Phantoms finishing strong
Set a franchise record by scoring 10 goals in win over Penguins
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms are hoping the finish they showcased this weekend carries them to the playoffs.
The Phantoms scored a franchise-record 10 goals - after falling behind 2-0 in the first 62 seconds - to upend the WilkesBarre/Scranton Penguins 10-6 in front of roaring fans at the PPL Center on Sunday afternoon.
Chris Conner and Carsen Twarynski scored two goals each, and Phil Myers chipped in with three assists to power the Phantoms. Alex Lyon (18-17-3-1) made 43 saves for the win. Team captain Colin McDonald scored the record-setting 10th goal into an empty net with 1:16 left in the game.
“It obviously wasn’t a pretty game,” Twarynski said. “It was nice finally to see that we could start loading the pucks into the net because we have that potential, we just really haven’t been able to find that this year.”
With their chances of making the AHL Playoffs ever decreasing, the Phantoms capped off a weekend sweep of the Penguins that puts them one point behind the Pens with three games remaining in their season.
After falling behind 1:02 into the game, the Phantoms rallied to score four opening-period goals on Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry to take command.
The 16 combined goals is the most scored in single game in franchise history, one more than the record of 15 set by the Philadelphia Phantoms in an 8-7 win over the Worcester IceCats.
“You never want to see 10-6, that’s probably not fun for the coaches,” said defenseman Mark Friedman, who returned to the Phantoms after playing one game with the parent club Philadelphia Flyers.
“We got the win and that’s the most important thing. If you’re a guy who puts up points, it’s probably fun … It was just fun to get the win and keep things rolling here.”
Playoff hopes less than slim: The Phantoms’ win clinched a playoff spot for the idle Hershey Bears, whom the Phantoms visit Tuesday night in another make-or-break game.
Lehigh Valley (36-30-4-3) is in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with 79 points, one behind the fifth-place Penguins, both with three games remaining. The Phantoms won the seas series with the Pens 6-4-2.
Providence – whom the Phantoms play on the road Friday – holds the fourth and final Atlantic Division playoff spot with 85 points.
The maximum number of points the Phantoms can accumulate if they win all three remaining games is 85, so the Phantoms would need to win all three games and Providence would have to lose all three of theirs for it to go to tie-breaker. The major tie-breaker in play is goal differential. Providence has a plus-22 goal differential. The Phantoms are minus-4.
The game: Anything that could go wrong for the Phantoms did in the opening 62 seconds.
It took the Penguins just 21 seconds to put the Phantoms on their heels.
Phantoms defenseman Phil Myers flubbed a pass in front of his own crease and the puck was scooped up by Jimmy Hayes for a quick shot from the right side. Lyon leaped out to make the save but the rebound went toward center where an unchecked Jake Lucchini alertly tapped it into the open net.
Lyon made a blocker save on Ryan Haggerty’s shot from the right circle on the next rush up ice for the Pens, and the fat rebound went to the slot where Sam Miletic drove home his 11th goal of the season.
The Phantoms proved they were not going to let this one get away on them when Greg Carey rifled home on his 28th goal of the season as the Phantoms trailed 2-1 at 5:01 of the first.
Just 34 seconds later, Conner notched his 15th goal of the season to even things up. He fired from the right boards and the puck went in off a Penguins defender who was busy checking Corban Knight, who also made his turn to the Phantoms after the Flyers season ended on Saturday.
Conner then put the Phantoms on top at 8:42 with his second straight goal, this one on a quick steal by Phil Myers.
John Muse, who went 11-2-1 for Lehigh Valley last season, replaced Jarry at the start of the second period for the Penguins.
Knight solved Muse by tipping home a wicked blue line blast from Myers 4:20 into the period.
Nic Aube-Kubel buried his 16th goal of the season on a breakaway top shelf with 4:44 left in the second for a gaping 7-3 lead.
Prospect watch: Twarynski scored a pair of goals, including a penalty shot with 2:29 left in the game. He said it was his first penalty shot since before Juniors.
Twarynski’s first goal was subject to a delay of more than seven minutes for video review.
He put the Phantoms lead back to three on a power play goal with 8:07 left in the second period for his eighth goal of the season.
The play went under a lengthy video review that took more than seven minutes despite a clear view of the puck rebounding out of the bar in back of the net. According to off-ice officials, the video replay referee Reid Anderson was looking at kept “skipping” past the point of the puck hitting the back of the net and back out.
Phil Myers, who returned from almost two months with the Flyers to aid in Saturday night’s win over the Penguins, picked up three assists.
Rookie Connor Bunnaman made it 4-2 on a power play goal with 1:06 left in the first period. The rookie forward scored his 18th goal of the season by lifting a shot from between the hashes to beat a squared up Jarry.
Friedman, back after playing one game with the Flyers, got into several roughing scrums and finally dropped the gloves for a fight against Adam Johnson with 6:06 left in regulation. Friedman ended the fight with a nifty body slam.
Rookie David Kase scored his seventh of the season to give the Phantoms at 8-3 lead at the start of the third period.
Scratch offs: Healthy scratches for the Phantoms included defensemen Zach Palmquist and Rob Michel, along with forwards Matthew Strome and Jiri Lehtera. Injury scratches for the Phantoms included defenseman David Schlemko, and forwards Mikhail Vorobyev, Mike Vecchione and German Rubtsov.