GAME STORY: Binghamton - 4 at Lehigh Valley - 3 (SO) 5/16/21

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ALLENTOWN, Pa.  - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (18-7-6) finished their 2020-21 season in almost fitting fashion - playing a full 65 minutes without an 'official' winner before the Binghamton Devils (7-20-7) pulled off a shootout victory to conclude their tenure as an AHL franchise.

The Phantoms had a third period goal called back that would have sealed the deal on a what should have been a 4-2 win for Lehigh Valley, but the goal was deemed illegal because of goaltender interference. The replay showed a Devils' defender's stick taking out the legs of their own goalie seconds prior to Chris Bigras' shot from the point.

After the Devils tied the game at 3-3 with the extra attacker on the ice, the Phantoms scored in the 3-on-3 overtime (the puck clearly crossed the goal line) but play continued because the referee in position at the net didn't see the puck cross the goal line like the overhead replay showed on the in-house feed.

All in all, the game was meaningless in terms of the standings as the North Division - and all the divisions in the league except for the Pacific Division - decided against having any type of postseason play.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Lines/Pairings:

Ryan Fitzgerald - Cal O'Reilly - Zayde Wisdom Max Willman - Chris Mueller - Linus Sandin Garrett Wilson - Connor Bunnaman - David Kase Brennan Saulnier - Tanner MacMaster - Wade Allison

Derrick Pouliot - Chris Bigras Tyler Wotherspoon - Linus Hogberg Cam York - Egor Zamula

Felix Sandstrom - Zane McIntyre

Phantoms scratches: Eamon McAdam, Mason Millman, Maksim Sushko, Isaac Ratcliffe, Logan Day, Ralph Cuddemi, Wyatte Wylie, Pascal Laberge and Tyson Foerster

GAME RECAP

1st Period

Just as the socially-distanced fans at PPL Center were getting to their seats for the opening face-off, the Devils scored 32 seconds into the contest on a bit of a broken play behind the Phantoms' net.

What started as a routine dump in to begin a hockey game turned into a miscommunication and a turnover as Felix Sandstrom tried to rim the puck around the boards. As the puck was knocked down in the corner by A.J. Greer, Sandstrom got tangled up with one of his own defensemen behind the net and was late getting back to his cage.

Greer quickly fed a puck to Ryan Schmelzer in the right-wing circle, and although Sandstrom got a piece of the shot the loose puck lay in crease behind the Phantoms' netminder. Fabian Zetterlund stuffed it home for his seventh of the season

It wasn't a strong start for the Phantoms, who, if not for some sharp stops by Sandstrom in the opening minutes, would not be in a one-goal hockey game. The Devils out-shot Lehigh Valley 5-0 in the opening three minutes of the contest.

Lehigh Valley got a chance to tie the game on a power play opportunity after Jeremy Groleau boarded Chris Mueller at the 6:25 mark, and they did just that.

Cal O'Reilly started a passing play down low in the corner with Ryan Fitzgerald, and the passing opened things up in the slot for Fitzgerald to slip a pass to Linus Sandin for a quick shot past Devils' goalie Evan Cormier to tie the game at 1-1.

From there, the Phantoms seemed to get right back to playing their game - later taking a 2-1 lead with 8:24 left before the first intermission on some strong work from Max Willman.

Willman took a puck in transition and flew down the right-wing, trying to snipe Cormier but ringing one off the back glass. He later re-gained his own rebound and used his speed to get around the perimeter of the offensive zone before flinging one on net from the center point. The shot eluded Cormier and hit the back of the net, giving Willman his ninth tally on the season and sixth against the Devils this season.

There was a scrum directly following the puck hitting the back of the net, and things took a turn for the physical play in the second half of the period between two teams playing in their 13th game against each other this season.

2nd Period

Things settled down in the middle frame.

The Devils had a dangerous scoring chance early in the period that resulted in a Connor Bunnaman tripping minor, but were unable to cash in on the ensuing power play - managing just one shot on goal in the opening 14 and a half minutes of the period.

