GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 1 at Binghamton - 2 (OT) 2/10/21

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NEWARK, NJ - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (1-0-1) were back in action Wednesday night in Newark, NJ at the Binghamton Devils' (2-0-0) temporary home for the 2020-21 season - the RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Goaltender Felix Sandstrom, defenseman Derrick Pouliot and forward Sam Morin were reassigned to the Flyers' taxi squad on February 6 following last Saturday's regular season opener according to the AHL's transactions page.

Forwards Tyson Foerster (shin fracture, expected to miss 3-4 weeks) and Tanner Laczynski (groin, expected to miss 1-2 weeks) were both injured in Saturday's season opener in Hershey.

That meant a host of changes for Lehigh Valley, with defenseman Logan Day and forwards Matt Strome, Pascal Laberge and Ralph Cuddemi all entering the Phantoms' lineup Wednesday in Newark.

Goaltender Eamon McAdam backed up starter Zane McIntyre.

Ryan Fitzgerald - Cal O'Reilly - Zayde Wisdom Maksim Sushko - Chris Mueller - Linus Sandin Garrett Wilson - David Kase - Pascal Laberge Matt Strome - Max Willman - Ralph Cuddemi

Egor Zamula - Tyler Wotherspoon Chris Bigras - Wyatte Wylie Linus Hogberg - Logan Day

Zane McIntyre - Eamon McAdam

Phantoms Scratches:  Tanner MaMaster, Mason Millman, Tanner Laczynski (injured), Brennan Saulnier & Tyson Foerster (injured)

Binghamton Devils Roster Notes

Brett Seney - Ben Street - Nolan Foote Brandon Gignac - Travis St. Denis - Fabian Zetterlund Ben Thomson - Cam Darcy - Marian Studenic Danick Martel - Ryan Schmelzer - Tyler Irvine

Colton White - Jeremy Groleau Nikita Okhotiuk - Kevin Bahl Michael Vukojevic - Reilly Walsh

Evan Cormier - Gillies Senn

GAME RECAP

1st Period

It was about a good first 20 minutes as you could ask for from a Phantoms' standpoint in the opening period, minus maybe a few more goals.

On the opening shift, Phantoms forward Garrett Wilson and Devils forward Ben Thomson dropped the gloves in a spirited bout that saw Wilson land several punches in on Thomson before the linesmen jumped in to end the skirmish.

I don't know if that fight set the tone, but it certainly got Lehigh Valley into the game. They dominated the opening period.

Lehigh Valley didn't allow a shot against in the opening 13 and a half minutes, and Binghamton's first shot came on their lone power play chance of the period.

The Phantoms were controlling play, getting several quality chances - including an early Zayde Wisdom shot from the slot. Devils goalie Evan Cormier made some tough saves to keep the game from getting out of hand.

It wasn't until the Phantoms were shorthanded that they ended up getting the game's opening goal. And it came from strong work by all four of the penalty killers on the ice.

Tyler Wotherspoon blocked a shot, and tied up a Devils forward in the corner - getting a puck nudged out to a free Max Willman. Willman turned on the jets, blazing down the right wing - and Egor Zamula joined the rush on the left to create a 2-on-1.

Willman spotted David Kase trailing the play, and fed a perfect pass under a defender's stick back to the middle for Kase who wristed one past Cormier for his first tally of the season.

Kase's shorthanded tally came with 6:14 left before the first intermission, and while the Phantoms were off to a strong start it was still just a 1-0 lead heading into the middle frame.

2nd Period

The Devils responded with a much better showing in the middle frame, but they were still out-shot 14-12 by Lehigh Valley in the period and remained behind 1-0 heading to the third period.

The Phantoms had several chances to extend the lead, but Cormier was up to the task in stopping all 14 shots he faced in the period - including a left pad save on a forehand to backhand breakaway move from Kase and glove stop on Willman on a play where Lehigh Valley caught the Devils on a line change.

There were more power play opportunities for both teams, but both teams were 0-for-2 on the man advantage heading to the third with the lone goal of the contest actually coming shorthanded.

3rd Period

Binghamton, trailing 1-0 to begin the period, came out with purpose - recording the first three shots of the period and tied things at 1-1 just 4:38 into the final frame after Michael Vukojevic got a pass behind the Phantoms' defense to Ben Thomson.

Still, the Phantoms had their chances to regain the lead - particularly on three power play chances in the final 10:23 of the contest.

They were unable to do thanks to some more timely saves from Cormier, and allowed Binghamton to force OT.

Overtime

McIntyre opened the OT with a tremendous save on Ryan Schmelzer to keep the game going, but on the ensuing offensive zone face-off, Devils captain Ben Street won a loose puck battle 1-on-2 in the corner and quickly fed it in front to an open Brett Seney who beat McIntyre with a quick shot just 24 seconds into the 3-on-3 OT.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

0:56: LV - Wilson, major (fighting) 0:56: BNG - Thomson, major (fighting) 12:52: LV - (PP) Day, minor (interference) 13:46: LV - SHG Kase (1) - Willman, Wotherspoon

2nd Period

8:39: BNG - (PP) Irvine, minor (hooking) 12:28: LV - (PP) Wylie, minor (holding the stick) 14:41: BNG - (PP) Studenic, minor (hooking)

3rd Period

4:38: BNG - Thomson (1) - Vukojevic 6:13: LV - (PP) Strome, minor (tripping) 9:37: BNG - (PP) Walsh, minor (tripping) 12:24: BNG - (PP) Okhotiuk, minor (hooking) 16:43: BNG - (PP) Studenic, minor (slashing)

Overtime

0:24: BNG - Seney (1) - Street

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Lehigh Valley   7 - 14 - 5 - 0 = 26 Binghamton  3 - 12 - 7 - 2 = 24

Goalies

LV: Zane McIntyre (22 saves - 24 shots) BNG: Evan Cormier (25 saves - 26 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-4 BNG: 0-for-4

Penalty Kill

LV: 4-for-4 BNG: 4-for-4