Photo: Nina Weiss/Flyerdelphia
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms missed an opportunity to get back into the playoff race on Friday, and on Saturday saw those chances take a further hit.
The Phantoms fell to the Binghamton Senators, 3-1, on Saturday at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena, sending them to their second loss of the weekend.
Binghamton got on the board first as the Phantoms surrendered a shorthanded goal at 5:40 of the first period. A shorthanded breakaway off a turnover for Kyle Flanagan was stopped by Anthony Stolarz and a follow-up chance by a charging Max McCormick was also stopped. But the Phantoms failed to exit the zone and Mark Fraser fired a shot that beat Stolarz to give the Senators the lead.
In the second, the Senators padded the lead with a goal from a former Flyer. Another clearing attempt was flagged down and Jason Akeson weaved his way through the zone before beating Stolarz with a shot from the left circle to make it 2-0 Senators at 5:20.
The Phantoms did have an answer midway through the period. After a net-mouth scramble, the puck made its way back to Cole Bardreau who put a pass into the slot for Petr Straka who turned, shot and scored to make it 2-1. It was Straka's 18th goal of the season.
Midway through the third, Binghamton would ice the game. With the Senators applying pressure, Buddy Robinson threaded a centering pass to McCormick who scored to make it a two-goal game again with 8:28 to play.
Stolarz made 24 saves in the loss. Binghamton netminder Matt O'Connor stopped 34 shots to get the win.
The Phantoms were also 0-for-4 on the power play.
The Phantoms return to the ice on Wednesday night when they face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:05 p.m.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
