GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 5 at Binghamton - 4 (OT) 2/24/21

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NEWARK, NJ - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-0-1) jumped out to an early lead, but were later forced to come from behind on their way to another overtime victory Wednesday night against the Binghamton Devils (2-2-2) to remain one of only three teams still unbeaten on the season.

Max Willman continues to impress, and tonight might've been his best game yet as he tallied two more goals - including the OT winner - to make it four points (3G-1A) in his last four games. Pascal Laberge, Ryan Fitzgerald and Linus Sandin (1st career AHL goal) also scored in the win for the Phantoms, while Derrick Pouliot added two assists.

Tanner Laczynski (secondary assist on Willman's 1st period goal) and Egor Zamula (secondary assist on Fitzgerald's goal) each recorded their first points as pros.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Lines/Pairings:

Ryan Fitzgerald - Cal O'Reilly - Zayde Wisdom Max Willman - Chris Mueller - Linus Sandin Garrett Wilson - Tanner Laczynski - David Kase Brennan Saulnier - Tanner MacMaster - Pascal Laberge

Tyler Wotherspoon - Wyatte Wylie Egor Zamula - Linus Hogberg Derrick Pouliot - Logan Day

Zane McIntyre - Felix Sandstrom

Scratches: Eamon McAdam, Mason Millman, Matthew Strome, Ralph Cuddemi, Chris Bigras (injured) & Tyson Foerster (injured)

Binghamton Devils Roster Notes

Lines/Pairings:

Nolan Foote - Ben Street - Nick Merkley Brett Seney - Jesper Boqvist - Marian Studenic Danick Martel - Nate Schnarr - Graeme Clark Ben Thomson - Cam Darcy - Fabian Zetterlund

Nikita Okhotiuk - Josh Jacobs Colton White - Reilly Walsh Kevin Bahl - David Quenneville

Evan Cormier - Gilles Senn

Scratches: Jeremy Brodeur, Michael Vukojevic, Jeremy Groleau, Tyler Irvine, Travis St Denis, Miles Koules, and Ryan Schmelzer

GAME RECAP

1st Period

The Phantoms got off to a great start Wednesday night in Newark, taking an early 1-0 lead after a heads up play behind the net by Brennan Saulnier.

Saulnier saw an opening and brought the puck out from behind and tried to stuff one in at the side of the net. Devils' goalie Evan Cormier made the initial stop, but Pascal Laberge crashed the net and poked the rebound home just 2:21 in to get the Phantoms' offense going.

Binghamton tied things up at 1-1 a few minutes later when Ben Street got a puck back to Josh Jacobs at the right point. Jacobs flung one toward the net and Fabian Zetterlund re-directed it past Phantoms' goalie Zane McIntyre at the 6:16 mark of the period.

From there, the Phantoms dominated play - tallying two goals less than a minute apart in the middle portion of the period to jump out to a 3-1 lead.

First, Max Willman dug a loose puck out of the corner after a cycle play down low between Garrett Wilson and Tanner Laczynski. Willman made a nifty deke to elude a Devils defender's poke check before taking it to the right-wing face-off dot and sniping Cormier to the far side top shelf.

On the next shift, a pretty passing display at the top of the offensive zone between Egor Zamula and Linus Hogberg, and then Hogberg to Ryan Fitzgerald, opened things up for Hogberg to take a shot from the right point that was masterfully deflected by Fitzgerald past Cormier to give the Phantoms a commanding lead heading into the middle frame.

2nd Period

As good as the Phantoms were in the first period, all it took was a sluggish start to the middle frame for their 3-1 lead to disappear.

With some carry-over power play time to start the period, the Devils scored the first power play goal allowed by Lehigh Valley this season 1:08 into the stanza when Ryan Merkley tallied his first of the season - cutting the Phantoms' lead to 3-2.

Then, the Phantoms' power play woes continued. Not only did they fail to re-gain momemtum on a power play chance early in the period, they gave up a 2-on-0 that saw McIntyre make a ridiculous sprawling save to stop the initial chance before ex-Phantoms forward Danick Martel poked home the rebound. The shorthanded goal tied the game at 3-3 just 4:44 into the period.

Just like that, the Phantoms' dominant start was washed away.

Binghamton carried the momentum from those two goals into the later stages of the period, where Lehigh Valley was able to start to get back on track - tallying the final four shots of the period before heading into the second intermission in a 3-3 deadlock.

3rd Period

The Devils took their first lead of the night early in the third period, just moments after a questionable interference call on Tanner MacMaster had expired. Though officially an even strength goal by Nate Schnarr, the tally came 15 seconds after the Phantoms had killed off the minor penalty to MacMaster. A bad break.

Still, the Phantoms didn't fold up like a cheap tent. They went back to work, and after an extended shift in the offensive zone were able to tie the game back up at 4-4.

Logan Day and Derrick Pouliot connected tape-to-tape just inside the offensive zone blue line before Pouliot sent one to the net. Cormier made the initial stop, but Linus Sandin was in perfect position to slam home the rebound - his first career AHL goal - to even up the score just prior to the midway mark of the period.

For the fourth time in the team's opening five games, 60 minutes wasn't enough to decide a winner for the Phantoms.

Overtime

Both teams had some odd-man rushes in the 3-on-3, and it wasn't until the final minute of the five-minute OT period that the game was clinched.

Max Willman was the recipient of a pass from David Kase after Pouliot broke up a Devils attempt to get the puck to the neutral zone, and Willman beat Cormier five-hole on a mini break in from the left wing wall for his second of the game to seal the deal on a 5-4 OT win for the Phantoms.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

2:21: LV - Laberge (1) - Saulnier 3:04: BNG - (PP) Clark, minor (slashing) 6:16: BNG - Zetterlund (1) - Jacobs, Street 8:46: BNG - (PP) Martel, minor (tripping) 11:42: LV - Willman (2) - Laczynski, Wilson 12:39: LV - Fitzgerald (2) - Hogberg, Zamula 18:12: LV - MacMaster, minor (roughing) 18:12: BNG - Seney, minor (roughing) 19:10: LV - (PP) Day, minor (hooking)

2nd Period

1:08: BNG - PPG Merkley (1) - Walsh 3:24: BNG - (PP) Quenneville, minor (cross-checking) 4:44: BNG SHG Martel (2) - Studenic, Street 9:37: LV - (PP) Wylie, minor (interference)

3rd Period

2:36: LV - (PP) MacMaster, minor (interference) 4:51: BNG - Schnarr (1) - Darcy 5:45: BNG - (PP) White, minor (kneeing) 9:56: LV - Sandin (1) - Pouliot, Day

Overtime

4:18: LV - Willman (3) - Kase, Pouliot

BOXSCORE

Lehigh Valley   3 - 0 - 1 - 1 = 5 Binghamton  1 - 2 - 1 - 0= 4

Shots

Lehigh Valley   8 - 12 - 9 - 3 = 32 Binghamton  8 - 15 - 6 - 1 = 30

Goalies

LV: Zane McIntyre (26 saves - 30 shots) BNG: Evan Cormier (27 saves - 32 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-4 BNG: 1-for-3

Penalty Kill

LV: 2-for-3 BNG: 4-for-4