There seems to be a recurring theme in some of the losses that the Lehigh Valley Phantoms have suffered this season. The Phantoms have a habit of coming out strong, but wind up giving up leads late in the game and often find themselves either fighting to come back or just end up on the losing side of the ledger.

The Phantoms are just 5-4 this season when they score first and have given up leads in the third period on six occasions this year. The trend struck again this past Saturday night when Bridgeport came back to tie the game in the third and then win in shootouts."It's really frustrating. That's a huge test of maturity for a team, I think," said Brett Hextall, who notched his second goal of the season Saturday in the loss to Bridgeport. "We had the lead going into the third and were doing the right things, I think, for the most part. We're still growing into that and obviously, there's still room to improve, but we've got a good squad and we've got some veterans and some young guys and we'll get it figured out."Phantoms coach Terry Murray doesn't see any drop in intensity in the team, but he does see them making some critical mistakes that are opening doors for their opponents."You've just got another team that can take it to another level and make plays like they can, and they did. We're learning that part of the game in the D-zone coverage. We've got a lot of young defensemen and it's actually a pretty simple play to defend if you put your stick on the ice and we were carrying our sticks in two hands - a bunch of guys are - so those plays, those seem passes, are allowed, but they should be more difficult to make," said Murray.The home-and-home series with Bridgeport saw the Phantoms pick up three points in the standings, with the shootout loss on Saturday and then a 5-3 win in Bridgeport on Sunday. The Saturday game came on the heels of the Phantoms worst performance of the season in a 5-1 loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In the first minute of play, Oliver Lauridsen delivered a hard check on the Tigers' John Persson and teammate Johan Sundstrom took exception and started the first fight of the night. In all, the two teams racked up 64 minutes in penalties Saturday and added another 38 on Sunday.Hextall scored the only goal in the loss to the Penguins and then came back with his second of the season the following night. Murray has taken notice to Hextall's style of play and likes what he's seeing."He's one of those sand-paper type of players that can get under the other people's skin. He checks well, he defends well, he's a good penalty killer. He's got a heavy body, he's not tall, but he's thick. He's heavy, so he can get some good hits in there. He can battle along the boards."PHANTOMS FACTS: The Phantoms played their worst game of the season Friday night in Wilkes-Barre against the Penguins. The 5-1 loss saw goalie Rob Zepp allow four of the 21 shots that he faced to go in. Zepp was replaced by Anthony Stolarz midway through the second period and he stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced … Hextall's goal on Saturday started a barrage of flying teddy bears from the stands and onto the ice. The Teddy Bear Toss promotion encouraged fans to bring a teddy bear to throw onto the ice after the Phantoms first goal of the night. The bears will be donated to the Valley Youth House to use as gifts for underprivileged children … The weekend series leaves Lehigh Valley at 10-9-2-1 on the season, 12th in the Eastern Conference standings.