On Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms started the 2022-23 season against their in-state rivals Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
There were some new names that suited up for the Phantoms, including former Penguins’ goalie Troy Grosenick and Jordy Bellerive. In addition, Tyson Forester and Zayde Wisdom returned to the Phantoms for the first time since the 2020-21 season after spending last season in the junior leagues.
Adam Karashik, Cooper Zech, Ryan Fitzgerald, Charlie Gerard, and Kevin Connauton were scratched from the game. It wasn’t easy, but the Phantoms found a way to win their first game of the season.
In the first period, Phantoms goalie Troy Grosenick made two big saves to keep the game scoreless. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was quick on the ice. However, the Phantoms slowed them down with some nice hits against the boards.
The first goal of the season went to the Phantoms. Zack MacEwan and Garrett Wilson fought for the puck against Mitch Reinke and Xavier Ouellet up against the Penguins’ side of the boards. Wilson got control of the puck and found Elliot Desnoyers (1) by himself, and he got the puck past Dustin Tokarski’s right shoulder for a 1-0 lead with 6:18 left. Garrett Wilson (1) and Zack MacEwen (1) assisted Desnoyers’ goal.
Late in the first period, Phantoms center Adam Brooks got caught with a high stick that put the Penguins on their second power-play with a minute left. The Penguins had 59-seconds left of power-play to begin the second period down 1-0. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton led the shots 11-6.
In the second period, the Phantoms killed the power play, but the Penguins went back on the power play after defenseman Ronnie Attard got caught tripping and went to the penalty box.
The Penguins capitalized as Valtteri Puustinen (1) made a cross-ice pass to Alexander Nylander (1), who fired the puck past the right shoulder of Troy Grosenick, tying the game 1-1 with 14:24 left. However, at 9:14, the Phantoms went on their first power-play of the game on an interference call against Kyle Olson.
During the power-play, the Phantoms made several shot attempts before striking gold. Tyson Forester (1) found Cam York (1), who skated towards the center point, and fired the puck, only for Zack MacEwan to re-direct the puck over the left pad of Dustin Tokarski, putting Lehigh Valley back in the lead, 2-1 with 9:55 left.
The Penguins’ offense had several opportunities to tie the game, but Troy Grosenick stopped their shots. The Phantoms’ defense was slow in reacting to the Penguins’ shots and needed to protect Grosenick better. The Phantoms led 2-1 after two periods but trailed the Penguins in shots, 26-14.
In the third period, the Penguins pressured the Phantoms’ defense. Their quickness, agility, and speed caused problems for the Phantoms. Lehigh Valley was running out of gas, and the Penguins took advantage.
With 1:44 left in the game, the Penguins pulled Dustin Tokarski for an extra attacker, and Sam Poulin (1) tied the game 2-2 with a minute left after batting the puck mid-air past Grosenick’s left glove. Ty Smith (1) did a good job creating space for himself before taking the shot that Poulin scored. The game went to overtime, and the shots were 37-20 Penguins.
In overtime, the Phantoms were doing more passing than shooting. It almost cost them the game a couple of times. However, with two seconds left, Louie Belpedio had a breakaway opportunity. He missed the shot, but Max Willman (1) rebounded the puck and skated to the other side to draw two Penguins players toward him. Then, Willman found a slight opening in the direction of Belpedio, who shot the puck over the left pad of Tokarski to give the Phantoms a 3-2 win.
The shots were 40-22 Penguins. Louie Belpedio, Troy Grosenick, and Alexander Nylander were the three stars of the game. The Phantoms finished the night with 22 shots, 1/3 on the power-play, and Troy Grosenick was impressive in his Phantoms debut with 38 of 40 saves.
Lehigh Valley travels to Hershey to battle the Bears today at 3 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
