The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (1-5-2) shut out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (5-2) 4-0 in front of 4,151 fans at the PPL Center.
Felix Sandstrom started in goal and earned his first shutout of the season, stopping 25 shots. The scratches for the game were Linus Hogberg, Mason Millman, Linus Sandin, Brennan Saulnier, Samu Tuomaala, and Sam Ersson.
The Phantoms came out swinging right out of the gate. At 2:25 in the first period, German Rubtsov (2) made a pass to Maksim Sushko (1) for a one-timer into the right circle that put the Phantoms up 1-0. Hayden Hodgson (1) also assisted Sushko’s goal.
Midway through the first period, the Penguins committed three penalties in a span of two minutes and seventeen seconds, giving the Phantoms a six-on-three advantage.
At first, the Phantoms were unable to score until one of the power plays expired, making it five on three. At 15:22, in a tic-tac-toe fashion, Morgan Frost (4) found Cam York (1), then York set up Tyson Foerster for a slapshot into the net for a 2-0 lead.
Late in the first period, Penguins right-winger Kyle Olson boarded Cooper Zech, sending him to the penalty box. Gerry Mayhew took exception and went after Olson. The Phantoms had 49-second left of power-play time to start the second period. The Phantoms did a good job taking shots with a 15-10 shot advantage.
The Phantoms were unable to add another goal on the power play in the second period. During the second period, Penguin’s right-winger Kyle Olson got away with two penalties, including high-sticking Max Willman. Then, Phantoms center German Rubtsov had a breakaway and was hit by Taylor Fedun, resulting in a penalty shot. Rubtsov missed. The score remained 2-0 Phantoms, and the shots were even at six apiece.
At 15:33 in the third period, Adam Clendening (1) made a long pass to Garrett Wilson (4), who made a backhand pass to Hayden Hodgson (2), whose shot went underneath Penguins’ goalie Louis Dominque for a 3-0 lead.
With 5:30 left in the game, the Penguins pulled Dominque after Logan Day went to the penalty box for fighting Jonathan Gruden, who also served a penalty. However, Day was also called for roughing, and tripping those penalties were served by Hayden Hodgson, giving the Penguins a six-on-four advantage.
However, Phantom’s Morgan Frost (5) passed the puck to Gerry Mayhew, who sealed the game with an empty-net goal and a 4-0 win. The shots were 9-5 Penguins, and the Phantoms led the shots 26-25. Lehigh Valley Phantoms were one for five on the power play.
The Phantoms did a great job all around. They were scrambling and hacking away at the puck, along with being aggressive on the ice. Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ penalty unit killed eight penalties.
Now that the Phantoms got their first win out of the way, they will look to make it two wins when they head to Charlotte, North Carolina, this weekend for a home-and-home series starting Saturday, November 6th, against the Checkers at 6 pm.
