The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had three games this past week, two of them coming against the reigning AHL champion Charlotte Checkers. The third came against the Belleville Senators. While the Phantoms swept the two games against the Checkers, they came up just short of the trifecta against Belleville.
A 3-2 win last Wednesday, 5-4 overtime thriller Friday, and a 2-1 loss Saturday night puts the Phantoms at fifth in the Atlantic division with 21 points. Lehigh Valley trails Springfield & Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by three points in the standings.
Third Star
Cal O’Reilly started slow this week, posting no points in the first game against Charlotte. He followed that up with a goal and two assists Friday night, adding an assist against Belleville Saturday.
Entering this week, O’Reilly had eight points. He assisted on the goal to make it 3-4 Charlotte, and scored the game tying goal. After that, he assisted on the game winning goal in overtime. His assist against Belleville came on the lone Phantom goal of the game.
Second Star
The blueline in Lehigh Valley deserves some love here. 26 year-old Tyler Wotherspoon had two multi-point games last week. Wednesday he posted a helper on Lehigh Valley’s second and third goal. Saturday, he added three more assists. This brings his point total for the season to nine points, all assists.
First Star
Flyers fans will love this one, but Mikhail Vorobyev had himself a week. His first game of the week, he potted a goal and added a helper on Pascal Laberge’s goal. The second game against Charlotte on Friday, he added three helpers.
While with the Flyers, Vorobyev did not impress. He had one point in six games while with the Flyers this year. Between this year and last, he has three points in 21 games in the NHL. Vorobyev may struggle with the Flyers, but he’s found his home with the Phantoms.
The Phantoms have the same schedule this coming up week. They travel to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Wednesday to take on the Penguins. They then come home to take on the Baby Pens Saturday night, and the Hartford Wolfpack Sunday night. All games are 7:05 P.M. starts.
Mandatory Credit – Alex McIntyre
