The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (11-12-6-2) got back on the winning track Wednesday night 3-1 to start their five-game road trip over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (11-16-1-3). This was the seventh meeting between these teams, with the Penguins up 4-3 in the season series.
Head coach Ian Laperriere was out with COVID on his birthday. However, his assistant coaches, Jason Smith, and Riley Armstrong returned from COVID. Also returning from COVID were Hayden Hodgson, Pat Nagle, and Logan Day.
Felix Sandstrom was in goal, and the scratches for the game were Egor Zamula, German Rubtsov, Brennan Saulnier, Garrett Wilson, Tyson Foerster, Sam Ersson, and Garrett Metcalf.
The Phantoms had two breakaway opportunities by Wade Allison and Alex Kile in the first period, but Alex D’Orio stopped their shots. The Phantoms were leaving too much room for the Penguins to take shots.
Late in the first period, the Phantoms went on the power play after Jordy Bellerive was called for interference. However, the Phantoms power-play ended a minute later after Adam Clendening was called for tripping. After the first period, the game was scoreless with the shots 10-7 Penguins.
In the second period, Ryan MacKinnon and Jordy Bellerive fought after Bellerive hit Cal O’Reilly leading up to the scuffle. Both teams were hitting each other like pinballs. Alex Kile, Matt Strome, Logan Day, and Hayden Hodgson had chances to score, but Alex D’Orio stopped them. With 2:06 left, Nick Lappin had a chance to score, but D’Orio batted it away.
On the other side, Felix Sandstrom was having a good game with some great saves of his own. After two periods, the game remained scoreless, with the Penguins leading the shots 18-17.
Three minutes and fifty seconds into the third period, the Phantoms went on their second power-play after Jamie Devane was called for interference.
Seven seconds later, off the faceoff, Wade Allison fired the shot to the right circle that put the Phantoms up 1-0 with 16:04 left. Adam Clendening (15) and Alex Kile (1) assisted the goal. Wade Allison is now on a three-game goal streak.
Four minutes later, Jordy Bellerive (5) redirected Juuso Riikola’s (7) shot that tied the game 1-1 with 12:56 left in the game. Matt Bartkowski (4) earned the secondary assist.
At 9:43, Jonathan Gruden boarded Wade Allison, drawing a penalty and putting the Phantoms on the power play for the third time. Linus Sandin (4) tipped Cal O’Reilly’s (15) shot to put the Phantoms back up 2-1 with 9:19 left in the third period. Sandin has now scored four goals in the last five games.
As time was ticking down, the Phantoms had trouble getting the puck out of their zone. The Penguins were spending too much time in the Phantoms’ zone. The Penguins were aggressive and taking chances while Felix Sandstrom stopped their shots.
With 2:15 left, the Penguins pulled D’Orio for an extra attacker. Cal O’Reilly (16) intercepted the puck and passed it to Linus Sandin (2). Sandin didn’t have a clear shot and passed it to Maksim Sushko (5), who scored the empty-net goal that sealed the game for the Phantoms with 39-seconds left. The Phantoms defeated the Penguins 3-1.
The Phantoms finished the night with 24 shots, 2/3 on the power-play, and Felix Sandstrom made 28 saves.
The Phantoms continue their five-game road trip on Saturday, January 22nd, against the Charlotte Checkers at 4 pm.
