(Tommy Hendricks/Sports Talk Philly)
By Tommy Hendricks, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
T.J. Brennan, Jordan Weal and Taylor Leier received their All-Star jerseys for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic before Friday night's pivotal matchup with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The three then showed why they earned those jerseys, helping lead the Phantoms to a 4-3 victory.
Birthday boy Anthony Stolarz made 34 saves on 37 shots, while Brennan, Weal, and Leier led the way offensively. Team captain Colin McDonald added three assists himself, gaining the Phantoms a crucial win over the top team in their division and in the AHL.
That was the story going into tonight's game, the top two teams in the AHL in a heavyweight bout, and the Phantoms were left standing when the final bell rang.
Lehigh Valley came out roaring to start the biggest game of their season, scoring just 39 seconds into the game. After winning the opening faceoff, the Phantoms took control in the offensive zone.
After missing a tap in attempt at the far side post, Colin McDonald got the puck back and skated behind the Wilkes-Barre net. He came out the near side and threw a centering feed to Scott Laughton, who was making a charge for the slot. Laughton took the pass and fired top corner on Tristan Jarry to make it 1-0.
Brennan added a laser from the far side dot that hit the back bar and came out quickly on the power play to make it 2-0.
The Penguins answered back immediately following a power play of their own off a faceoff in the Phantoms end. Jean-Sebastien Dea took the puck off the draw and skated across the slot, beating Stolarz to the glove side to cut the lead to one going into the middle frame.
The Phantoms used another goal within the first minute of a period to jump back out to a two-goal lead. This time, it was defenseman Robert Hagg scoring on a 2-on-1 off a pass from Leier just 25 seconds in.
The Phantoms used the early momentum to out shoot Wilkes-Barre, 14-5, during the period, taking all the air out of the Penguins tires. Lehigh Valley also had three power plays in the period, and while they did not score, they used the zone time to keep the Pens at bay.
Wilkes-Barre would have a great chance to get back into the game early I the third, as Brennan got his stick up high on a Penguin during a scrum and drew blood, resulting in a four-minute power play for Wilkes-Barre.
The Phantoms penalty killers made easy work of the double-minor, not allowing the Penguins to get set up at all. What could have been a turning point for the game turned out to be nothing more than filler on the score sheet.
The Penguins did cut the lead to one after the power play though, as Ethan Prow blasted a shot from the point that was tipped in the slot by Ryan Haggerty to make it 3-2.
Just over a minute later, the Penguins used another point shot through traffic to tie the game. David Warsofsky fired a shot through bodies that leaked through Stolarz to tie the game at three.
The tie did not last long, with Leier scoring to break it just 40 seconds later. Leier skated over the Penguins blue line in a 1-on-3 situation, and chose to use the defenseman in front of him as a screen. Backing him down to the top of the circles, Leier took a wrist shot that beat Jarry top shelf.
Down a goal, Wilkes-Barre pulled Jarry with 1:28 remaining. Chris Conner capitalized on the empty net with his 10th goal of the season to make it 5-3 with 49.1 seconds left. The Penguins pulled Jarry again after the center ice drop, but to no avail, as the Phantoms skated away with their second win of the season against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
The Phantoms get right back at it tomorrow night, with another Atlantic Division matchup with the Providence Bruins.
Notes
- The Phantoms are now 12-0 in games which Scott Laughton tallies a point.
- Boyd Gordon played his first game since being sent down from Philadelphia, playing a huge role on the penalty kill.
Quotes
Boyd Gordon on how it felt to get into game action, and his role on the team: "I haven't played a lot of hockey this year, so it was good to get out there and get back in the swing of things. Hopefully get feeling better here every day. I'm more comfortable in the middle [playing center]. Some of the system stuff is a little different to get used to but hopefully I'll pick it up as soon as I can."
Taylor Leier on the importance of this weekend to the Phantoms season: "This is kind of a statement weekend, I mean just the schedule: Wilkes-Barre, Providence, Hershey. We're the top four teams in our division, in our conference almost I think. This is a playoff-like weekend, and it's big to come out on the Friday night and beat Wilkes-Barre."
Head coach Scott Gordon on the importance of beating Wilkes-Barre, while trying to catch them in the standings with 10 games remaining against them: "Obviously, it looks like a bigger climb because we have three games in hand, which I was trying to explain to my mother today, she didn't think that we had a chance to catch them. And I told her we have three games in hand, and if we win them, we're three points from them. And she says, 'yeah, but they may win their games too,' and I said 'yeah, then we'll win the games they haven't played.' So we had an interesting conversation about that. But when you have the games in hand, you have to win them. But it also is now, with those three games in hand and the two points tonight, a one-point differential if we win those games."
