Phantoms Power Play Presented by Provident Bank – Feb 16, 2021

Last Week:

Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Binghamton Devils 2 – Lehigh Valley Phantoms 1 (OT)
David Kase scored the team’s first shorthanded goal of the season but the Binghamton Devils rallied from behind for a 2-1 overtime win on goals by Ben Thomson and Brett Seney. Kase’s goal was assisted by Max Willman and Tyler Wotherspoon. Zane McIntyre was again very strong in net with 22 saves. Matt Strome and Pascal Laberge made their season debuts while Logan Day and Ralph Cuddemi suited up for the Phantoms for the first time.

Sunday, February 14, 2021
Lehigh Valley Phantoms 5 – Hershey Bears 4 (OT)
The Phantoms rallied from behind in Chocolate Town for a second time this season. Zayde Wisdom scored twice and assisted on David Kase’s overtime winner in an exciting 5-4 win. Kase also added a pair of assists. Logan Day scored his first goal as a Phantoms and contributed a helper and Matt Strome scored his first of the year. Max Willman hit the post twice in the first period while several other Phantoms found iron in the topsy-turvy game which saw Lehigh Valley take a 3-1 lead before falling behind 4-3 and then surging back to win 5-4.

Next Week:

Friday, February 19, 2021
Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Binghamton Devils – RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House, Newark, NJ
The Phantoms visit the Binghamton Devils in Newark in Game 2 out of 14 total meetings this season. The game also marks the beginning of a home-and-home weekend. Lehigh Valley is 0-0-1 against the Devils this season. Binghamton has played 3 straight overtime games to begin the season just like the Phantoms. And the Devils’ 2-0-1 record is also identical to Lehigh Valley’s.

Saturday, February 20, 2021
Lehigh Valley Phantoms vs. Binghamton Devils – PPL Center, Allentown, PA
It’s the first official game at PPL Center since March 11, 2020 making it 348 days removed from the last regular-season contest in Center City Allentown. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are 4-2-0 all-time in home openers and the Phantoms franchise boasts an impressive mark of 17-6-1 in home openers going back to the beginning of the Philadelphia Phantoms in 1996.

Words to the Wisdom
18-year-old Zayde Wisdom scored his first two professional goals on Sunday afternoon at Hershey and had a chance for a hat trick in overtime before assisting on David Kase’s winning goal to complete his three-point effort. The youngest player in Phantoms franchise history was a fourth-round selection of the Flyers in 2020 from the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League. Normally, Wisdom would still be with his team in the OHL but their season has not started due to the pandemic thus allowing him to seize this opportunity to play with the professionals.

Speedy Kase
Third-year Phantoms forward David Kase recorded three points in the Sunday win at Hershey including the overtime goal that came moments after he crushed a shot off the left post. Kase also scored the team’s first shorthanded goal of the season on Wednesday against the Binghamton Devils. He was playing in his home country with Karlovy Vary Energie in the Czech Republic this past fall before returning to North America and it is obvious he has brought that same Energie back here in his supersonic rushes around the ice.

Millman’s Debut
19-year-old defenseman Mason Millman is the latest Phantom to make his pro debut when he joined the lineup in Sunday’s game at Hershey. As part of a Phantoms blue-line contingent of four rookies, Millman was on the ice for three Phantoms goals to post a +3 rating in the game. The fourth-round selection of the Flyers in 2019 from the Saginaw (MI) Spirit scored 13 goals and 31 assists for 44 points in the OHL last year.