GAMEDAY: Game 54 - Lehigh Valley (27-20-6) at Charlotte (34-14-7) 7:00 p.m. ET
EDITOR'S NOTE: Inside AHL Hockey's Amanda Statland is live from the Bojangles Coliseum this weekend photographing both Phantoms games against the Checkers.
CHARLOTTE, NC -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-20-6) look to see where they stand against the Atlantic Division's leader and top team in the AHL in the Charlotte Checkers (34-14-7) in a pair of games beginning with Friday night's 7:00 p.m. ET face-off.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes
Alex Lyon got the start in net for Lehigh Valley Friday. Mike McKenna cleared waivers and was assigned to Lehigh Valley prior to the team's games this weekend. McKenna is expected to get the start in Saturday night's rematch. Subsequent to McKenna's arrival to the Phantoms, Lehigh Valley loaned goaltender Branden Komm to Reading (ECHL).
Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Greg Carey - Corban Knight - Chris Conner Carsen Twarynski - Mikhail Vorobyev - Mike Vecchione Connor Bunnaman - Byron Froese - Nicolas Aube-KubelTyrell Goulbourne - Steven Swavely - Colin McDonald
Sam Morin - Mark FriedmanJames de Haas - David Schlemko T.J. Brennan - Zach Palmquist
Alex LyonMike McKenna
Scratches: Philip Samuelsson (veteran), Cole Bardreau (injured), German Rubtsov (injured), Jori Lehtera (veteran), Mike Huntebrinker (healthy), Pascal Laberge (injured), Alex Krushelnyski (healthy), David Kase (injured) and Reece Willcox (injured)
GAME STORY
FIRST PERIOD
After a back-and-forth opening 15 minutes of the two teams feeling each other out, the Phantoms opened the scoring shortly after heading to their first penalty kill of the evening.
Corban Knight got a pass ahead for Mike Vecchione, who used his speed to force Alex Nedeljkovic into attempting an unwise poke check. Vecchione avoided the goalie's stick and tapped one home to put the Phantoms ahead 1-0 on a shorthanded tally with 4:52 left before the first intermission.
Charlotte evened the score late in the first period on a bang-bang play that saw Nick Schilkey fire a puck that went in and out of the net so fast it initially confused the officials, though the goal horn sounded and the home fans celebrated the goal all the same.
SECOND PERIOD
The Checkers were more dominant in the middle frame, at one point firing 10 of the next 11 shots toward Alex Lyon's net. They were able to break through and take the lead at 11:26 when Haydn Fleury finished off a Checkers' offensive surge from the bottom of the right-wing circle for his second tally of the season on an assist from Andrew Poturalski.
Despite being out-shot 26-13 through 40 minutes, the Phantoms found themselves yet again in a one-goal hockey game against the top team in the league heading to the third period. This due in large part to the play of Lyon, making several strong saves and keeping his team afloat in large portions of the middle frame.
THIRD PERIOD
Not only were the Checkers able to keep the Phantoms, for the most part, at bay in the third period but they were also able to generate some more chances on Lyon and keep the puck in the Phantoms' defensive zone on their way to holding on to the 2-1 lead and taking it to the finish line with their AHL-leading 35th win of the season.
The two teams rematch tomorrow night at 6 p.m. ET at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
8:25: CHA - (PP) Schilkey, minor (slashing) 14:57: LV - (PP) Aube-Kubel, minor (cross-checking) 15:08: LV - SHG Vecchione (12) - Knight, Friedman 19:16: CHA - Schilkey (12) - Roy, Carrick 19:56: CHA - (PP) Poturalski, minor (holding)
2nd Period
11:26: CHA - Fleury (2) - Poturalski, Didier 15:04: LV - (PP) Vorobyev, minor (roughing)
3rd Period
19:10: LV - Morin, major (fighting) 19:10: CHA - Didier, major (fighting)
BOXSCORE
Lehigh Valley 1 - 0 - 0 = 1 Charlotte 1 - 1 - 0 = 2
Shots
Lehigh Valley 6 - 8 - 12 = 26 Charlotte 9 - 17 - 8 = 34
Goalies
LV: Alex Lyon (32 saves - 34 shots) CHA: Alex Nedeljkovic (25 saves - 26 shots)
Power Play
LV: 0-for-2 CHA: 0-for-2
Penalty Kill
LV: 2-for-2 CHA: 2-for-2
Attendance:
