There’s nothing better than getting off to a hot start, no matter what the sport.

Danick Martel is building a reputation as a guy who starts the year hot, and this season is no exception. Last season he opened the year with two goals in the opener, and this season he topped that with a hat trick against the rival Hershey Bears in a 7-2 Phantoms win to start the season.

Martel followed up the opener with another goal in Lehigh Valley’s 2-1 shootout loss in Hartford on Sunday, helping the Phantoms pick up three out of a possible four points in the standings in the season’s first weekend of games.

The first goal of the season for Martel came just 2:19 into the opener to put Lehigh Valley on top 1-0.

“We were talking on the bench right before that we had to get the first goal and I don’t think the other team even touched the puck on that shift, so we played well from the first shift to the last shift,” said Martel.

While Martel has been the standout, he credits his line-mates – Nic Aube-Kubel and Mike Vecchione – with making their line a dominant force. Against Hershey, the line simply outplayed the Bears in every sense and worked their magic again against Hartford.

“Q [Aube-Kubel] is so strong, so if he’s got to win a battle in the corner, he’s going to win it and we saw that today. I was trying to do my job in front of the net and be a pest and get the easy goal,” said the 22-year old Martel. “Vech [Mike Vecchione] is a great passer and a great team guy, and he played really well. Our line was just really good.”

Coach Scott Gordon was also impressed with the line and admitted that with Vecchione arriving to camp very late after being cut from the Flyers camp, putting him with Aube-Kubel and Martel just seemed to make sense.

“You like to think that you had that perfectly laid out,” said Gordon with a wry smile. “Mike [Vecchione] wasn’t here for a lot of camp, but when we sorted through the lines, we thought they might work well with each other.

“Danick and Q played together a lot last year and the thought was they’d get some chemistry with Mike and it worked out tonight.”

In addition to the three goals against Hershey, Martel took part in the first fight of the season when he went up against the Bears Tyler Lewington giving up five inches and 35 pounds to his boxing partner. For Martel, it’s not the biggest part of his game, but it’s sometimes a necessary evil.

“I need to bring an energy and I’m not scared. If I need to fight, I’ll fight,” he said. “The guy wasn’t small today, but I think I did a pretty good job to just keep momentum and he landed a couple of punches, but I’ve got a big head, so I’ll be fine.”

NOT IN OUR HOUSE ... Twice in the opener, Hershey came back from a one-goal deficit only to have Lehigh Valley score to go back in front. On both occasions, it didn’t take long for the Phantoms to surge back, taking 1:20 to score after Hershey tied it 1-1 and then just 1:17 after the Bears made it 2-2 in the second period. To finish out the game, Lehigh Valley scored three goals in a matter of :55, including an empty netter from Reece Willcox.

WHO’S THE NEW GUY? ... He’s goalie Dustin Tokarski and he comes to the Phantoms from the Anaheim Ducks. Technically, Tokarski was acquired for future considerations and in a separate trade, goaltender Leland Irving was shipped from the Phantoms to the San Diego Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the Ducks, also for future considerations. Tokarski is in his ninth pro season and played in 27 games with San Diego last season, going 17-8-1. Throughout his career, Tokarski has seen a lot of AHL venues, playing for St. John’s, Hamilton, Syracuse and Norfolk in addition to San Diego. The 28-year old has played in the NHL with Tampa Bay, Montreal and Anaheim, going 10-12-5 in 34 career games.

THE LYON’S SHARE ... It doesn’t look like goalie Alex Lyon is figuring on giving up much ice time to Tokarski or anybody else. Lyon turned in an impressive performance in Hartford. Against the Bears, Lyon stopped 29-of-31 shots and was even more impressive in saving 35-of-36 shots against Hartford.

BIG CROWD, SMALL CROWD ... While Lehigh Valley saw an opening night record 8,648 fans pack the PPL Center on Saturday, Hartford drew 6,035 for their home opener Friday night and saw that number plunge to just 2,152 for their Sunday game against Lehigh Valley.