Lehigh Valley wasn't too overly ambitious offensively either, but they were able to extend their lead to 3-1 at the 7:52 mark on a play that started with a pinch at the left point by Tyler Wotherspoon. Wotherspoon nudged a puck down low to Cal O'Reilly, who spotted Fitzgerald cutting to the net - feeding him a tape-to-tape pass atop the crease for Fitzgerald to flip from forehand to backhand for his team-leading 12th goal of the season.

A couple questionable hits dished out by both teams in the second half of the period caused tempers to flare, the latest of which between Brennan Saulnier and Zetterlund saw the Devils' forward retaliate and take down the Phantoms' forward away from the play.

No penalty was called and moments later Mason Jobst flung a blooping stretch pass just over an out-reached Wotherspoon glove and Graeme Clark scored on the breakaway to bring the Devils within one with 31.1 seconds left before the second intermission.

After the period ended, there was plenty of jawing between opponents. O'Reilly also had a lengthy conversation with the referees at center ice after the period expired.

3rd Period

Similar to the start of the middle frame, cooler heads prevailed and the two teams stuck to hockey when the puck dropped for the start of the third.

Lehigh Valley had a pair of power play chances in the first half of the period, but were unable to extend their lead to 4-2.

They thought they took the 4-2 lead with just under six minutes left to play, after a Chris Bigras shot from the point hit the back of the net. The referee in position waved the goal off almost immediately, stating that goalie Evan Cormier was interfered with.

A subsequent overhead camera angle replay showed that it was actually a Devils defenseman's stick who tripped up the Devils' goalie just prior to Bigras' shot from the point. Some tough luck for the Phantoms.

It wasn't until the Devils pulled their goalie for the extra attacker in the final two-plus minutes that they were able to tie the game. It came off of a double deflection in front of Sandstrom with 1:24 left in regulation, and it forced overtime.

Overtime

For the second time on the evening, the Phantoms appeared to score the game-clinching goal - this time during the 3-on-3 OT.

Replays showed the puck crossed the goal line, but with things the way they are in the AHL during this pandemic season - coaches challenges weren't part of the equation this year. So, despite the in-house jumbotron replaying the play in question the referees aren't allowed to use it to make a call on the ice.

The 3-on-3 ended, and the Devils later completed the comeback in the shootout to get the 4-3 win in what was the final AHL game for the Binghamton Devils franchise. The New Jersey Devils already announced they're re-locating the franchise to Utica for the 2021-22 season, in the beginning of a 10-year affiliation agreement with the Utica Comets.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

0:32: BNG - Zetterlund (7) - Schmelzer, Greer 6:25: BNG - (PP) Groleau, minor (boarding) 7:14: LV - PPG Sandin (6) - Fitzgerald, O'Reilly 11:36: LV - Willman (9) - Hogberg, Wotherspoon 11:36: BNG - White, minor (roughing) 11:36: LV - MacMaster, minor (cross-checking) 16:21: LV - (PP) Saulnier, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

1:41: LV - (PP) Bunnaman, minor (tripping) 7:52: LV - Fitzgerald (12) - O'Reilly, Wotherspoon 19:28: BNG - Clarke (8) - Jobst, Walsh

3rd Period

3:24: BNG - (PP) Thompson, minor (tripping) 9:19: BNG - (PP) Zetterlund, minor (high-sticking) 18:36: BNG - Foote (7) - Clarke, Vukojevic

Overtime

No Scoring/Penalties

Shootout

LV

Fitzgerald - no goal York - no goal Sandin - no goal

BNG

Foote - no goal Clarke - GOAL

BOXSCORE

Binghamton   1 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 1= 4 Lehigh Valley  2 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 = 3

Shots

Binghamton   8 - 7 - 13 - 3 - 1 = 32 Lehigh Valley  12 - 10 - 10 - 3 - 0 = 35

Goalies

BNG: Evan Cormier (32 saves - 35 shots) LV: Felix Sandstrom (28 saves - 31 shots)

Power Play

BNG: 0-for-2 LV: 1-for-3

Penalty Kill

BNG: 2-for-3 LV: 2-for-2