GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Lehigh Valley at Charlotte 12/22/19

INSIDE AHL HOCKEY HQ - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-13-5) entered Sunday afternoon's contest against the Charlotte Checkers (14-13-3) with a 4-0-1 head-to-head record against the Checkers this season.

While they took the early 1-0 lead on Tyler Wotherspoon's second of the season, Charlotte responded to take the lead on a shorthanded tally late in the second period - never trailing from that point on despite Greg Carey's team-leading ninth of the season temporarily tying things up in the third.

J-F Berube was strong in net despite taking the loss in allowing three goals on 29 shots. Anton Forsberg was equally as impressive, making timely saves and earning his seventh win on the 2019-20 campaign.

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 Matthew Strome - Steven Swavely - Kurtis Gabriel

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

J-F Berube - Alex Lyon

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

GAME STORY

The Phantoms continued their success against Charlotte in the opening minutes of play Sunday in a rare 1pm scheduled afternoon contest.

Nate Prosser sent a cross-ice pass through the neutral zone for Carsen Twarynski, who entered the offensive zone with speed on the left wing before pulling up and feeding Tyler Wotherspoon at the top of the left wing circle. Wotherspoon wasted no time, firing a quick shot past Checkers' goaltender Anton Forsberg to give Lehigh Valley the 1-0 lead 5:35 into the first period.

Charlotte began to control play as the period wore on. Similar to how Alex Lyon was strong from the start of last night's game, J-F Berube had to be on top of his game in the opening 20 minutes Sunday afternoon - stopping all 13 shots he faced to keep Lehigh Valley on top 1-0 heading to the middle frame.

The Checkers pressured early in the middle frame, and although Berube continued making strong stops a shot through traffic from the left wing by Gustav Forsling somehow evaded the bodies in front of the Phantoms' goaltender - catching the far side post and banking in 5:26 into the second stanza to even the score at 1-1.

With Andy Welinski in the box for hooking near the midway mark of regulation, the Checkers nearly took the lead with 8:35 left to play - getting a glorious chance in front of Berube but hitting the crossbar before the loose puck was corralled and whistled down by the officials. The home team continued with momentum on their side.

Lehigh Valley had a glorious chance to take a 2-1 lead with a power play chance with 3:32 left before the second intermission. Instead, Charlotte scored on a shorthanded rush - putting the Phantoms behind 2-1 heading to the third period.

Greg Carey took matters into his own hands near the midway mark of the final frame, going 1-on-4 and skating through the Checkers before firing a quick shot to the top shelf - picking a corner and tying the game at 2-2 with 11:20 left in regulation.

Unfortunately for the Phantoms, Chase Priskie rifled a wrist shot from the right point just over a minute later that eluded Berube and allowed Charlotte to re-gain their one-goal lead at 3-2 with 10:14 remaining.

From there, Lehigh Valley pressured until the bitter end - pulling Berube for the extra attacker but unable to get another one past Forsberg before allowing an empty net tally in the waning seconds to complete the 4-2 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

5:35: LV - Wotherspoon (2) - Twarynski, Prosser 14:57: LV - (PP) Sushko, minor (interference)

2nd Period

5:26: CHA - Forsling (3) - Priskie, Smallman 9:19: LV - (PP) Welinski, minor (hooking) 16:28: CHA - (PP) Bishop, minor (slashing) 18:12: CHA - SHG McKeown (3) - Lorentz 19:00: CHA - (PP) Forsling, minor (holding)

3rd Period

8:40: LV - Carey (9) - unassisted 9:46: CHA - Priskie (5) - Kuokkanen, Gust 19:43: CHA - ENG Lorentz (8) - Bishop

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley  1 - 0 - 1 = 2 Charlotte  0 - 2 - 2 = 4

Shots

Lehigh Valley  8 - 7 - 13 = 28 Charlotte  13 - 8 - 9 = 30

Goalies

LV: J-F Berube (26 saves - 29 shots) CHA: Anton Forsberg (26 saves - 28 shots)

Power Play

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

Penalty Kill

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