The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (19-14-5) concluded a three-game road trip on Friday night. They were at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (18-13-5) for the fifth time this year.
Both teams came into this game tied with 41 points and a chance to move up to third place in the Atlantic Division. Sam Ersson made his return to the Phantoms as Felix Sandstrom went back to the Flyers. Ersson started in goal with Pat Nagle as the backup.
Ersson went 5-0-0, 2.37 GAA, and .918 SV% while up at the Flyers including winning his first game and getting his first shutout. The scratches for the Phantoms in this game were Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Zayde Wisdom, Isaac Ratcliffe, and Cooper Marody.
In the first period. The Penguins had four shots in the first two minutes of the game. The Phantoms struggled with passing which resulted in turnovers and not being in the right positions. They gave the Penguins too much room to play with and they took advantage of it about ten minutes in the first period.
Mitch Reinke (15) got control of the puck that transitioned into a rush for the Penguins. He made a pass to Tyler Sikura (8) who turned on the jets as he made his way into the Phantoms’ zone. Sikura took a shot that went off the left pad of Ersson but Lukas Svejkovsky (2) was right there for the rebound, jamming the puck past Ersson’s left skate and into the net for the goal. It was 1-0 Penguins with 10:02 left.
Past midway through the first period. Tyson Foerster (slashing) and Sam Ersson (tripping) that was served by Adam Brooks put the Penguins in a five-on-three power-play. The Phantoms’ penalty kill has been terrific and it continued in this game. The Phantoms killed the five-on-three power-play and then started to generate some momentum late in the first period. They started to play better man-to-man coverage and protect Ersson. The Phantoms had eight shots total in the first period. The Penguins led 1-0 after one period and had 15 shots on goal.
A minute and fifty-two seconds into the second period. The Phantoms tied the game. As the Phantoms were getting set up for a shot opportunity. Cal O’Reilly (11) had the puck and drew a player toward him to create space for Wyatte Wylie (2). O’Reilly passed the puck to Wylie and he whisked it from long distance through the five-hole and into the net.
The game was tied 1-1 and Adam Brooks (7) picked up the secondary assists. For Cal O’Reilly, it was his 700th career point in AHL history. He is now 25th all-time in points and seventh in assists.
The Phantoms’ offense started to cook. They forced turnovers and made some good passes. However, they are still tentative when it comes to shooting. They did miss some shots from far left and far right but they were not way off unlike in the previous two games.
Not long after the first goal. The Phantoms struck again. Max Willman (5) got the puck out of the Phantoms’ zone as Jackson Cates (8) took control. He made a pass to Tyson Foerster (12), who missed a goal earlier but got this one. He cut across in front of Filip Lindberg with a player on him and flipped the puck over the right skate of Lindberg and into the net. The Phantoms led 2-1 with 15:39 left.
Midway through the second period. The Phantoms had their own five-on-three power-play for a minute and thirty-six seconds do to Corey Andonovski (slashing) and Tyler Sikura (slashing). The Phantoms could not take advantage of either of those power plays and went to 0/3. With four minutes left, the Phantoms added another goal. After missing a chance for his second goal, Tyson Foerster (13) got his second goal of the night. He led the transitional rush to the Penguins’ zone. The Phantoms fought hard to keep the puck in the offensive zone led by Adam Ginning, Garrett Wilson (12), and Elliot Desnoyers (9).
Desnoyers chased down a Penguins player to get the puck away from them. Penguins’ forward Drake Caggiula got the puck but Tyson Foerster wrestled it away. He quickly turned around from the right dot and rifled it over the right shoulder of Filip Lindberg and into the net. The Phantoms extended their lead to 3-1 with 4:07 left.
Kudos also went out to Max Willman for winning the faceoff that led to the goal. The Phantoms did a good job winning the faceoffs, especially on Elliot Desnoyer, Artem Anisimov, and Cal O’Reilly’s lines.
A minute and eleven seconds later. The Phantoms added another goal. Egor Zamula (7) tracked the puck down and made a pass to Olle Lycksell (20). Lycksell used his speed to rush inside the Penguins’ zone. He had three players on him and Bobby Brink (4) was on the other side with no one covering him. Lycksell made a cross-ice pass to Brink and he scooted the puck past Lindberg’s left skate and into the net. It was now 4-1 Phantoms with 2:48 left.
Late in the second period, Max Willman took a high-sticking penalty and the Phantoms killed it off. Lehigh Valley led 4-1 after two periods and led the shots 27-21. They had 19 shots in the second period, while the Penguins had five. The four goals scored by the Phantoms were the most points the Phantoms had in one period this year.
Three minutes and thirty-nine seconds into the third period. The Penguins cut the Phantoms’ lead. Off the faceoff, Chris Ortiz’s (2) shot missed but Tyler Sikura (9) got the puck. He fired it toward Ersson and Nathan Legare (5) was shoved by Adam Brooks and scored the goal. At first, it look like Legare kicked the puck into the net but a closer look saw his stick make contact with it and got it past Ersson’s left side. The refs took a long time to review the play before they called it a good goal. It was now 4-2 Phantoms with 16:21 left.
Two minutes and eighteen seconds later. The Phantoms got the goal back. Max Willman (6) generated a rush toward the Penguins’ zone. Just before he got checked into the boards, Willman made a pass to Jackson Cates (9). Then, Cates found an all-alone Jordy Bellerive (4) and passed the puck to him. Bellerive fired the puck through the five-hole and into the net. The Phantoms led 5-2 with 14:04 left.
Shortly after the goal, fans were treated to a WWE show. Bobby Brink fought Josh Maniscalco and both went to the penalty box. Next, Haydon Hodgson and Jaime Devane agreed to fight after the faceoff and the two went at it with Hodgson getting two punches in while Devane was on the ground.
Third, just before the puck dropped. Garrett Wilson immediately went after Corey Andonovski and the two got in some good punches before leaving the game. While their fight was going on, Adam Brook fought Sean Houde and those two exited the game.
The Phantoms had six shots in the third period and came away with a 5-2 win over the Penguins. The Phantoms swept the three-game road trip and have taken over third place in the Atlantic Division. Lehigh Valley is now 5-3-2 in their last ten games.
The Phantoms finished the night with 33 shots, 0/3 on the power-play, and Sam Ersson made 28 saves. He did a terrific job in goal. On the other side, the Penguins had 30 shots, 0/3 on the power-play, and Filip Lindberg made 28 saves.
The Phantoms will now have four days off before their next game on Wednesday night. They return to the PPL Center against the Hershey Bears at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
