GAMEDAY: Game 60 - Charlotte (38-14-7) at Lehigh Valley (29-24-6) 7:15 p.m. ET

ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (29-24-6) kick off a pair of weekend games against the Charlotte Checkers (38-14-7) beginning Friday night at 7:15 p.m. ET. The two teams will then rematch again Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET with both games taking place at the PPL Center.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)

Chris Conner - Mikhail Vorobyev - Pacal Laberge Greg Carey - Byron Froese - David Kase Carsen Twarynski - Connor Bunnaman - Mike Vecchione Tyrell Goulbourne - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald

James de Haas - T.J. Brennan David Schlemko - Mark FriedmanZach Palmquist - Reece Willcox

Alex Lyon - Mike McKenna

Phantoms' Scratches: Philip Samuelsson (veteran), Steven Swavely (healthy), Nicolas Aube-Kubel (injured), German Rubtsov (out for the season), Jori Lehtera (veteran) and Carsen Twarynski (healthy)

GAME STORY

FIRST PERIOD

It was tough for Lehigh Valley to get much of anything going offensively in the opening 20 minutes. The only real offensive chance for the Phantoms came on a shot off the rush from Justin Bailey in the left-wing circle, but Charlotte's goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was able to get a piece of it and the rebound darted out of danger and into the corner.

The Phantoms mustered just three shots on goal, but headed to the intermission in a scoreless draw thanks in large part to 13 first period saves from Alex Lyon.

Lyon, who picked up the win Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre, kept the momentum going in the opening period Friday - particularly in a series of stops he made midway through the period where he fought off some heavy traffic at the net-front and was able to kick his legs out to prevent anything on a few rebounds coming his way.

The Phantoms killed off a late period penalty to Pascal Laberge with help from Cole Bardreau, appearing in his first game in exactly three months.

SECOND PERIOD

The goals began to pour in in the middle frame, but not for the team you'd expect based on how the first 20 minutes went.

The Phantoms opened the scoring just under seven minutes into the second period when a neutral zone turnover followed by a heads-up play by James de Haas sprung Tyrell Goulbourne and Colin McDonald on a 2-on-1. The Checkers' defensemen were in the midst of a change, and the Phantoms took advantage with Goulbourne feeding McDonald in front for a quick shot past Nedeljkovic to get Lehigh Valley on the board first.

After failing to extend their lead to 2-0 on their first power play chance of the period, the Phantoms cashed in moments later on their second crack at the man advantage. And they only needed eight seconds to do it.

Greg Carey attempted a shot from along the right-wing wall, and although the shot never made it through David Kase picked up the loose puck in the corner and made a really great pass to the front of the net for Mike Vecchione - who was able to get a piece of the centering feed on his shot attempt, just enough to get it on net and past Nedeljkovic to extend the lead.

Vecchione wasn't done there, either. With the Phantoms shorthanded and needing a big penalty kill to maintain momentum and their 2-0 lead, Vecchione took matters into his own hands.

After losing the face-off, Vecchione rushed the Checkers' defensemen at the blue line and forced a turnover. Mikhail Vorobyev got the loose puck and sent Vecchione off to the races, where Vecchione went to his backhander with a defender breathing down his neck before beating Nedeljkovic for a huge shorthanded tally that extended the Phantoms' lead to 3-0 heading to the third period.

THIRD PERIOD

Despite being down 3-0, Charlotte didn't seem to panic. Instead, they clawed their way back into the hockey game.

Aleksi Saarela got his team on the board 3:04 into the period, ending Alex Lyon's shutout bid and allowing the Checkers to gain some momentum early in the third.

Saarela made it a one-goal game near the midway mark of the period, but timely saves from Alex Lyon and one final strong effort on the penalty kill was enough to give the Phantoms a 3-2 win and a huge two points in the standings.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

17:48: LV - (PP) Laberge, minor (slashing)

2nd Period

6:49: LV - McDonald (8) - Goulbourne, de Haas 7:47: CHA - (PP) Bean, minor (interference) 11:40: CHA - (PP) Didier, minor (slashing) 11:48: LV - PPG Vecchione (14) - Kase, Carey 16:36: LV - (PP) McDonald, minor (slashing) 16:47: LV - SHG Vechione (15) - Vorobyev 17:19: CHA - (PP) Geekie, minor (interference) 19:39: CHA - (PP) Didier, minor (high-sticking) 19:58: LV - (PP) Conner, minor (holding)

3rd Period

3:04: CHA - Saarela (19) - Didier, Brown 7:50: CHA - Poturalski, minor (roughing) 7:50: LV - Goulbourne, minor (roughing) 7:50: LV - Goulbourne, ten-minute misconduct 8:13: LV - (PP) Vorobyev, minor (tripping) 9:28: CHA - PPG Saarela (20) - Schilkey, Carrick 13:44: CHA - (PP) Carrick, minor (slashing) 17:13: LV - (PP) de Haas, minor (tripping)

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Charlotte  13 - 10 - 11 = 34 Lehigh Valley  3 - 14 - 8 = 25

Goalies

CHA: Alex Nedeljkovic (22 saves - 25 shots) LV: Alex Lyon (31 saves - 34 shots)

Power Play

CHA: 1-for-5 LV: 1-for-5

Penalty Kill

CHA: 4-for-5 LV: 4-for-5

Attendance: 7,563