GAMEDAY: Game 4 - W-B/Scranton (3-1-0) at Lehigh Valley (2-1-0) 7:15 p.m. ET
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ALLENTOWN - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2-1-0) kick off another home and home series Friday on home ice, but with a new opponent - Atlantic Division rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (3-1-0) - and a third game on Sunday in Bridgeport Connecticut against the Sound Tigers.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes
Alex Lyon returned to the Phantoms' lineup Friday night, albeit as a backup to Carter Hart.
Reece Willcox made his regular season debut Friday, with James de Haas sitting out as a healthy scratch on defense along with David Drake.
Radel Fazleev and Connor Bunnaman begin the weekend as the extra forwards.
Lehigh Valley Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Carsen Twarynski - Mike Vecchione - Chris Conner (A) Taylor Leier - German Rubtsov - David Kase Tyrell Goulbourne - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald (C)
T.J. Brennan (A) - Reece Willcox Zach Palmquist - Phil Myers Philip Samuelsson - Mark Friedman
Carter Hart - Alex Lyon
Phantoms Scratches: Anthony Stolarz (healthy), James de Haas, David Drake (healthy), Radel Fazleev (healthy), Connor Bunnaman (healthy)
GAME STORY
FIRST PERIOD
It was a bit of a goaltender's duel in the first period between Carter Hart (Phantoms) and Tristan Jarry (Penguins)
At one end, Jarry came up big on a Greg Carey shot in front early on in the contest to keep the game scoreless. Lehigh Valley had an early power play, and some extended offensive zone pressure in the opening half of the period but Jarry kept the game even at 0-0. He was particularly sharp on a Taylor Leier shorthanded mini-breakaway after the Phantoms' forward intercepted a neutral zone pass late on the Phantoms' penalty kill in the middle of the period.
Hart, making his first start since being pulled last Friday night against Springfield, needed a strong start and looked sharp early - especially with the glove and tracking the puck in high-traffic areas. The Penguins started to get to their game in the second half of the period, but Hart was equal to the task.
The two teams seemed destined to head to the first intermission in a scoreless draw, but a bad break for the Phantoms and perhaps some redemption shortly after saw a pair of goals go up on the board late.
Mike Vecchione was inadvertently obstructed by an official going for a loose puck below the right-wing circle, and the unintentional screen play worked out in the Penguins' favor as Linus Olund got a glorious chance from just inside the right-wing face-off dot and beat Hart with a quick shot on an unassisted goal with 2:43 left in the first frame.
Just over two minutes later, the Phantoms' second line got the home team on the board and evened things up at 1-1 with 38.9 seconds left before the first intermission. In transition, Chris Conner sent a pass ahead for Carsen Twarynski entering the zone. Twarynski skated to the top of the left-wing circle before centering one for Vecchione, who was able to bounce one in past Jarry for his first of the season moments after being obstructed by an official on a goal against on his previous shift.
SECOND PERIOD
The Phantoms wasted the power play opportunity to begin the middle frame, and it wasn't long after that the Penguins' momentum produced them a go-ahead goal off of a strange play behind the Phantoms' net.
Carter Hart left his net to play a puck behind the net, but overskated it a bit and the resulting turnover quickly ended up in the back of his net. Sam Lafferty was in position to fling the puck in front for Sam Miletic for an easy tap in to the empty Phantoms' net at the 2:08 mark.
Again, the Phantoms responded in short order. This time, less than a minute later.
Zach Palmquist's give to the net from the left wall was stopped by Jarry but the rebound bounced off the boards along the right wall and right toward Phil Myers, who stepped into one and blasted a one-timer past Jarry to even the game at 2-2.
Then, things got interesting.
After a whistle with 13:26 left in the period, Penguins' scrappy forward Patrick McGrath caught unsuspecting Phantoms' defender Mark Friedman up high with a cross check - causing the ten men on the ice to come together for a scrum. In the middle of that scrum in the corner? Will O'Neill, who had no trouble wrestling T.J. Brennan to the ice and yelling at him face-to-face.
If it seemed like the Phantoms got into Jarry's head in the first period, it was even more obvious on a sequence on the ensuing power play.
German Rubtsov was at the net-front on the man advantage and was cross-checked from behind and sent sprawling into the Penguins' goaltender. Jarry took offense to the collision with Rubtsov and held onto the Phantoms' rookie's stick just prior to a shot from Greg Carey whistled past him. The referee called the goal off due to incidental contact despite that contact being the Penguins goalie initiating the contact, which happened to be grabbing a hold of an opposing players' stick.
The no-goal call stood and a frustrated PPL Center crowd saw the home team get a little careless in their play, getting hemmed in their own zone and allowing the Penguins to capitalize on another fortuidous bounce to take their third lead of the night.
Chris Summers' shot from the left point missed the mark, but bounced off the end boards and out other side right to Zach Aston-Reese on the backdoor for an easy tap in past Hart with 6:43 left in the middle frame.
The intensity picked up as the second intermission drew nearer, as the Phantoms continued to crash the net and hack/whack at anything they could at the net-front looking for an equalizer.
THIRD PERIOD
To say the Phantoms lifted their game in the third period is an understatement. They were absolutely flying out there early in the thir period and their speed was unable to be maintained by the Penguins.
Former Phantoms defenseman Will O'Neill slashed Mike Vecchione on his way to the net with the puck 2:31 into the final frame, and the Phantoms - who were 0-for-6 and heading on their seventh - finally cashed in on the ensuing man advantage. And quickly.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel got a loose puck from Phil Varone off the face-off and got it back to T.J. Brennan, who dragged one to the center point before his shot was re-directed in past Jarry courtesy of a Penguins' penalty killer.
Brennan's game-tying goal seemed to lift a curse off the team - and the power play - after a disallowed goal in the middle frame and some close calls in the crease throughout.
The Phantoms kept their foot on the gas and drew themselves another power play after Chris Conner was slashed trying to complete a 2-on-1 with Vecchione.
On the ensuing power play, it was Greg Carey snapping one past Jarry from the left wing to give the Phantoms their first lead of the night with 3:30 gone in the third period.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Reece Willcox was whistled for roughing after a whistle with 5:50 gone in the third period and the Penguins scored on the ensuing power play when Teddy Blueger knocked a rebound in past Hart to even the game back up, at 4-4, with 13:01 left in regulation.
Lehigh Valley began taking trips to the penalty box in the waning moments of regulation, putting pressure on Hart and the Phantoms' penalty killers to keep the score even.
The Phantoms' penalty kill held, but the Penguins capitalized on a 2-on-1 rush with just over a minute left in regulation to take the lead, and the win, 5-4.
Hart stopped the initial shot from Jimmy Hayes on the left-wing, but the Penguins forward was able to jar loose the puck in Hart's crease and Penguins' captain Garrett Wilson slammed it home.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
4:52: WBS - (PP) Summers, minor (cross-checking) 11:04: LV - (PP) Bardreau, minor (cross-checking) 17:17: WBS - Olund (1) - unassisted 19:21: LV - Vecchione (1) - Twarynski, Conner 19:59: WBS - (PP) Jarry, minor (high-sticking, served by Hayes)
2nd Period
2:18: WBS - Miletic (1) - Lafferty 3:04: LV - Myers (1) - Palmquist, Varone 3:14: WBS - (PP) Wilson, minor (tripping) 6:34: WBS - McGrath, minor (roughing) 6:34: WBS - (PP) McGrath, minor (cross-checking) 6:34: LV - Brennan, minor (roughing) 9:40: WBS - (PP) Aston-Reese, minor (hooking) 13:17: WBS - Aston-Reese (2) - Summers 15:00: WBS - (PP) Wilson, minor (tripping)
3rd Period
2:31: WBS - (PP) O'Neill, minor (slashing) 2:36: LV - PPG Brennan (2) - Aube-Kubel, Varone 2:55: WBS - (PP) Summers, minor (slashing) 3:30: LV - PPG Carey (4) - Brennan, Aube-Kubel 5:50: LV - (PP) Willcox, minor (roughing) 6:59: WBS - PPG Blueger (2) - Lafferty, Miletic 13:15: LV - (PP) Myers, minor (roughing) 15:30: LV - (PP) bench minor, too many men (served by Conner) 18:57: WBS - Wilson (3) - Hayes
BOXSCORE
W-B/Scranton 1 - 2 - 2 = 5 Lehigh Valley 1 - 1 - 2 = 4
Shots
W-B/Scranton 11 - 7 - 15 = 33 Lehigh Valley 8 - 11 - 13 = 32
Goalies
WBS - Tristan Jarry (28 saves - 32 shots) LV - Carter Hart (28 saves - 33 shots)
Power Play
WBS: 1-for-4 LV: 2-for-8
Penalty Kill
WBS: 6-for-8 LV: 3-for-4
Attendance: 7,206
