For the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, it's all about chipping away at the front-running Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

This past weekend, as the warm weather outside was chipping away at the remaining snow, the Phantoms were heating up the ice and chipping away at an 11-point margin that the Penguins held over them for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.Lehigh Valley split two home games with Hartford and then downed Utica on the road, while the Penguins lost three straight, allowing the Phantoms to move to within seven points of the division lead.It's worth noting that the Phantoms have two games in-hand against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.The Penguins have five losses in their last nine games, while the Phantoms broke a three-game skid Saturday night with a win against Hartford.Sunday afternoon in Utica, the offensive talents of the Phantoms' defensemen were on display, as T.J. Brennan delivered a hat trick and Robert Hagg recorded the first multi-goal game of his career with two goals against the Comets. Brennan's three goals give him 130 career goals, moving him into second place all-time in the AHL for goals by a defenseman. Brennan is currently 36 goals behind all-time leader John Slaney, who spent part of his career with the Phantoms in the 2000-01 and 2006-07 seasons.In back-to-back nights against Hartford, each team piled up more than 40 shots in a game, but both times that team lost. On Friday night, Lehigh Valley outshot Hartford 44-18 in a 3-2 loss, while on Saturday, it was the Wolf Pack outshooting Lehigh Valley 44-27, but the Phantoms gained a 6-4 win."That's the funny thing about hockey, is that sometimes you get the bounces and sometimes you don't. You just have to stick with what works and sooner or later, they're going to go in," said Phantoms forward Andy Miele after Saturday night's win.In Saturday's win, the Phantoms allowed Hartford to stay close when the game could have easily been more lopsided. In the third period, the Phantoms got things straightened out and limited the opportunities for the Wolf Pack to get the win. The back-and-forth momentum provided fans with a fun game to watch, but it wasn't popular with everyone."We seem to get a lot of games like that," said Miele. "They're fun to play in, but they're risky, so we've got to clean some things up there."The Phantoms play five of their next six games on the road, with their lone home game during the stretch against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Saturday night. The two teams also meet in the final game of that stretch for Lehigh Valley, playing in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on March 8.THE GREAT NORTH ... Lehigh Valley loves playing teams from the North Division. With their Sunday win over Utica, they are 3-0 this season against the Comets and are an impressive 16-1-1 against North Division teams this season.THEY'VE GOT THE POWER ... With five power play goals in their last two games, the Phantoms lead the Eastern Conference with 57 power play goals this season, converting 22 percent of their power play opportunities. The Grand Rapid Griffins lead the AHL, having converted on 28 percent of their opportunities, with a total of 62 power play goals.THE PLACE TO BE ... Lehigh Valley stands fifth in the AHL and third in the Eastern Conference in per-game attendance, averaging 7,951 fans per game. It doesn't hurt that the Phantoms are 18-7-1-0 on home ice this season, the fourth best mark in the Eastern Conference. Hershey rules the league with 8,991 fans per game.