Friday, April 8, 2016

Game 71 Preview: Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton

Phantoms make their final trip to rival Wilkes-Barre to take on the Penguins. Photo: Nina Weiss/The Home News
I'll have full coverage of tonight's Phantoms game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. 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.


While the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (31-32-4-3) are out of playoff contention, they can delay their rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (41-24-4-1) from clinching a playoff spot tonight. A Penguins regulation win will clinch them a berth into the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Despite missing the postseason race, exciting times are ahead for Lehigh Valley - including these final six regular season games. In addition to newcomers Reece Willcox and Oskar Lindblom, who made their AHL debuts last weekend in St. John's, Travis Sanheim and Nicolas Aube-Kubel will make their pro debuts tonight for the Phantoms.

For all the latest in-game updates and information, make sure you're following me on Twitter both at @TonyAndrock for Phantoms news/notes and @H_P_Hockey for Penguins news/notes. I'll have a recap of the action here online shortly following the game complete with reaction from the players and head coach Scott Gordon.

Some great follows for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coverage are their two daily beat reporters Tom Venesky (@TLTomVenesky) and Seth Lasko (@CVSethLasko). Two of the best in the business.

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


By The Numbers

LV: 70 games played, 31-32-4-3 = 69 points
7th Place - Atlantic Division
Last 10 Games: 4-4-2-0
Streak: 4-0-0

WBS: 70 games played, 41-24-4-1 = 87 points
2nd Place - Atlantic Division
Last 10 Games: 5-5-0-0
Streak: 0-2-0

Special Teams

Power Play

LV: 17.0% - 13th in AHL
WBS: 19.7% - 6th in AHL

Penalty Kill


LV: 83.1% - 17th in AHL
WBS: 83.1% - 16th in AHL

Leading Scorers (Active)

LV: Chris Conner (53GP, 16G-33A), Taylor Leier (65GP, 19G-26A), Petr Straka (60GP, 19G-18A), Danick Martel (62GP, 21G-13A)

WBS: Dustin Jeffrey (58GP, 19G-41A), Carter Rowney (68GP, 21G-31A), Tom Kostopoulos (69GP, 19G-29A), Will O'Neill (68GP, 8G-38A)

Starting Goaltenders

LV: Martin Ouellette (4-3-0, 2.74 GAA, .920 SV%, 1 SO)
WBS: Tristan Jarry (17-12-3, 2.64 GAA, .908 SV%, 5 SO)

Season Series

This is the 11th of 12 scheduled meetings between Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season. The Penguins lead the season series with a 6-3-1-0 record against the Phantoms entering tonight's game. 

Head to Head Scoring Leaders

LV: Taylor Leier (10GP, 3G-4A), Cole Bardreau (9GP, 3G-3A), Chris Conner (6GP, 2G-4A)

WBS: Will O'Neill (10GP, 3G-9A), Dominik Simon (8GP, 4G-4A), Tom Kostopoulos (10GP, 3G-7A)

Goalies Head to Head Stats

LV: Martin Ouellette - No Stats      
       Anthony Stolarz (6GP, 2-3-1, 3.95 GAA, .874 SV%, 0 SO)    

WBS: Tristan Jarry (4GP, 2-1-1, 1.97 GAA, .934 SV%, 2 SO)
           Brian Foster (2GP, 0-1-0, 4.88 GAA, .795 SV% 0 SO)

Season Series Schedule 

Sat. 10/17, Lehigh Valley - 4 at W-B/Scranton - 6
Fri. 12/4, Lehigh Valley - 3 at W-B/Scranton - 1
Fri. 12/11, W-B/Scranton - 4 at Lehigh Valley - 0
Wed. 12/16, W-B/Scranton - 3 at Lehigh Valley - 0
Sun. 12/27, Lehigh Valley - 3 at W-B/Scranton - 0
Fri. 1/8, W-B/Scranton - 4 at Lehigh Valley - 3
Fri. 1/29, W-B/Scranton - 3 at Lehigh Valley - 4 (OT)
Sat. 1/30, Lehigh Valley - 5 at W-B/Scranton - 3
Fri. 3/4, W-B/Scranton - 3 at Lehigh Valley - 0
Wed. 3/9, Lehigh Valley - 5 at W-B/Scranton - 6 (OT)
Fri. 4/8, Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton - 7:05 p.m. ET
Fri. 4/15. W-B/Scranton at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m. ET

Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Roster Notes

Goaltender Alex Lyon, whom the Flyers signed this week out of Yale University to an entry-level contract, will not be reporting to Lehigh Valley this spring per GM Ron Hextall.

Veteran Jason LaBarbera has been ruled out for the season. It appeared as though the Phantoms would finish their final six games with Martin Ouellette and Connor Knapp, but the Flyers reassigned Anthony Stolarz to Lehigh Valley Thursday afternoon.

Defenseman Travis Sanheim and forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel will make their pro debuts Friday night in Wilkes-Barre against the rival Penguins.

Forwards Radel Fazleev (hand) and Travis Konecny (shoulder), both of whom have been eliminated from the junior league playoffs, will not play with the Phantoms this spring due their injuries.

Forward Jay Rosehill received a three-game suspension for his illegal check to the head of St. John's IceCap defenseman Josiah Didier during last Saturday night's game. Rosehill will miss all three games this weekend.

Also receiving a suspension from the weekend games in St. John's is Aaron Palushaj, who received a one-game suspension for his awkward hit along the boards on IceCaps forward Charles Hudon in Friday's game. There wasn't a penalty on the play, but Hudon left the game and didn't return for the rest of the weekend's action.

Michael Parks has been skating in a yellow non-contact jersey at practice for the past two weeks. I had ruled him out for the season after a conversation I had with Parks about six weeks ago, but it's nice to see him skating out there. He's been out of the lineup since the Phantoms' third game of the season back on October 17th in Wilkes-Barre.

Scratches: Jason LaBarbera (out for the season), Christian Marti (healhty), Phil DeSimone (healthy), Michael Parks (out for the season), Aaron Palushaj (suspended - one game), Radel Fazleev (out for the season), Dalton Smith (healthy), Jay Rosehill (suspended - three games), Logan Pyett (out for the season) and Reece Wilcox (healthy)

Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)

Chris Conner - Tim Brent - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Taylor Leier - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald
Danick Martel - Steven Swavely - Oskar Lindblom
Petr Straka - Pavel Padakin - Tyrell Goulbourne

Sam Morin - Mark Alt
Davis Drewiske - Travis Sanheim
Adam Comrie-Robert Hagg

Martin Ouellette - Anthony Stolarz

Recent Transactions

4/7: ADD - G Anthony Stolarz returned on loan by Philadelphia (NHL)
4/4: ADD - RW Nicolas Aube-Kubel re-assigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Val d'Or (QMJHL)
4/4: ADD - LW Radel Fazleev re-assigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Calgary (WHL)
4/4: ADD - D Travis Sanheim re-assigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Calgary (WHL)
3/29: DEL - D Max Lamarche re-assigned by Philadelphia (NHL) to Reading (ECHL)
3/26: ADD - F Oskar Lindblom signed to ATO


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

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