By Michael Heilman

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms visited the MassMutual Center to take on the Springfield Thunderbirds early Wednesday morning as the Thunderbirds hosted the T-Birds 101 School Day game.

The Thunderbirds Owen Tippett (7) put Springfield up 1-0 as he shot the puck that went under the legs of Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon and scored with seven minutes and one second left in the first period. Aleksi Heponiemi (6) assisted with Tippett’s goal. Tippett’s goal was the only goal scored in the first period as Springfield headed to the locker room with a 1-0 lead over the Phantoms.

A minute and twenty-nine seconds into the second period, the Phantoms Greg Carey (5) blasted the puck passing Thunderbirds goalie Chris Driedger for the goal to tie the game up 1-1. Both Cal O’Reilly (6) and Andy Welinski (5) assisted Carey’s goal.

With four seconds remaining in the second period, the Thunderbirds Tommy Cross (2) scored to put the Thunderbirds back in the lead 2-1. Both Thomas Schemitsch (3) and Dominic Toninato (3) assisted with Cross’s goal. Springfield headed to the locker room with a 2-1 lead at the end of the second period.

With time running out in the third period, the Phantoms Kyle Criscuolo appeared to tie the game up; however, the officials called time to take a look at the replay. Thunderbirds defenseman Thomas Schemitsch had seemed to clear the puck with a hand pass just inches from the goal line to keep the game at 2-1. Time ran out for the Phantoms as the Springfield Thunderbirds defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2-1.

The Phantoms had the upper hand in shot totals with forty-two while the Thunderbirds had thirty-five shots. Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon finished the game with thirty-three saves out of thirty-five, allowing two goals while Thunderbirds goalie Chris Driedger made forty-one saves out of forty-two, allowing one goal. The Phantoms went zero for one on the power play while the Thunderbirds were zero and two.

The three stars of the game were Thunderbirds goalie Chris Driedger saving forty-one shots of forty-two, Thunderbirds defensemen Tommy Cross with one goal, and Thunderbirds right-winger Owen Tippett with one goal.

The Phantoms continue their road trip Friday night as they visit the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena to take on the Binghamton Devils at 7 pm, followed by a trip to the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza to battle the Wilke Barre/Scranton Penguins Saturday night at 7 pm.