The Lehigh Valley Phantoms probably don’t even remember how their week started, and why should they? After losing to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday, the Phantoms and Hershey Bears dueled in the 2018 AHL Outdoor Classic at Hersheypark Stadium, and the Phantoms won convincingly, 5-2.
Alex Lyon and Chris Conner led the Phantoms on Saturday, with Lyon taking home the first star of the game award after saving 41 shots. Conner scored two goals to lead the Phantoms offensively.
Wednesday, Jan. 17th, 2018 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (4-1 loss)
The Phantoms traveled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to take on the red-hot Penguins, and the Penguins won their 8th straight game, 4-1.
It all started off well for the Phantoms as Philippe Myers scored the first goal of the game late in the first period on the power play. Phil Varone thought about heading towards the net by circled around the corner and passed the puck back up to Myers at the point, and a simple one-timer went in.
That was the last good thing that happened for the Phantoms, as the Penguins went onto score four consecutive goals. Gage Quinney, Christian Thomas, and Teddy Blueger all scored within 11 minutes of each other in the second period, and Zach Aston-Reese added an empty net goal to seal the deal with five minutes left in the third. It was the first time the Phantoms lost to the Penguins since November 22.
Dustin Tokarski saved 24 of 27 shots. Myers led the team in shots with four.
Saturday, Jan. 20th, 2018 at Hershey Bears – Outdoor Classic (5-2 win)
This was the game that the Phantoms had marked on their calendar since it was announced during the Flyers-Penguins Stadium Series game last year, and they cashed on their excitement with a 5-2 win over their rivals from Hershey.
The Phantoms scored the first two goals of the game, including one three minutes into the game by Colin McDonald. Oskar Lindblom took a shot that hit Hershey defenseman Tyler Lewington’s skate and caromed right to McDonald’s stick for the easy goal.
Five minutes later, Alex Krushelnyski doubled the early lead. His goal was an odd one. Krushelnyski’s shot caught Pheonix Copley’s (yes, that is actually how you spell his first name) shoulder and skyrocketed into the air, only for the puck to fall down behind Copley and go in.
The Phantoms took their 2-0 lead into the locker room after one period of play.
The Bears struck back in the second period, courtesy of the first Australian to play in the NHL, Nathan Walker. The Bears were able to cycle the puck, and Travis Boyd took a low snap shot from the left circle. Alex Lyon made the save, but Walker was able to bang home the rebound to put the Bears within one. Samuel Morin and Walker were battling in the crease, but Walker eluded Morin and Morin couldn’t recover in time to get a good positioning on Walker.
The second period was about to end with the Bears still trailing by only one goal, but John Albert gave the puck away in his own zone to Chris Conner, and Conner made no mistake of his opportunity as he scored to put the Phantoms up, 3-1. It was the result of strong forecheking by Mike Vecchione that led to the mistake from the Bears, and it turned out to be the biggest goal of the game.
The Bears pulled Copley with over three minutes left in the game, and the extra man paid off. Boyd, in the low-right circle, received a pass from Walker. No one was covering Boyd, and even though Lyon slid far out to try and cut down Boyd’s angle, it didn’t matter, as the Bears made it 3-2.
The Bears were threatening, but then T.J. Brennan scored on the empty net with a 190-foot shot off a faceoff win. Conner scored his second goal of the game on another empty-netter, and the Phantoms won, 5-2.
Alex Lyon saved 41 of 43 shots. Chris Conner led the team with two points, both on goals.
Stars of the week
Alex Lyon did a tremendous job making sure the Phantoms had a chance to win at Hersheypark Stadium on Saturday night, as he faced 43 shots and saved 41. The Bears had 16 shots in the third period alone, and albeit for Boyd’s goal – which Lyon didn’t have a chance at, anyway – Lyon came up big when it mattered most, and was awarded with the first star of the game.
Playing outside takes a lot of adjusting, but perhaps goaltenders have to change the most. Lyon was impressed with the lighting, saying that, “The lights didn’t really play too much of a factor. I noticed it more, just the stands were very dark and obviously you got the night sky which made it tough. But I got adjusted pretty quickly which I was happy about and obviously we got the two points.”
Chris Conner also deserves a mention for his two goals against Hershey. The Phantoms would have had to play on their heels in the third period if it wasn’t for his late second period goal, and it made all the difference.
Speaking about adjusting, Conner was happy with how the ice turned out and said, “It’s a little weird when you don’t have a ceiling. The depth perception is messed up. It was awesome. They did a really good job with it. I expected it was going to be worse. It was pretty good and fast.”
Obviously, he adjusted pretty quickly. Conner was awarded the second star of the game.
Rinkside Notes
Perhaps one of the bigger notes coming out of the weekend was that Samuel Morinseems to have re-agitated his injury that he has been dealing with all season. He exited the Outdoor Classic with seven minutes left in regulation and slammed his stick to the ground. No word has come from the Phantoms on his status yet.
On Monday, Mark Alt was recalled by the Flyers and Travis Sanheim was reassigned to the Phantoms. Sanheim, as all Flyers fans already know (and have yelled) about, hasn’t been in the Flyers’ lineup lately. He’ll get some much-needed playing time in Lehigh Valley. Mark Alt will serve as the 7th defenseman for the Flyers.
Upcoming Games
- Wednesday, 1/24 vs. Providence Bruins
- Friday, 1/26 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Saturday, 1/27 vs. Utica Comets
Originally published on SonsOfPenn.com