GAMEDAY: Game 12 - Springfield (7-1-2) at Lehigh Valley (6-3-2) 7:15 p.m. ET

ALLENTOWN, PA - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (6-3-2) begin a tough weekend with Atlantic Division foe Springfield (7-1-2) on Friday night at PPL Center in downtown Allentown, PA.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Lines for Phantoms (Starters in Bold/Italics)

Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Cole BardreauCarsen Twarynski - Mike Vecchione - Chris Conner Taylor Leier - Mikhail Vorobyev - Colin McDonald Tyrell Goulbourne - German Rubtsov - David Kase

T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Philip Samuelsson - Phil Myers Zach Palmquist - Reece Willcox

Carter Hart - Alex Lyon

Phantoms' Scratches: Anthony Stolarz, James de Haas, Radel Fazleev and Connor Bunnaman

GAME STORY

FIRST PERIOD

After the two teams settled in, the Phantoms held a decided edge in play and largely out-chanced the Thunderbirds through the opening 17 and a half minutes, but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

That's when a behind the net move by Paul Thompson gave himself some time and space, and the Thunderbirds captain was able to bank one in past Carter Hart from a bad angle to give Springfield the 1-0 lead heading into the middle frame.

Taylor Leier was noticeable in the first frame, seemingly involved in a lot of the Phantoms' best offensive chances of the period.

Thunderbirds dressed veteran Michael Hutchinson, who made his 2nd AHL start of the season after spending the beginning of the year in the NHL with Florida.

Hutchinson was equal to the task on all 13 Phantoms shots in the period, with his best coming on a Carsen Twarynski breakaway with just over seven minutes left in the period.

At the other end, a largely quiet first frame for Carter Hart who made some saves in the early going before allowing the Thompson bad angle shot in.

SECOND PERIOD

The Phantoms didn't change anything heading into the middle frame. They were still generating just as many chances as they did in the first frame. The difference in the middle frame is they started going in for them.

When it was all said and done, Lehigh Valley tallied five goals in four different ways to break open the game in the middle frame.

After Zolnierczyk was whistled for interference 1:45 into the period, the Phantoms power play went to work to tie the game at 1-1.

German Rubtsov got a puck up ice to Chris Conner, who entered the offensive zone with speed down the right wing before centering one for Greg Carey. Carey's quick shot at the net beat Hutchinson for the sniper's sixth of the season.

Leier was visibly upset - and deservedly so - after being whistled for a questionable holding minor not long after Carey's game-tying goal, sending Lehigh Valley to the PK.

The Phantoms killed off the minor, and Tyrell Goulbourne sprung Leier on a breakaway as he exited the box. Leier converted on the breakaway, beating Hutchinson for his first of the season and giving the Phantoms their first lead of the game at 2-1.

Less than two minutes later, Chris Conner interrupted a Springfield breakout and sent Mike Vecchione off to the races for a 4-on-4 goal that extended the Phantoms' lead to 3-1.

Leier headed back to the box for boarding, but it didn't matter. Cole Bardreau forced a turnover and went five-hole on Hutchinson for a shorthanded tally to blow the game open at 4-1 on four goals in a span of 6:25.

Springfield cut the Phantoms' lead to 4-2 with 6:57 left before the second intermission but the Phantoms responded with a goal of their own just over three minutes later when Rubtsov jammed one home in a net-front scramble to put Lehigh Valley in control heading into the third up 5-2.

THIRD PERIOD

Penalties piled up to begin the third period, with the Phantoms killing off an early penalty before a pair of Springfield penalties 12 seconds apart gave Lehigh Valley an extended 5-on-3 power play chance.

Chris Conner nearly scored 4:53 into the period, before an awkward collision in front of the net between Conner and Thunderbirds defenseman Michael Downing left Downing motionless on the ice with players near the net yelling and waving on the medical trainers of both teams.

The player was immobilized before being placed on a stretcher and carted off the ice, giving a thumbs up to the crowd at PPL Center. A scary play that silenced the building to the point where you could hear a pin drop. Scary indeed.

After the lengthy delay, the Phantoms resumed their power play and Carey tallied a backdoor slam for his second of the night to make it 6-2.

Leier followed suit with his second tally of the night midway through the third period on a nice move after a feed from David Kase to make it 7-2.

The Phantoms never let off, making it 8-2 on a Chris Conner mini-breakaway with left

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

5:22: SPR - (PP) Zolnierczyk, minor (face-off violation) 17:46: SPR - Thompson (7) - Zolnierczyk

2nd Period

1:45:  SPR - (PP) Zolnierczyk, minor (interference) 2:11: LV - PPG Carey (6) - Conner, Rubtsov 3:36: LV - (PP) Leier, minor (holding) 5:43: LV - Leier (1) - Goulbourne 6:17: SPR - Farnham, minor (cross-checking) 6:17: LV - Brennan, minor (roughing) 7:36: LV - Vecchione (4) - Conner 8:09: LV - (PP) Leier, minor (boarding) 8:36: LV - SHG Bardreau (3) - unassisted 13:03: SPR - Hunt (5) - Hawryluk, McCoshen 16:23: LV - Rubtsov (6) - Kase, Brennan 17:30: SPR - (PP) Hunt, minor (slashing)

3rd Period

0:53: LV - (PP) Bardreau, minor (high-sticking) 3:47: SPR - (PP) Byron, minor (slashing) 3:59: SPR - (PP) McCoshen, minor (delay of the game) 5:43: LV - PPG Carey (7) - Varone, Myers 6:57: SPR - (PP) Thompson, minor (roughing) 8:09: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (roughing) 9:11: SPR - (PP) Hunt, minor (hooking) 9:49: LV - Leier (2) - Kase 12:22: SPR - Schemitsch (ten-minute misconduct) 12:22: LV - Bardreau (ten-minute misconduct) 14:29: Conner (5) - Vorobyev, Willcox

BOXSCORE

Springfield  1 - 1 - 0 = 2 Lehigh Valley   0 - 5 - 3 = 8

Shots

Springfield  6 - 7 - 5  - 18 Lehigh Valley   13 - 10 - 8 = 31

Goalies

SPR: Michael Hutchinson (18 saves - 23 shots in 40:00) and Samuel Montembeault (5 saves - 8 shots in 20:00) LV: Carter Hart (16 saves - 18 shots)

Power Play

LV: 2-for-7 SPR: 0-for-4

Penalty Kill

LV: 4-for-4 SPR: 5-for-7

Attendance: