Photo Courtesy of Nina Weiss
A steady performance in goal from Jason LaBarbera on Sunday helped the Phantoms hang on to a 2-1 win against the Portland Pirates.
LaBarbera turned away a season-high 37 shots — a staggering 17 of which came in the third period as the Phantoms' lead shifted from 2-0 to 2-1 — for his fourth win of the season.
The Phantoms (17-16-2-1) have been used to stellar goaltending from Anthony Stolarz this season, while LaBarbera has seen more than his share of struggles. LaBarbera is hot for now and appears to be righting his ship, as Sunday's win was his third win in his last three starts.
Cole Bardreau got the Phantoms started with his second of the season at 16:11 of the first period. Danick Martel netted his 13th of the season in the second period, which sent the Phantoms into the dressing room with a 2-0 lead.
Less than two minutes into the third stanza, former Phantom Shane Harper cut the Phantoms' lead in half with his fifth goal. The Pirates (18-12-1-0) continued to press, as they recorded 18 shots in the period (nearly as many as the Phantoms recorded all game) while holding them to four.
Jesper Pettersson and Taylor Leier took a pair of ill-timed hooking penalties at 6:32 and 11:46 of the period, respectively, but the Phantoms' penalty-kill units stood tall. They were a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, improving their streak of killed penalties to 28 (dating back to Dec. 18).
Sam Brittain was steady between the Pirates' pipes, as he made 22 saves on 24 shots.
With the win, the Phantoms now tie the Pirates for fourth in the Atlantic Division, with 37 points. Both teams sit four points behind Bridgeport for third place, and will continue their four-game season series on Feb. 12 at PPL Center.
Next up for the Phantoms is a three-game weekend series beginning Friday that will see them play host to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, visit Albany and host Binghamton.
Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61
