Phantoms Warm Up: Lehigh Valley vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 11/1/19 Game Preview

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms will look to continue the team’s current six-game point streak as they host the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday, November 1, at 7:05 p.m. inside of PPL Center in downtown Allentown.  This will mark the two team’s second meeting of the 2019-20 season.

After taking three of a possible four points against the Charlotte Checkers this past weekend, the Phantoms currently sit fifth in the Atlantic Division just in front of the sixth-place Penguins.  Despite being tied in points with nine apiece, Lehigh Valley has two games in hand, having only played seven contests as compared to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s nine.

Although the Phantoms will be missing some key players, as defenseman Philippe Myers and forwards Carsen Twarynski and German Rubtsov were recalled to Philadelphia on Thursday, the team did receive some additions as the Flyers loaned defenseman Sam Morin and forward Mikhail Vorobyev to the AHL club.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is coming off a 5-4 overtime victory against the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday and also received reinforcements from Pittsburgh in the form of Adam Johnson, Joseph Blandisi and Sam Lafferty.  The three forwards combined for a total of 137 points across a combined 191 contests in the AHL during the 2018-19 season.

Snap Shots

• Defenseman Sam Morin is expected to play tonight against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Should he take the ice tonight, this will mark the 24-year-old blueliner’s first game with the Phantoms since February 22, 2019.  The 2013 first-round selection of the Flyers has appeared in a total of 167 contests at the AHL level and has amassed 278 penalty minutes to go along with eight goals and 34 assists for 42 points.
• Mikhail Vorobyev will slot back into the Phantoms lineup after playing five games with the Philadelphia Flyers.  Prior to his call up, the native of Ufa, Russia, was riding a four-game point streak in which he had a pair of goals and a pair of helpers for four total points.
• With just a single regulation loss this season, Lehigh Valley has earned at least one standings point in their past six contests going 3-0-1-2 over that span.
• Despite dropping his last game in a shootout, goaltender Alex Lyon will look to get back into the win column on Friday night against the Penguins.  The now fourth-year pro has had a track record of bouncing back after a loss of any kind and currently has an overall record of 26-19-2 in those situations.
• Forward Maksim Shushko saw a scoring correction make a favorable change to his stat line on Tuesday afternoon.  Sushko was credited with tipping in the Phantoms’ first goal of the contest this past Saturday night which means the rookie forward finished the game with two goals for the first multi-goal game of his professional career.

Players to Watch

Recent Transactions

October 28, 2019: The Philadelphia Flyers reassigned forward Matthew Strome from the Reading Royals to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms

October 28, 2019: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms recalled from loan forward Gerry Fitzgerald and defenseman James de Haas from the Reading Royals

October 30, 2019: The Philadelphia Flyers returned on loan forward Mikhail Vorobyev to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms

October 30, 2019: The Philadelphia Flyers loaned defenseman Sam Morin to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on a conditioning stint

October 30, 2019: The Philadelphia Flyers recalled from loan forward German Rubtsov and Carsen Twarynski as well as defenseman Philippe Myers from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms

The Road Ahead

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms hit the road for a weekend set of games against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday, November 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, November 3 at 5 p.m.  Catch the games on AHLTV or listen live inside the Phantoms365 App!