(Tommy Hendricks/Sports Talk Philly)
By Tommy Hendricks, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
7,467 fans came to the PPL Center for Star Wars Night on Sunday, and were treated to an out of this world performance from their rookie goalie Alex Lyon as the Phantoms beat the Utica Comets, 4-1.
Lyon notched his second win on back-to-back nights, his league-leading 16th on the season, and even added an assist on an empty-net goal late in the third.
Mark Alt made his first appearance at home for the Phantoms this season, and even though he did not tally a point, four other Phantoms defensemen did to lead the charge.
With both teams playing their third game in three days, play in the first period went back and forth and was slightly sloppy. Despite that, plenty of shots were put on both goal tenders.
The teams combined for 26 shots on goal through the first 20 minutes of play, leaving it up to Richard Bachman and Lyon to stop them all.
Both teams got a power play opportunity, but neither converted on their man advantages. The Phantoms power play came at the 18:49 mark of the first, giving them 49 seconds of carry over time to start the second period.
The Phantoms failed to capitalize with their carry over time, but were able to take a 2-0 lead before the end of the middle frame.
Travis Sanheim started the scoring for the Phantoms, joining the rush at the 16:27 mark of the period. Chris Conner came in over the Utica blue line on a 2-on-1 and chose to pass to the trailing Sanheim. He corralled the puck before shooting five-hole on Bachman to make it 1-0.
Just over three minutes later, the Phantoms cashed in on a power-play chance with Will O'Neill laser-beaming a shot from the point to make it 2-0 with 11 seconds left in the second. Conner added an assist on the goal, his second of the game.
Lehigh Valley extended their lead to three early in the third on a very strange play. Bachman came out behind the Utica net to play the puck. He attempted to clear it up the center of the ice, but found Scott Laughton instead. Laughton took a shot that went wide, but took a Phantom bounce of the end boards. The puck laid at the side of the cage, where Taylor Leier found it and popped it top shelf over Bachman to make it 3-0.
Utica cut into the Phantoms lead at the 7:09 mark, with rookie Alexandre Grenier scoring his 11th of the season off a one timer from the top of the near side circle.
T.J. Brennan added an empty net goal with 55 seconds left, assisted by Lyon no less, to ice the game and seal the victory for Lehigh Valley.
Notes
- The Phantoms penalty killers killed off 11-of-12 power plays against in three games this weekend, and have killed off 106 of the 126 man-advantages against this season.
- Alex Lyon moved into sole possession of first in the AHL in wins with 16 after Sunday's victory. He could be sharing first place again pending the rest of Sunday's action.
Quotes
Chris Conner on how the team has returned to form since its slow start out of the Christmas break: "I think we started off a little slow after Christmas, but I think we're starting to get our game back. We need to keep moving forward. We have some big games coming up, so we need to build off these two wins."
Mark Alt on his second game back and how he feels: "I actually felt better on Friday. I think it was just the excitement and everything, but then you start to get into the real rhythm of the games and jump back into it. I still have another step I need to take for sure, getting back in shape, timing and all that, but I felt pretty good."
Will O'Neill on his power play goal that turned out to be the difference in the game: "It was good power play all around. The other unit went out there and had some chances, they settled it down pretty well. Then we got out there and had the same thing. You get a keep, you get a settle down, and you get an extra chance. We got traffic to the net so I let go a good rip."
3 Stars
3. Will O'Neill (LV) – GWG
2. Alex Lyon (LV) – 22 saves on 23 shots, Assist, Win
1. Chris Conner (LV) – 2 Assists, +1
