By Tommy Hendricks, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
On a night where goaltender Alex Lyon made his first professional start in goal, the Phantoms rallied back multiple times to force overtime, but ultimately fell to the Hartford Wolf Pack, 5-4, at home on Saturday night.
Lyon, the Yale University product, made huge saves when called upon to help his team bounce back from three difference deficits throughout the night.
The Phantoms put Hartford's league-worst penalty kill to the test less than a minute into the game. Despite putting four shots on goal, the Phantoms could not take advantage again as their high-powered power play continued to struggle.
Hartford came back strong off the penalty kill and was able to capitalize on a shot Lyon did not see. A point shot from Michael Paliotta deflected of the stick of Tanner Glass in the high slot and snuck in off the corner of the crossbar to make it 1-0 Hartford.
Lehigh Valley had two more chances against that league worst PK for Hartford, one of which would end early due to a cross-checking call slapped on T.J. Brennan, but were unable to solve Magnus Hellberg. Despite leading in shots 11-9 after one, the Phantoms trailed 1-0.
More mistakes ended up costing the Phantoms in the second. Lehigh Valley went shorthanded four times during the middle frame, and surrendered two power play goals.
On the second, however, Corbin Knight tied the game up at one off a turnover after stripping a Hartford defenseman at the Phantoms blue line. Knight skated in and snapped one high glove side to even the score.
The other two-man advantages for Hartford came late in the period, with John Gilmore scoring at the 16:58 mark, and Justin Fontaine scoring with 57 seconds left in the period to make it 3-1.
Hartford completely controlled the pace in the second and it showed in more than just the scoring. The Wolf Pack out shot Lehigh Valley, 17-7, during the period, and the momentum was shifted in their favor.
The momentum shifted back toward the Lehigh Valley side in the third as Andy Miele scored five minutes into the period to make it a one-goal game. Just three minutes later, Mark Zengerle scored his second of the season to tie the game at three.
Hartford regained the lead on Tanner Glass' second goal of the night two minutes later as the crazy back-and-forth scoring continued. However, just 1:13 later, Chris Conner tied the game back up at four on a beautiful passing play from Danick Martel.
Each goalie made spectacular saves coming down the stretch and forced the game to overtime despite a late Phantoms surge.
Overtime ended rather quickly as Nicklas Jensen scored a minute and fifty five seconds in to win the game for the Wolf Pack.
Lyon showed great composure eve while trailing for most of his first professional start. He was able to put up 29 saves on 34 shots and help his team scrape a point out of a game that seemed lost going into the third.
Quotes
Alex Lyon on how he felt in his first professional start, how he feels about 3-on-3 overtime: "In the first I had a little bit of nerves, but after that, to be quite honest I felt good. Felt smooth and fluid. Gave up a few that I'd like back for sure, but I felt quite good.
"I was telling [Anthony Stolarz] before three on three that in college, you go five-on-five for five minutes then you go home. So it was wild to be honest. Until about halfway through the third, I hadn't even considered that, so it changes a lot. You make one big mistake, and it's in the back of your net. And in my case that's what happened."
Notes
- Hartford's 30th ranked PK coming into Saturday had given up three power-play goals on six times being shorthanded. While the Phantoms scored just after a power play had ended, the Wolf Pack were a perfect 5-for-5 while down a man to help bring their average back up.
- The 0-for-5 night on the power play for Lehigh Valley makes them 2-for-18 on the young season.
- The OT loss gives the Phantoms three of a possible six points through the first three games of the season (1-1-1). Lehigh Valley gets another crack at Hartford next Friday in Hartford.
