(Nina Weiss/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have been rolling through the month of November and the put the icing on the cake with yet another victory.
Three goals in the third period paced the Phantoms to a 4-1 win over the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday night at Ricoh Coliseum.
The Phantoms struck for the game's first goal at 11:26. Just seconds into their second power-play attempt of the game, Jordan Weal centered a pass for a wide open Greg Carey. Carey's point-blank shot was stopped by Antoine Bibeau, but the rebound sat in the crease and Chris Conner was able to find it and bury it for his fourth goal of the season.
Through 20 minutes, the Marlies edged the Phantoms in shots, 9-8.
In the second, the Marlies found a way to tie things up at the 7:30 mark of the period. With the Marlies on the power play, Brendan Leipsic fired a one-timer toward the goal and it was deflected in by Andreas Johnsson. The goal was Johnsson's fourth of the season.
The Phantoms outshot the Marlies in the second, 10-8, and went 0-for-3 on the power play, including failing to score on a 5-on-3 chance.
But just 4:44 into the final period, the Phantoms broke through for the go-ahead goal. The Phantoms won a puck battle in the corner and got the puck back to the blue line for Sam Morin. Morin let go a wrist shot from the point that was deflected from in tight by Danick Martel. Martel's tally was his fifth of the season.
With time winding down in the game, the Phantoms looked to ice things and did with a pair of late goals. A miscommunication behind the Marlies net allowed Weal to pick up an abandoned puck, cut to the front of the net and get two shots at the goal. The second went in and Weal had his seventh goal of the season with 3:02 remaining.
Colin McDonald scored into an empty net on the power play to cap the scoring. It was his ninth goal of the season.
Lost in the clutch scoring was another solid performance by Alex Lyon, making his eighth straight start. Lyon stopped 25 of 26 shots in the win.
With the win on Tuesday, the Phantoms closed out November with an 11-2-0 record.
The Phantoms return to the ice on Friday night as they open the December schedule by hosting the Hershey Bears. Friday's game also begins another 3-in-3 for the Phantoms. Puck drop between the Phantoms and Bears is set for 7:05 p.m.