One can make a point that the AHL All-Star break couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

After all, the team recently had a five-game win streak and added a point in a sixth straight game with a shootout loss at Providence.

One can also make a point that it came at a good time for them as they look to regroup from two straight losses stacked on the back of that shootout loss, technically putting them in the throes of a three-game losing skid.

It’s worth noting that the five-game win streak was comprised solely of games on their home ice, while the three-game slide came in road games. In a recent skid that saw the Phantoms lose seven of eight games, five of the losses came on the road, but so too did a win at Toronto that split the streak.

The Phantoms are fourth in the league as a home team, having compiled a record of 14-5-1-2, with a plus-14 goals advantage in the 22 games. On the road, the team is the worst in the AHL with a 4-16-0-3 record, and a 32-goal deficit in the 23 games.

Why the swing?

“If I knew that, I’d sell the answer to every professional sports team in the world and be a rich man,” said coach Scott Gordon. “Obviously, you always want to have that advantage at home and guys are more comfortable, the routine is easier, you’re sleeping in your own bed. The fact that our numbers are so wildly different, though, is more than that. We just seem to be a different team away from the Lehigh Valley.”

So, which is to be believed? That the Phantoms are a good team that doesn’t play well away from home, or that they’re a bad team that finds some traction on their home ice? It’s likely a third option; they’re an average team that simply plays much better on their home ice.

Looking ahead, three of the team’s first four games after the break are on the road. The optimists can look at it another way; after two road games, four of the next five games are on home ice.

With the remaining schedule split pretty evenly between home and road contests, the Phantoms are going to have to improve on their play away from the PPL Center if they want to make the postseason. Coming out of the break, the Phantoms are in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, where the top four teams qualify for the playoffs. Lehigh Valley stands 10 points behind fourth-place Springfield and nine points behind both Charlotte and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, who are tied for fifth place in the Atlantic Division.

“We just have to focus on wins,” stressed Gordon. “If we look at what everybody else is doing, it doesn’t help us; it becomes a distraction. If we go out and win, we’ll be OK.”

A closer look shows the Phantoms with just one game against Springfield, and it’s at home. They have two home games against Charlotte and five games – two of them at home – against the Penguins. In that regard, the schedule is somewhat promising. However, they need more road wins to have any shot at the postseason.

MILESTONE ... Forward Cal O’Reilly scored an early goal in Providence last Friday to record his 600th-career point. Later, he added an assist in the Phantoms 4-3 loss to give him 601 points in 701 career games in the AHL. O’Reilly has played 145 NHL games with Nashville, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Minnesota. His longest stretch in the NHL came between the 2008-09 and 2011-12 seasons, when he played in 107 games.

ALL-STAR WINNERS ... Morgan Frost was the lone Phantom on the Atlantic Division All-Star squad that beat the Central Division for the All-Star Challenge Championship, which is done in a round-robin tournament. The Atlantic team lost its opening game, but bounced back to become the champions, downing the Central Division 3-1. Hershey goaltender Vitek Vanecek was named the tournament MVP. Frost didn’t pick up any goals in the tournament.