LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms came into Thursday night’s contest with Albany looking to start the second half on a high note. Scott Wedgewood had other ideas. Wedgewood had 35 saves, and the Devils got goals from four different scorers to down the Phantoms in front of 6,630 fans at PPL Center.
The keyword for the period was domination. Unfortunately for the Phantoms, that domination came in the form of the opposition Albany Devils. Albany fired 11 shots on Rob Zepp, who recently returned from the Philadelphia Flyers. Tim Sestito passed to 
Paul Thompson, who found a streaking Joe Whitney streaking down the far side and he blasted a slapshot top shelf. The Phantoms had several chances, but could not solve Devils’ netminder Scott Wedgewood. Lehigh Valley had 7 shots in the frame.
In the second, the Phantoms came out flying, but couldn’t solve Wedgewood. Albany made it 2-0 at 5:40 when Mike Sislo finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play and buried it past Zepp from the slot. The Devils’ made it 3-0 when Ben Thomson took a pass on the half boards from Darcy Zajac and flicked a shot on Zepp, unfortunately it deflected off thestick of Phantoms defenseman Steven Delisle and into the net. Shots in the period favored the visitors 16-14.
In the third, Lehigh Valley came out with energy, but Wedgewood was fantastic. Most of the shots they were getting were from the blueline, and not many were difficult for the Albany goalie. The Phantoms’ finally broke through at 10:48. With the Devils’ Stefan Matteau penalized for tripping, Jason Akeson took the puck at the far point and passed it to AHL All-Star Brandon Manning at the top of the zone. Manning blasted a slap shot, and Zack Stortinim who was screening Wedgewood, deflected it into the net. Unfortunately by that time, Albany had the game in hand, and went into a shell to protect the lead, coming out with a 4-1 victory. The fourth goal came when Brandon Burlon added an empty netter at 18:16. Shots in the frame favored Lehigh Valley 13-7.
Notes: Officials were Referees Trevor Hanson and Dave Lewis, Linesmen were Jud Ritter and Ryan Knapp. Phantoms’ F Nick Cousins on the quality of scoring chances for Lehigh Valley: “I thought we did a good job. I think I had 2 or three two on one’s. Their goalie played well.” Cousins on the importance of games vs. division rivals Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Friday and Saturday: ”We still got two games, first tomorrow and then Saturday. We’re chasing points. These are two huge games against teams ahead of us, and we have to come out with a stronger effort.” Head Coach Terry Murray on positives from tonight’s contest: “ Well, yeah. We had a very poor start. Poor in the sense that we didn’t manage the puck very well. We had a lot of turnovers. Fundamentally, we didn’t execute very well. I like the way we came out in the third, we showed a lot of energy, a loft of compete. That’s the way we have to come out tomorrow.” Murray on the injury status of F Blair Jones: “He’s gonna be out for a long time, about seven weeks or so.”
The AHL announced on Thursday that they had approved the relocation of the following teams to form a new Pacific Division in 2015-2016: The Anaheim Ducks are purchasing the Norfolk Admirals and moving them to San Diego. The Adirondack Flames will move to Stockton, Calif. The Oklahoma City Barons will move to Bakersfield, Calif. The LA Kings will move the Manchester Monarchs to Ontario Calif., and the Worcester Sharks will move to San Jose and share the SAP Center with the parent club San Jose Sharks. Rumors are swirling that some or all of the vacated markets will be picked up by the ECHL, but none of that has been confirmed. More to come as details develop.
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