Phantoms Lineup

Ryan Fitzgerald – Cal O’Reilly – Zayde Wisdom

Maksim Sushko – Chris Mueller – Linus Sandin

Garrett Wilson – David Kase – Pascal Laberge

Matthew Strome – Max Willman – Ralph Cuddemi

Egor Zamula – Tyler Wotherspoon

Chris Bigras – Wyatte Wylie

Linus Hogberg – Logan Day

Zane McIntyre – Eamon McAdam

Tanner MacMaster, Brennan Saulnier, Mason Millman

Tyson Foerster (fractured shin bone), Tanner Laczynski (groin)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

After an exciting overtime win to kick off the Phantoms’ 25th franchise season on Saturday, the Flyers farm team was back at it on Wednesday when they hit the road to take on the Binghamton Devils in their new home for the season in Newark, NJ.

In the days since the Phantoms last played, Samuel Morin, Felix Sandstrom, and Derrick Pouliot were called up to the Philadelphia taxi squad. In addition, as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Tyson Foerster will be out of action for about a month with an injury to his shin bone, and Tanner Laczynski will also be sidelined with a groin injury for a week or two. That meant Pascal Laberge, Logan Day, Ralph Cuddemi, and Matthew Strome to draw in for the season debuts tonight. 

First Period

The opening period was all Phantoms. They came out of the gate skating and forechecking, controlling the play, getting shots on Evan Cormier, and keeping the Devils from registering a shot on goal for quite a while in the frame.

Within the first minute of action, Garrett Wilson and Ben Thomson tossed the gloves and laid some big hits on each other, but the fight fizzled out pretty quickly and the game continued.

On the first penalty of the game, taken by Day, Max Willman worked some magic to dish the puck back to David Kase on a shorthanded odd-man rush. Kase quickly fired a wrister past Cormier to put the Phantoms on the board.

Second Period

Two names would continue to be a big factor in this game: Kase and Lehigh Valley goaltender Zane McIntyre. Kase was buzzing again in the second frame, always seeming to be on the puck, and had a few really good scoring opportunities that Cormier denied.

For his part, McIntyre played very well again tonight, as he did on Saturday. He made quite a few keys saves, particularly on the penalty kill, and stopped the Devils at every opportunity they had at the net.

The second period was played much more tightly than the first, with neither team getting the puck over the goal line. But the penalties were starting to pile up on both sides of the ice, causing this to become a special teams extravaganza.

Third Period

Binghamton seemed to really find another gear in the third period, and pressured the Phantoms heavily in their own zone. After a few minutes of buzzing around the net, Thomson got in close to the crease, deked around McIntyre, and scored the equalizer.

Both teams took another two penalties each in this period, and the problem for Lehigh Valley was not capitalizing on the man advantage opportunities, particularly with Binghamton starting to build momentum. McIntyre stood on his head, though, and helped the Phantoms get a point and head to overtime for the second consecutive game.

But it didn’t take long for the wheels to fall off in the extra minutes. The Devils won a clean faceoff and Brett Seney fired a quick shot into the Lehigh Valley net just 24 seconds into the three-on-three overtime.

What’s Next?

It should be noted that Zayde Wisdom had another strong showing on the top line, getting a handful of sharp-looking shots off that Cormier managed to stop. Also, Egor Zamula performed particularly well on the penalty kill. It’s a good sign to see the young guys already stepping up.

The Phantoms head back to Lehigh Valley for a few days of practice before they hit the road again for a Valentine’s Day matchup in Hershey on Sunday.

Plus / Minus

▲  David Kase, Zane McIntyre, Egor Zamula

▼  Logan Day