13 = 34

Goalies

LV: Alex Lyon (32 saves - 34 shots) CHA: Alex Nedeljkovic (32 saves - 35 shots)

Power Play

LV: 1-for-2 CHA: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

LV: 2-for-2 CHA: 1-for-2