The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are keeping up their consistent play this season, holding onto their second place position in the eastern conference standings of the AHL. They won two out of three games last week, which seems to be a very common trend this season, and one that we will gladly accept, as fans. They did set a franchise record in their thrilling win back on Wednesday, as well.
Last week was a completely different story for the Reading Royals, unfortunately. The team was handed three regulation losses last week, after winning six games in a row just prior to that. The Royals all the sudden find their position in the standings to be in jeopardy, as some of their immediate competition has been playing very well, as of late. Although losing three games in a row is not acceptable, the Royals have a legitimate excuse, as they were faced with losing a couple of their key forwards to AHL recall.
Let’s take a look at last week’s action:
LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS (32-14-2)
Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Score: Senators 0 | Phantoms 5
ALLENTOWN, PA: The Phantoms kicked off their week last Wednesday with a 5-0 demolishing of the Binghamton Senators in front of the home crowd at the PPL Center. The Phantoms set a franchise record in this one, scoring their first two goals just six seconds apart late in the first period.
Mark Zengerle scored the first goal, and finished with an assist as well, and Danick Martel buried the second goal after receiving the puck from the center ice faceoff, and racing to the net, depositing a backhander that beat Binghamton’s goalie, rather easily.
Sam Morin (1 G, 1 A), Robert Hagg (1 G, 1 A), and Corban Knight (2 A) finished with multi-point nights for the Phantoms, and Scott Laughton was the other goal scorer.
The Phantoms out-shot the Senators by a whopping 47-27 margin, and Alex Lyon posted another shutout; his third of the season.
Game highlights courtesy of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms:
Date: Friday, February 10, 2017
Score: IceCaps 2 | Phantoms 4
ALLENTOWN, PA: The Phantoms returned to action on Friday night, hosting the St. John’s IceCaps for the first of two games in as many nights between the teams, and the Phantoms pulled off a nice 4-2 win, overcoming one-goal deficits two different times before finally running away with the game.
The Phantoms out-played the IceCaps pretty well, out-shooting them 37-21, and also converting one of three power play chances. Anthony Stolarz wasn’t too busy in net, but he did stop 19 of the 21 shots he faced.
Chris Conner (2 G), Mark Alt (2A), and Cole Bardreau (1 G, 1 A) led the way for the Phantoms in this one, and Travis Sanheim scored the other goal for the team, which was the first Phantoms goal of the game.
Game highlights courtesy of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms:
Date: Saturday, February 11, 2017
Score: IceCaps 4 | Phantoms 3
ALLENTOWN, PA: The Phantoms ended their week on a tough note on Saturday, dropping a 4-3 contest in the second of two games in two nights against the IceCaps.
Although the Phantoms out-shot the IceCaps by a 28-21 margin, Lyon did not have a stellar night in net, which ended up making a difference, as he stopped just 17 of the 21 shots he faced.
Zengerle posted his second multi-point night of the week, scoring a goal and adding an assist again, and Colin McDonald (1 G, 1 A) and Will O’Neill (2A) chipped in with multi-point nights as well. The Phantoms also saw a goal from Hagg, which opened up the scoring, and briefly gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead late in the first period, before the IceCaps converted three goals in the second to take control of the game from there.
Game highlights courtesy of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms:
Leading Scorers
Jordan Weal (15 G, 32 A for 47 points in 43 games)
Chris Conner (15 G, 24 A for 39 points in 48 games)
T.J. Brennan (13 G, 25 A for 38 points in 48 games)
The Phantoms have a very busy week ahead, playing four games with week. They will hit the road for a Valentine’s night date with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tomorrow, looking to avenge the 7-2 loss they suffered the last time the teams played, and then they will return home to host the Hartford Wolf Pack for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively. They will end their week with a 3:00 PM matinee against the Utica Comets in Utica on Sunday.
Due to some lineup shuffling, and some injuries, beginning with the injury to Travis Konecny for the Flyers, and the subsequent recall of Jordan Weal to the NHL, the Phantoms received Chris McCarthy and Steven Swavely from the Royals. Neither player scored a point in their games played, but they are both good enough players to play in the AHL, and are solid depth help for the time being.
READING ROYALS (28-17-3)
Date: Thursday, February 9, 2017
Score: Stingrays 5 | Royals 4
READING, PA: The Royals kicked off their week last week with a well-fought, but disappointing 5-4 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays back on Thursday.
The teams put 30 shots on goal apiece, and the game ultimately came down to which team had better chances than the other, and in this case, it was the Stingrays.
The Stingrays and Royals traded the first four goals of the game, but the Royals quickly took the 3-2 lead just 10 seconds after tying it at 2, however, the Stingrays would score three out of the next four combined goals to take the win.
Justin Crandall led the way for the Royals with a goal and an assist, and goals were also scored by Matt Wilkins, Tyrell Goulbourne, and Mike Pereira for the Royals.
Neither team converted on the power play in this one.
Game highlights courtesy of the Reading Royals:
Date: Saturday, February 11, 2017
Score: Admirals 2 | Royals 1
READING, PA: The Royals played the first of two weekend games against the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday, and ended up on the losing side of a close 2-1 game, which featured great goaltending on both sides.
Mark Dekanich stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced in net, but the Royals ran into a hot goaltender, as they were held scoreless until an Olivier Labelle power play goal midway through the third period. Despite putting 13 shots on goal in the stanza, the Royals were unable to tie the game late.
Game highlights courtesy of the Reading Royals:
Date: Sunday, February 12, 2017
Score: Admirals 5 | Royals 3
READING, PA: The Royals and the Admirals faced off again on Sunday night, and this game featured a lot more in the goal scoring department, but the Royals lost a tough 5-3 game for their third straight loss.
Johnny McInnis scored two goals for the Royals, including the first goal of the game, but the Admirals went on a goal scoring frenzy the rest of the way.
McInnis scored another goal in the third period to cut the Admirals’ lead at that time to 3-2, and then Goulbourne scored a very late goal with about 30 seconds remaining in the game to make it a 5-3 game, but the Royals just simply ran out of time to attempt to stage a comeback.
Goulbourne also added an assist to join McInnis as the only other Royal with a multi-point game.
Martin Ouellette stopped just 25 of the 29 shots he faced in net, and the Royals themselves were able to put 40 shots on net the other way, but only converted three goals.
Game highlights courtesy of the Reading Royals:
Leading Scorers
Chris McCarthy (19 G, 28 A for 47 points in 43 games)
Justin Crandall (16 G, 24 A for 40 points in 42 games)
Robbie Czarnik (17 G, 22 A for 39 points in 42 games)
Unfortunately for the Royals, they really cannot afford to continue dropping games, as the race for the playoffs within their division has become a tight race again. The Royals did face some adversity, as a couple of their key players were with the Phantoms over the weekend, as mentioned before, but they still have a deep enough team to play better hockey, and put up some points.
The Royals did receive some help, as Mike Marcou was activated from IR, as well Pereira, and the Royals were also loaned defenseman Reece Willcox for their Sunday game, but unfortunately, the reinforcements did not help them win last week. Much like the Phantoms, the Royals have a busy week ahead that includes four games, a Valentine’s Night game and then a three-in-three weekend series.
They will face off against the Adirondack Thunder in Glens Falls tomorrow night for Valentine’s Night, and then they will make a stop to face the Elmira Jackals in Elmira on Friday night on their way back to Reading, before hosting the aforementioned Jackals for a pair of home games at Santander Arena on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
This is a good chance for the Royals to get back in the win column this week.
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