Phantoms back at home after weekend sweep
The Phantoms delivered some Lehigh Valley cold to their Canadian rivals in the American Hockey League over the weekend.
With December kicking off the mad rush to the holiday season, the Phantoms traveled north of the border for a trio of weekend wins, knocking off Laval Rocket 3-2 on Nicolas AubeKubel’s overtime goal to end November with a victory.
Chris Conner’s penalty shot helped the Phantoms to a 4-2 win over Bellville to kick off December, and then on Sunday, the Phantoms completed their first 3-in-3 sweep of the season with a 5-2 victory, handing Perkasie’s Eamon McAdam his first AHL loss (4-1-3) of the season. McAdam is 2-2 all-time against the Phantoms.
The six-point weekend moved the defending Atlantic Division champion Phantoms back up in the standings to a tie for third place with Springfield. Lehigh Valley (13-6-1) hosts the Cleveland Monsters 7:05 tonight, the Hershey Bears at 7:05 p.m. Friday, and then Cleveland again 7:05 p.m. Saturday.
According to the Phantoms, the weekend represented only the second time ever for the Phantoms (and first time for Lehigh Valley) to win three away games in three different cities in consecutive days.
The only other time the Phantoms won three away games in three different cities in three days was Feb 18-20, 2005.
The four-game homestand concludes Friday, Dec. 14, against Bellville.
Special nights
Every game this week features a special theme.
The kickoff game against the Monsters tonight features the annual lighting of the menorah as part of Light the Night. Fans will likely recall the first time the team had a rabbi perform the honor at PPL Center. The team lit the night with three goals in 21 seconds on Dec. 17, 2014, to set an AHL record for the least time to score three goals.
Petr Straka scored 15 seconds into the game against the Binghamton then-Senators, Jason Akeson scored 12 seconds later, and then Andrew Gordon (no relation to current Phantoms coach Scott Gordon) scored nine seconds later for a 3-0 lead just 36 seconds in en route to a 5-3 win.
Friday night against the Bears, it’s Pink In The Rink with special pink adornments to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer.
And then on Saturday night, it’s the annual Teddy Bear Toss, where fans throw stuffed animals onto the ice when the Phantoms score their first goal. Fans are asked to bring new or gently used stuffed animals. The stuffed animals will be donated to local charities.
Penalty shot payback
The Phantoms are in their fifth year playing at PPL Center, but have never made a successful penalty shot in Allentown. They are 0-for-7 in front of friendly fans.
On the road, however, it’s a different story. Lehigh Valley is a perfect 5-for-5 on the road, and picked up successful penalty shots in back-to-back games over the weekend.
Chris Conner recorded his second penalty shot as a Phantom, and the team’s first in more than two years. Conner was hooked down from behind on a breakaway with 14 seconds left in regulation against Belleville on Saturday. Conner, 34, joins Jon Matsumoto as the only players in franchise history to score on more than one penalty for the Phantoms.
It was also Conner’s second overall goal of the game, and ended the longest successful penalty-shot drought in franchise history, dating back to an Aube-Kubel penalty shot on Nov. 11, 2016, at Utica.
In Sunday’s win, Taylor Leier scored on his first AHL penalty shot, beating McAdam with 4:50 left in the game. That gave franchise its first time scoring penalty shots in back-to-back games, in the same month, and just the second time in franchise history in the same season, dating back to 2011-2012 when the team played in Adirondack.
Penalty kill on fire
The Phantoms have allowed just one goal in their last 56 penalty kills over the last 13 games. They held their Canadian counterparts scoreless over 17 opportunities over the weekend, extending the streak to a perfect 27-for-27, which followed up a streak of 28 straight successful penalty kills.
Lehigh Valley’s penalty kill is tied for No. 3 overall in the league with an 87.4 percent kill rate (12 power-play goals allowed in 95 chances), tied in each stat with the Milwaukee Admirals, but behind the toprated Providence Bruins (89 percent) and No. 2 Iowa Wild (87.5 percent).
The power play has also moved up in the overall AHL rankings after a sluggish start. Lehigh Valley is No. 5 in the league with a 23.2 percent scoring rate (22-for-95).
Leading edge
Reigning AHL MVP Phil Varone is once again proving his worth. Varone, who turned 28 on Tuesday, leads the AHL in scoring with 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points in 21 games. He led the Phantoms in scoring last season with 70 points, and assists with 47.
Linemate Greg Carey, also 28, is tied for third in league scoring with 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists). Carey led the Phantoms in goals scored each of the last two seasons with 31 goals last season and 28 the season before.
Carey’s 12 goals this season are fifth in the AHL while Varone’s 17 assists are tied for fourth.
Defenseman T.J. Brennan, who is third in Phantoms scoring, is also No. 3 among AHL defensemen in scoring with six goals and 15 assists for 21 points.
Transaction time
The Flyers returned Tyrell Goulbourne to the Phantoms on Nov. 28, and on Tuesday, the Phantoms returned Alex Krushelnyski to the Reading Royals of the ECHL.
Gary R. Blockus is a freelance writer.