The Phantoms six-game homestand has included a three-game roller coaster ride.

Last Wednesday, Binghamton shut down the Lehigh Valley offense for a 3-0 win. Two nights later, the Phantoms looked like world-beaters against rival Hershey as they pounded the Bears 7-2. Then on Saturday, they dropped a 4-3 game in overtime to the Laval Rocket, blowing a two-goal lead in the process.

On Saturday, the Phantoms jumped out to a 3-1 lead on goals from Matt Read, Corban Knight and Greg Carey. Knight’s goal was an impressive one, as he played a rebound off Laval goalie Michael McNiven and snuck it into the net to give Lehigh Valley a two-goal advantage.

Laval got two third-period goals in less than three minutes to tie the game, and Adam Cracknell scored 1:16 into the overtime period for the win. The winning goal came on a Phantoms miscue that left Laval’s Cracknell and Chris Terry headed down the ice with just one defender to beat. Terry fed Cracknell, who had an easy backdoor tap-in for the win.

“We’ve just got to be able to make the right play, and I think we did it two or three times in the last three minutes. Two or three times in the last three minutes, we had unforced errors,” said Read. “They kind of gained momentum and ended up with one goal, and then the faceoff at the end, we had a plan, but we didn’t execute and they got a shot off. I don’t know how it went in.”

Carey’s goal, his 12th of the season, gives him seven goals and two assists in the last six games. The veteran Carey led the Phantoms in goals last season and has picked up some offensive slack created by the loss of Danick Martel to the Flyers.

The loss was especially disappointing, because the Phantoms appeared to bounce back nicely from a disappointing performance against Binghamton on Wednesday to turn in a near-spotless performance when they pounded Hershey on Friday night.

Carey led the way with two goals, while Knight, Mark Alt, Nic Aube-Kubel, Tyrell Goulbourne and Phil Varone all tallied goals for Lehigh Valley.

TEDDY BEARS ON ICE ... The annual Teddy Bear Toss, where fans throw teddy bears and other stuffed animals on the ice after the Phantoms score their first goal, was held Saturday night. A record 4,970 teddy bears and other stuffed animals were tossed onto the ice, raising the total of total stuffed animals donated to Valley Youth House to 13,500. This year’s toss was kicked off when Matt Read scored his second goal of the season just 1:25 into the game. The event has grown each year of the Phantoms history after starting with 1,728 in 2014.

COMINGS AND GOINGS ... Defensemen Adam Comrie and Nick Luukko signed professional tryout contracts with the Phantoms. Both players were playing with the Reading Royals of the ECHL. Comrie spent time with the Phantoms last season, but this is his first stint in the AHL this season. Lehigh Valley also recalled defenseman Frank Hora, who was on loan to Reading ... Forwards Martel and Alex Krushelnyski were returned to the Phantoms from their recent promotion to the Flyers. Meanwhile, defenseman Mark Alt was recalled to Philadelphia.

EVERY POINT COUNTS ... The Phantoms’ 29 points have them tied for the division lead with the Charlotte Checkers, but both teams have played more games than the teams ahead of them in percentage points. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leads with a .700 winning percentage (28 points), Providence has a .667 percentage (28 points) and Charlotte and Lehigh Valley are both at a .630 winning percentage.

FOUR DOWN, TWO TO GO ... The Phantoms have two games left on their season-long, six-game homestand. They have games at home against the Penguins Wednesday, and then have a home-and-home series against Hershey, with the Bears in town Friday before the two teams meet in Chocolate Town Saturday. Lehigh Valley is 6-3-1-1 at home this season.