Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA! Game 17: Hershey - 2 at Lehigh Valley - 6
ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms overcame some sloppy play and self-inflicted turnovers in the first period with a strong showing from the top line and timely saves from goalie Carter Hart before cruising to a 6-2 win over rival Hershey on Friday night.
Phil Varone (one goal, two assists) and Greg Carey (two goals, one assist) tallied three points each in the win, pacing the attack, while the Phantoms also got goals from Mike Vecchione, Phil Myers and Mikhail Vorobyev.
Tonight's Gameday 'Live Blog' with a full recap of the action -> http://insideahlhockey.com/article/gameday-game-17-hershey-8-9-1-at-lehigh-valley-9-5-2-715-pm-et
FOUR* THINGS
1. Phantoms Win Special Teams Battle
It was honestly the difference in tonight's game - special teams.
"Penalty kill was really good. Power play was too - 2-for-2 on the first two and a third where the guy just came out of the box, so that was good," Gordon said, who added he wasn't thrilled with the turnovers tonight.
Though officially it goes down as a 2-for-5 night on the power play for Lehigh Valley, the third power play they had that they "failed" to score on actually ended up in the back of Hershey's net one second after the man advantage expired on Phil Myers' center point slap shot goal in the third period that extended the Phantoms' 3-2 lead to 4-2.
Then, with a 5-2 game late in the third the Phantoms were unsuccessful on a brief two-man advantage with the game well in hand.
And the penalty kill continues to be successful for Lehigh Valley, going 4-for-4 on the kill and preventing the Bears from making a difference with their special teams units on both ends of the spectrum. Mikhail Vorobyev tallied a shorthanded goal in the waning seconds, too.
2. Top Line Reunited
Nicolas Aube-Kubel returning to Lehigh Valley reunited the top line of Aube-Kubel, Greg Carey and Phil Varone Friday night and their offensive domination was on full display - especially in the middle frame.
"Yeah, you know Q is a horse out there. You get the puck in his hands and he's going to get it down low and bang and work," Carey said of Aube-Kubel's return to the lineup, sparking the top line tonight.
First, on the power play early in the 2nd period, Varone found Chris Conner at the side of the net and although Conner's give to the net went through the crease it ended up on Carey's stick for a quick put back goal to give #LVPhantoms the 2-1 lead.
Just over two minutes later, on an offensive zone face-off, Varone motioned to Carey to move to the other side and although Carey appeared confused and shrugged at Varone he obliged and seconds later after the face-off win, Aube-Kubel picked up a loose puck and nudged it over for Carey for Carey's second goal of the period.
3. Prospect Goalie Showdown
When the Phantoms and Bears meet - and they will 10 more times this season after tonight's game - chances are likely that one or both of the highly touted goalies in the AHL will be between the pipes. That's Carter Hart (Lehigh Valley) and Ilya Samsonov (Hershey).
On Friday, it was Hart out-dueling Samsonov - stopping 29 of 31 shots in the win, including a big-time breakaway stop on Steven Whitney five minutes into the third period with the Phantoms ahead 3-2.
Scott Gordon noted the big save, but also was complimentary of Hart's game overall.
"I felt like his rebound control was better. He was trapping the puck to his body better and as a result they weren't getting second whacks. Both goals they scored he couldn't be faulted on. I think this is a huge game for him," Gordon said, adding, "I thought his bounce back from Friday night vs Providence, how well he played Saturday night making some huge saves. He didn't get the win but I liked his game better than some of his wins, and that carried over into tonight."
4. German Rubtsov 'Out for the Year'
Scott Gordon dropped a bomb at the end of his press conference tonight when I asked him if he was expecting to be without German Rubtsov for awhile.
"Yeah, he's out for the year."
While fans immediately pointed out that Gordon said "year" and not "season" I don't think he meant the 2018 calendar year - a 39-day absence.
Nonetheless, a very disappointing news drop in what was really a promising start to Rubtsov's rookie season as a pro.
