Phantoms Finish Road Trip With Win In Springfield

SPRINGFIELD - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms finished off their season-high six game road trip on a positive note, doubling up the Springfield Thunderbirds 6-3 in southern Massachusetts Friday night to go 3-3 and earn six out of a possible 12 points on the nearly three-week hiatus from the PPL Center in downtown Allentown.

Greg Carey led the way with two goals, while several Phantoms had multi-point games including Phil Varone with a game-high three points (one goal, two assists). Oskar Lindblom (one goal, one assist), James de Haas (one goal, one assist) and Corban Knight (two assists) also added two points each in the win for Lehigh Valley.

Looking Ahead: The Phantoms have finished their season-high six game road trip, and return home overnight with a quick turnaround as they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Saturday night in their first home game in almost three weeks (20 days - November 5th vs. Toronto).

Phantoms' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)

Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Matt Read Oskar Lindblom - Mike Vecchione - Alex Krushelnyski Tyrell Goulbourne - Corban Knight - Colin McDonald (C)Radel Fazleev - Mikhail Vorobyev - Nicolas Aube-Kubel

T.J. Brennan - Phil MyersJames de Haas - Mark Alt Will O'Neill - Mark Friedman

Dustin Tokarski - Alex Lyon

Scratches: Anthony Stolarz (out indefinitely - knee surgery), Cole Bardreau (injured), Max Lamarche (injured), Chris Conner (healthy/veteran) and Reece Willcox (undisclosed)

RECAP

The first period was filled with action, including three goals in a span of 2:18 that saw the Phantoms take a 2-1 lead in the opening seven and a half minutes.

Greg Carey got things started off for the Phantoms, cutting to the net and re-directing a pass from the left wing by Phil Varone up and over Samuel Montembeault for Carey's 7th of the season. James de Haas registered his first career AHL point, an assist, on the play - banking a puck out to the neutral zone from the Phantoms' defensive zone that Varone picked up and skated into the offensive zone.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Carey was whistled for a slashing minor on the next shift and the Thunderbirds cashed in on the ensuing power play to tie the game at 1-1.

Anthony Greco finished a tic-tac-toe passing play, beating Dustin Tokarski to the spot for his 8th of the season. The goal came just 48 seconds after Carey opened the scoring and gave Lehigh Valley an early lead.

Just 1:40 later, Phil Varone tallied his sixth of the season to put the Phantoms back on top by a score of a 2-1. Oskar Lindblom played a major role in making Varone's goal happen, controlling a puck down low before getting it back up top to T.J. Brennan and getting to the net, screening the Thunderbirds goaltender before Varone's shot from the right-wing circle ended up in the back of the net.

The penalties continued to pile up in the first period, and it was the Phantoms on the wrong end of a five-on-three in the final 1:37 of the period.

In the final minute before the first intermission, Springfield capitalized on the two-man advantage.

Dustin Tokarski stopped Alexandre Grenier from point blank range, but Grenier got the rebound and awlwardly chipped one up and over Tokarski before de Haas accidentally swatted at, and deflected the puck into the net with 49.6 seconds left in the period - leaving the two teams tied at 2-2 heading into the second period.

The sea-saw battle continued in the middle frame.

Mikkel Aagaard deflected a Blaine Byron shot past Tokarski 4:18 into the period to give Springfield their first lead of the night, at 3-2, but later Greg Carey tallied his second of the game to send the game to the third period deadlocked at 3-3.

The Phantoms took control in the third period, and oddly enough it began with a shorthanded tally with the game tied at 3-3.

Corban Knight stole a puck and led a shorthanded rush up ice, chipping an area pass perfectly to the middle where de Haas had joined the rush. With one hand on his stick, de Haas was able to lift one past Montembeault for his first career AHL goal to give Lehigh Valley the lead back at 4-3.

Lehigh Valley got an insurance marker after Knight won a face-off back to Mark Alt with 9:35 left in regulation. Alt simply unloaded on one, blasting one past Montembeault to make it 5-3 Phantoms on Alt's third of the year.

Things got ugly late as Thunderbirds forward Tony Turgeon launched himself into an unsuspecting Mark Friedman, making contact up high and leaving Friedman in a heap on the ice with 5:05 left. Turgeon was given a major for interference, and could quite possibly be facing supplemental discipline for the kind of hit that they are trying to remove from the sport altogether.

Oskar Lindblom tacked on an empty net goal on a chip in from the Phantoms' defensive zone to complete the 6-3 final score, and give the Phantoms a morale boost as they bus back to Allentown overnight in advance of their first home game in nearly three weeks when they host Bridgeport Saturday night.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

5:02: LV - Carey (7) - Varone, de Haas 5:39: LV - (PP) Carey, minor (slashing) 5:50: SPR - PPG Greco (8) - Valk, Erixon 6:28: SPR - (PP) Turgeon, minor (cross-checking) 7:20: LV - PPG Varone (6) - Brennan, Lindblom 8:13: SPR - (PP) Greco, minor (unsportsmanlike conduct) 15:13: SPR - (PP) Farnham, minor (holding) 17:38: LV - (PP) Vecchione, minor (holding) 18:23: LV - (PP) Tokarski, minor (delay of game - served by Lindblom) 19:10: SPR - PPG Grenier (5) - Malgin, Valk

2nd Period

4:18: SPR - Aagaard (4) - Byron, Downing 6:42: SPR - (PP) Schemitsch, minor (holding) 12:18: LV - Carey (8) - Friedman, Varone 18:05: SPR - (PP) Aagaard, minor (slashing)

3rd Period

6:12: LV - (PP) Vecchione, minor (high-sticking) 6:33: LV - SHG de Haas (1) - Knight 8:16: SPR - (PP) Aagaard, minor (holding) 10:25: LV - Alt (3) - Knight 11:49: LV - (PP) Myers, minor (holding the stick) 14:55: SPR - (PP) Turgeon, major (interference) 14:55: LV - McDonald, minor (unsportsmanlike conduct) 17:01: LV - PP/ENG Lindblom (4) - Myers

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley 2 - 1 - 3 = 6 Springfield 2 - 1 - 0 = 3

Shots

Lehigh Valley 10 - 7 - 15 = 32 Springfield 9 - 5 - 10 = 24

Goalies

LV - Dustin Tokarski (21 saves - 24 shots) SPR - Samuel Montembeault (24 saves - 29 shots)

Power Play

LV: 2-for-8 SPR: 2-for-5

Penalty Kill

LV: 3-for-5 SPR: 6-for-8

Attendance: 4,810