Phantoms Post-Game EXTRA -> Game 8: Lehigh Valley - 4 at Binghamton - 1
BINGHAMTON, NY - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (5-2-1) extended their unbeaten streak on their current six-game road trip to four games following a 5-2 win in Binghamton Saturday night. It really was a game where there was a total team effort along the way to earn the two points.
The Phantoms had five different goal scorers - Phil Myers, Chris Conner, T.J. Brennan, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Tyrell Goulbourne - while Carter Hart had a strong showing in net, stopping 29 of 31 for his 2nd win on the season. Phil Varone led all skaters with three points, all assists.
Tonight's Gameday 'Live Blog' with full recap (unlocked for all to read!) --> http://insideahlhockey.com/article/gameday-game-8-lehigh-valley-4-2-1-at-binghamton-4-4-1-700-pm-et
Five Takeaways
1. Hart Responds
Carter Hart played arguably his best game as a pro tonight in Binghamton, stopping 29 of 31 shots in what is actually a smaller than NHL-regulation size rink in southern New York where the boards are lively and transition play is very crucial.
I won't spoil the whole 1-on-1 interview, but he had some interesting things to say after the game. Most importantly, he's doing just fine mentally after a couple of bad games (the team in front of him wasn't good either) and it's clear he's having a much better time of tracking the puck than he was just a week or two ago.
Maybe making the jump from junior to pro as a goalie isn't going to instantly produce a shutout win every time out? Definitely a step in the right direction for Hart, and it helps that the team in front of him is playing better as well.
2. Conner Continues
On Wednesday night in Hartford, Chris Conner was on an entirely different level than the rest of the players on the ice. He tallied two goals in the team's 7-3 win, including a highlight reel toe drag turned snipe to the top corner on Marek Mazanec in the mid-week game earlier this week.
Tonight, he picked up right where he left off - using his speed to his advantage early in the third period flying down the left wing before placing a perfect shot to the short side top shelf on Mackenzie Blackwood for his third goal of the week.
"Sometimes they go in, and sometimes they don't," a modest Conner said of his three goals this week. "It's good to get a couple wins here and we need to keep it going and finish the weekend."
3. Varone Still Playing MVP-level hockey
Last season's AHL MVP Phil Varone is picking up right where he left off last season, extending his personal points-scoring streak to six games with three assists tonight in Binghamton. In fact, the only game he's been held off the score sheet was the 7-0 loss to Springfield in the second game of the season.
Varone's up to 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in the team's first eight games, putting him at 3rd in the league in scoring - just points off the lead while also having played two less games than the two players ahead of him in scoring. As long as he keeps feeding Greg Carey, he should have no problems staying near point-per-game numbers this season.
4. The Fourth Line
These bottom six guys don't often get a ton of credit for the work they put in throughout the season, but after a strong game on Wednesday night and another solid performance tonight in Binghamton it's definitely worth mentioning.
"The chemistry part is huge. That's our third or fourth game together," Cole Bardreau told Inside AHL Hockey after the game. "Every game we play together we start to figure out each other's tendencies and I think that leads to being more effective."
They certainly have been more effective, and it's been quite noticeable. Bardreau had a goal on Wednesday with an assist from Tyrell Goulbourne, and with the goalie pulled Saturday Bardreau returned the favor - setting up Goulbourne with the icing on the cake in tonight's 5-2 win.
"All of us were joking around about how bad we wanted the point at the end there," Bardreau said of being out there at the end with the opposing net empty. "Obviously, being on the fourth line we don't get that opportunity as much to score the goals. That's our role, to get in there on the forecheck and disrupt, and be hard to play against. It was nice to get a little cookie at the end there."
5. Road Warriors?
The Phantoms are in the midst of a season-high six game road trip, and are making it look easy with a 3-0-1 record through the first four games. With a large core of returning players on a team that was very good away from home last season, it appears we can expect much of the same this season.
So far this year, the Phantoms are 4-0-1 on the road.
POST-GAME REACTION
Head coach Scott Gordon
On another good road win tonight:
There was some good and some bad in the first, but I thought overall the second and third period was a lot better and we got better as the game went on. A lot of good performances by a lot of people.
On Hart:
It was a big glove save he made off the rush that I thought it was huge. It was a hard first period because there was a lot of scrambly action in front of him, so there weren't a whole lot of clean saves for him to make with good vision and timing and all that. It was good to see him make that timely save in the second period, and I thought he was sharp the whole game from that point on.
On Binghamton being tougher place to play because of smaller rink size:
It's a smaller rink but it's good for the players because things happen quickly. It's a rink where you run out of real estate quick so it's important to get pucks to the net. Like the play on the first goal [Phil Myers shot from the corner]. Those are the types of things that if it happens quick and you put it on net, you never know.
