"It's always great for your confidence and for all of us that we can actually play with the best teams in the league," said Phantoms defenseman Erik Gustafsson, who assisted on the final two goals. "Leighton kept us in the game and made I-don't-know-how-many hard saves for us. It was unbelievable and pretty good that he can help us like that."
The game was certainly a surreal experience for Leighton, who was playing in his first game at the Wells Fargo Center since giving up the final goal in the Flyers' 4-3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals last season.
Last night, Leighton gave up an unassisted goal to the Penguins' Geoff Walker early in the first period and then allowed a second-period goal by Keven Veilleux. But Leighton was lights-out the rest of the way, registering 38 saves.
"Wow, it felt good, actually," Leighton said of his performance. "I haven't played here since the playoffs, so it was good to be back, and, obviously, we got a big win for the team . . . We didn't really know how many fans to expect. We heard there was going to be quite a few, and this was more than we expected. This was great."
The 6-3, 192-pound Leighton signed a 2-year contract extension with the Flyers over the summer and then underwent surgery to repair a herniated disk in early October. He played in one game with the Flyers last month before going through waivers and being sent to the Phantoms.
"He's come down and has really been a great professional for us," Phantoms coach Joe Paterson said of Leighton. "He's played in the American Hockey League before, so he knows what it takes to get to the NHL. He knows that he has to fine-tune his game here and get his game back on track."
