LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms started off the last two games of their home stand strongly by blasting the St. Johns IceCaps 5-1 at PPL Center Wednesday night. The big night was backed by a two goal performance from forward Nick Cousins and a three point night from Taylor Leier.
The night became even more special as highly touted Flyers defensive prospect Shayne Gostisbehere scored his first professional goal of his career to help lead the charge. Also notable about Gostisbeheres goal is that it was the only Power Play goal scored by Lehigh on four attempts on the night.
The night started off with a literal bang as Derek Mathers and Connor Crisp dropped the gloves just 2:42 in to the fray. Mathers, seemingly following in teammate Tyrell Goulbournes footsteps, put Crisp down with a two punch knock out that seemed to energize not only the crowd but the bench as well. Cousins said after the game that “When you see a guy win a fight like that, it pumps up the arena, pumps up the bench.” It certainly got Cousins going, but for a second, it seemed like all that momentum would be lost. Andrew MacDonald took an ill-advised tripping penalty at the 12:56 mark, and the IceCaps would make the struggling penalty kill of the Phantoms pay.
Not even a minute in to the PK, Mark Barberio would slide a pass to Sven Andrighetto, who blasted a one time shot from just above the near side circle past Anthony Stolarz to give St. Johns the lead. It seemed as the horrid PK would be the doom of the Phantoms once again, but just under a minute later, the game would be tied. Who else but Nick Cousins would score the goal to tie it, on a cross crease feed from Gostisbehere that he buried back door on Dustin Tokarski. The Phantoms had the momentum back, and they would never let go.
The First period would end with the score tied 1-1, but Lehigh would out shoot St. Johns 14-3. Cousins would pick up where he left off, scoring his second of the night, and third of the season, just 3:51 into the second. He would skate into the IceCaps zone, pull up at the near circle, and snipe a wrister top shelf to break the tie. Kevin Goumas would add the first of three insurance markers for Lehigh about seven minutes later. He would a saucer pass from Leier at the top of the circle on an odd man rush, and wouldn’t hesitate to put it home. 
With the score at 3-1 half way through regulation, the next goal would be huge. Had St. Johns scored, it could bring momentum back their way. It would not be, as it would be Gostisbeheres time to shine. A cross-checking minor to one of Montreals most coveted prospects in Jacob de la Rose would lead to the first professional goal for one of the Flyers best young guns. Tim Brent would find “Ghost” at the point between the circles, who would pump fake, then rip a slap shot into the twine to put Lehigh up 4-1.
“Its good to finally get that one off my back,” Gostisbehere said, “some of the guys were on me about it, so its good to finally get it.”
Leier added an assist on the goal to mark his second point of the night, and he would score the final goal of the game in the third. Brent again would also leave his mark on the night, throwing a no look feed to Leier from behind the net that would be potted to have the Phantoms running away with it late in the game.
The Phantoms have an off day tomorrow before going at it again with this same St. Johns team on Friday. Lehigh handed the IceCaps just their second lost in regulation time last night, so they may be out for revenge on the night before Halloween. For the Phantoms, a win Friday night could mean reaching .500 and could only mean could things going forward. 
When asked how big it would be to come out of this week with a .500 record, first star of the game Cousins said that it be “Huge” and that “having another game at home, we play well in front of our fans, we feed off their energy.”
He also acknowledged that, with playing the same team back to back games, that they would be prepared for anything come Friday. With the team starting to click and fire on all cylinders, a win Friday would be a huge confidence booster. Especially with a tough rivalry matchup on the road in Hershey on Sunday, the Phantoms will try to go into Halloween week end with some tricks, and come out the other end with two very sweet treats.
Images by Steve.Rusyn@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.