By Michael Heilman

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms returned home to the PPL Center Saturday night against the Laval Rocket, who were on a five-game winning streak.

There was not a lot of action in the first period only that the Phantoms committed three penalties while Laval had two. Laval had nine shots in the first period while the Phantoms had three. The game was still scoreless 0-0 at the end of the first period.

Both teams were battling despite the game being 0-0. Both teams committed penalties, and neither one could score. Finally, at sixteen minutes and twenty-one seconds in the second period, Kyle Criscuolo (5) scored to put the Phantoms in the lead 1-0 with assists from James De Haas (2) and Connor Bunnaman (1). The Phantoms remained in the lead 1-0 at the end of the second period.

Three minutes and fifty-nine seconds into the third period, the Phantoms extended the lead 2-0 on a goal by Tyler Wotherspoon (3) with assists from Nate Prosser (5) and Mikhail Vorobyev (10). The second goal was all that the Phantoms needed as they defeated the Laval Rocket 2-0 ending the Rocket five-game winning streak.

The Phantoms had twenty-one shots on goal, and the Rocket had thirty-seven. The Phantoms went zero for three on the power play while the Rocket went zero for five. Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon made all thirty-seven saves, and Rocket goalie Keith Kinkaid made nineteen of twenty-one saves allowing two goals.

The three stars of the game were Phantoms defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon with one goal, Phantoms center Kyle Criscuolo with one goal, and Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon with thirty-seven saves, his first shutout of the season. The Phantoms will now host the Cleveland Monsters Sunday at 3:05 pm from the PPL Center.

(players stats for the year)