Game 60 Preview: Lehigh Valley at Binghamton

The Phantoms travel to Binghamton for their final meeting this season against the BSens. Photo: Nina Weiss/The Home News.

I'll have full coverage of tonight's Phantoms game against the Binghamton Senators. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. ET, but make sure you're following me on Twitter -> @TonyAndrock and now on Facebook (be sure to like the Facebook page!) for all the latest updates and information this evening. Stay tuned here online after the game for a recap of the action.

You can help keep me on the road covering the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by making a donation via GoFundMe or PayPal.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-27-2-3) finish the weekend with a must win game in Binghamton tonight against a Senators team that has gone through a major roster overhaul in the weeks leading up to Monday's trade deadline.

Eight out of the 20 players that dressed for the BSens in last meeting between these two teams back on February 10th less than a month ago are not on the roster for this meeting. After trades with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres organizations, there are plenty of new faces on the Ottawa Senators' minor league affiliate's roster and one familiar face in former Phantoms forward Jason Akeson - acquired by Ottawa in a seven player minor league trade leading up to the trade deadline.

In fact, Binghamton's top four leaders in scoring weren't on the team before the month of February in forwards Phil Varone, Akeson, Casey Bailey and Michael Keranen.

Regardless, the Phantoms need to win tonight just to remain in the conversation in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Entering tonight's game, Lehigh Valley trails Bridgeport by seven points for 5th place in the Atlantic Division - currently the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

News, notes, stats, numbers and a whole bunch more after the jump.

By The Numbers

LV: 59 games played, 27-27-2-3 = 59 points
7th Place - Atlantic Division
Last 10 Games: 4-4-0-2
Streak: 0-1-0-0

BNG: 56 games played, 21-31-3-1 = 46 points
7th Place - North Division
Last 10 Games: 4-5-0-2
Streak: 0-3-0-1

Special Teams

Power Play

LV: 17.4% - 14th in AHL
BNG: 18.4% - 10th in AHL

Penalty Kill

LV: 82.7% - 15th in AHL
BNG: 80.8% - 22nd in AHL

Leading Scorers (Active)

LV:  Chris Conner (42GP, 12G-29A), Taylor Leier (54GP,18G-21A), Petr Straka (49GP, 17G-16A), Danick Martel (51GP, 20G-11A)

BNG: Phil Varone (46GP, 14G-21A), Jason Akeson (54GP, 8G-24A), Casey Bailey (48GP, 6G-18A), Michael Keranen (46GP, 8G-15A)

Starting Goaltenders

LV: Anthony Stolarz (19-13-5, 2.47 GAA, .919 SV%, 0 SO)
BNG: Matt O'Connor (4-16-2, 3.62 GAA, .877 SV%, 0 SO)

Season Series

This is the eighth and final scheduled meeting between Lehigh Valley and Binghamton this season. The Phantoms are 3-3-0-1 against the BSens this season, though the most recent meetings were lopsided Phantoms wins by scores of 6-3 and 7-2.

Head to Head Scoring Leaders

LV: Colin McDonald (4GP, 5G-3A), Taylor Leier (7GP, 3G-3A), Chris Conner (4GP, 1G-5A)

BNG: David Dziurzynski (4GP, 1G-2A), Kyle Flanagan (5GP, 0G-2A), Max McCormick (3GP, 1G-1A)

Goalies Head to Head Stats

LV: Anthony Stolarz (4GP, 2-1-1, 2.21 GAA, .929 SV%, 0 SO)
       Martin Ouellette - No Stats

BNG: Matt O'Connor (3GP, 1-1-0, 2.69 GAA, .913 SV%, 0 SO)

           Scott Greenham (1GP, 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .967 SV%, 0 SO)

Season Series Schedule

Sun 11/8, Binghamton - 4 at Lehigh Valley -1
Wed 11/11, Lehigh Valley - 6 at Binghamton - 3
Sat 12/19, Lehigh Valley - 1 at Binghamton - 2
Tue 12/29, Lehigh Valley - 1 at Binghamton - 2 (SO)
Sun 1/10, Binghamton - 2 at Lehigh Valley - 1
Wed 1/27, Binghamton - 3 at Lehigh Valley - 6
Wed 2/10, Binghamton -2 at Lehigh Valley - 7
Sat 3/5, Lehigh Valley at Binghamton - 7:05 p.m. ET

Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Roster Notes


Anthony Stolarz is expected to make his 10th straight start tonight for Lehigh Valley.

Jason LaBarbera had previously been ruled out of this weekend's games. His hand injury suffered from taking a puck on the bench last weekend is fine, but it's the nagging/lingering injury first reported here a week or so ago that is keeping him out of the lineup. Martin Ouellette will serve as the backup tonight.

Defenseman Mark Alt left last night's game late in the second period and did not return. His status for tonight's game is very much in doubt. Head coach Scott Gordon did not provide an update on Alt's condition after last night's loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Scratches: Mark Alt (undisclosed), Kevin Sundher (lower body since 12/27), TyrellGoulbourne (healthy), Michael Parks (upper body since 10/17), Jason LaBarbera (upper body), Tim Brent (hand/wrist surgery) and Logan Pyett (out indefinitely).

Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics):

Petr Straka - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald (C)

Taylor Leier (A) - Phil DeSimone - Chris Conner

Danick Martel - Kevin Goumas - Aaron Palushaj

Dalton Smith - Joe Rehkamp - Jay Rosehill

Davis Drewiske (A) - Christian Marti

Sam Morin - Max Lamarche

Adam Comrie - Robert Hagg

Anthony Stolarz - Martin Ouellette

Recent Transactions

3/1: DEL - D Jesper Pettersson returned on loan to Reading (ECHL)

2/29: DEL - C Nick Cousins recalled from loan by Philadelphia (NHL)

2/29: ADD - C Nick Cousins returned on loan from Philadelphia (NHL)

2/28: ADD - D Jesper Pettersson recalled from loan to Reading (ECHL)

2/26: DEL - RW Pavel Padakin returned on loan to Reading (ECHL)

2/22: ADD - LW Dalton Smith signed to a professional tryout contract (PTO)