Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! (3/11/22)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (19-24-10) used a dominating third period performance to come-from-behind and defeat Laval in regulation Friday night to set the tone for their 3-in-3 weekend.

Friday night's game story -> https://insideahlhockey.com/article/game-story-laval-3-at-lehigh-valley-4-31122

Three Things

1. Wade Allison's return, departure & comeback

It was quite a night for Wade Allison in his return to game action with the Phantoms Friday night.

After generating some chances on his first shift, he crashed the crease on his second shift and came out of the scrum holding his right wrist limp as blood began pouring out onto the ice. A Laval defender at the net front accidentally nicked his wrist with his skate blade - forcing Allison to the locker room for repairs.

"Again?!" Allison said when asked what was going through his head as he headed back to the bench with his wrist cut open. "I don't know, the back of my wrist was hurtin' & I was just like ah, assumed it was just a stinger - a stick on the back of the wrist."

"All of a sudden, I looked down & my whole hand's covered in blood," Allison told InsideAHLHockey.com after the game. "It's pretty large here (pointing to his wrist). Pretty deep, cut my veins and stuff."

Allison missed the rest of the first period, but returned for the second period in a big way as the team's top line of Allison, Cal O'Reilly and Max Willman put together a dominating performance late in the second period and in the third. Willman finished with a goal and an assist, while O'Reilly and Allison ended up with three-point nights.

"We just played good as a team," Allison said. "I mean, we were working hard all night, you know? A couple a couple breakdowns that we need to be aware of and fix but I mean, we played solid game tonight - all four lines were good. We were moving the puck well, we were playing within the structure and I mean, we got down a little bit there in the second period because we got away from our game, but then we brought it right back and we did what we needed to do."

2. Willman's Role In AHL Different Than His Role In AHL

All eyes were on Wade Allison Friday night, but his linemate Max Willman kind of quietly played a strong game in his first game back in the AHL - using his speed and tenacity to be hard to play against. That speed and tenacity also created turnovers which led to offensive scoring chances - and his early third period goal that tied the game and really allowed the Phantoms to seize momentum on their way to out-shooting Laval 17-4 in the final 20 and turning a one-goal deficit into a one-goal win to kick off the three-in-three weekend.

While he was in a bottom-six role in the NHL with the Flyers, when Willman returned to Lehigh Valley Friday he was put right in on the top line playing big minutes in all-situations (5-on-5, 4-on-4, PP, PK).

"A little bit of a different role when I'm up with the with the big club, so coming back down here and playing, like you said those big minutes, it feels good and definitely feels good to contribute to the win," Willman told InsideAHLHockey.com after Friday's win.

3. Could Friday's Third Period Have Saved The Phantoms Season?

I guess check back in late April to find out for sure, but Friday night's third period really had a make or break feel to it in terms of the Phantoms' 2021-22 season and their fading postseason hopes.

Entering the third period in the first game of a 3-in-3 weekend trailing by a goal, another loss would have made it seven in a row for Lehigh Valley and really put their playoff hopes on thinner ice than they already are.

Friday's third period performance - a dominating 17-4 edge in shots and a pair of early goals really shifted momentum and paved the way for a big Phantoms win.

"When we shoot the puck a little bit more, like you know it's a man on man coverage. There's no not too many ways to create chaos there. One way to do it is to put pucks on net, they lose their coverage. And that's what we did," Laperriere explained of how his team was able to have success. "We did that in the first 15 minutes of the game. And we kept doing it in the third. There's no secret. We're not trying to reinvent the game here, and guys did it and all the credit to them. They did it. They stuck to it when we were down. They just didn't deviate. They just went back at it and they got rewarded."