The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (20-15-5) continued their five-game homestand on Friday night. They took on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (19-16-5) for the sixth time this year. So far in this series, neither team has won a home game. The Phantoms changed that on Friday.
There were no lineup changes before the game started. Sam Ersson (11-9-1, 2.76 GAA, .909 SV%) started in goal. The scratches for the Phantoms were Troy Grosenick, Adam Karashik, Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Zayde Wisdom, Isaac Ratcliffe, and Cooper Marody.
Both the Phantoms and Penguins had six shots each in the opening six minutes of the first period. Two minutes and two seconds later. The Phantoms went on their first power play after Valtteri Puustinen hooked Elliot Desnoyers. The Phantoms took advantage nine seconds later.
The Phantoms won the faceoff inside the Penguins’ zone and quickly got set up for a shot opportunity. Olle Lycksell (21) made a pass to Egor Zamula (8). Then, Zamula found Tyson Foerster (14) all alone and he ripped a one-timer through the five-hole and into the net. The Phantoms led 1-0 with 11:49 left. The Penguins played bad defense and forgot about Foerster which allowed him to get wide-open for the goal.
Three minutes and eleven seconds later. The Phantoms went on their second power play on another hooking call against Valtteri Puustinen this time on Wyatte Wylie. A minute and thirty-three seconds later. The Phantoms added another goal.
After Louie Belpedio (10) passed the puck to Olle Lycksell (22). Lycksell skated in a circle around the Penguins’ zone before finding Cal O’Reilly (4) near Filip Lindberg. Lycksell made a cross-ice pass and O’Reilly jammed the puck into the net. It was now 2-0 Phantoms with 7:05 left. They did a good job passing the puck around and kept the Penguins on their toes.
The Phantoms committed two penalties in the first period. Ronnie Attard for hooking and Adam Ginning for holding. Lehigh Valley killed both of those power plays. Just as the first period ended, Sean Josling was called for tripping and the Phantoms would begin the second period on the power play. They led 2-0 after one period and led the shots 13-11.
The Phantoms played with intensity, and aggression, fighting for the puck, and staying in their positions. In addition, the Phantoms won a lot of faceoffs in this game. However, they were hesitant to shoot the puck, resulting in some turnovers.
The Phantoms could not capitalize on the power play to start the second period. Nevertheless, the Phantoms added another goal a minute and thirty seconds after the power play expired. Bobby Brink (2) and Olle Lycksell (23) made some good passes to each other. Then, Brink found Ronnie Attard (6) cut inside the left circle before pelting the puck over Lindberg’s glove and into the net. It was now 3-0 Phantoms with 16:30 left.
A minute and twenty-six seconds later. The Phantoms added another goal. Ronnie Attard (10) made a long pass to Tyson Foerster (15) near the left boards. Then, Foerster used his speed toward Filip Lindberg. As Foerster was ready to shoot the puck, he got tripped by Raivis Ansons and still got the shot off that went over Lindberg’s glove and into the net. It was now 4-0 Phantoms with 15:04 left and Egor Zamula (9) picked up the secondary assists.
After the goal, the Penguins started building momentum. They had ten shots in the last sixteen minutes of the second period, while the Phantoms had three shots. There were a couple of fights.
One with Kevin Connauton and Nathan Legare after Legare ran into Ersson, and Garrett Wilson against Tyler Sikura after Sikura checked Foerster on the head and no penalty was called. The Phantoms had two penalties to kill and they got the job done. The Phantoms led 4-0 after two periods but the Penguins led the shots 22-21. The Penguins made a goalie change late in the second period with Taylor Gauthier in for Filip Lindberg.
In the third period. The Phantoms took their foot off the gas and it nearly cost them. Nine minutes and fifty-four seconds into the third period. The Penguins finally got on the board. After three chances to get the puck past Ersson. Drake Caggiula’s (20) shot bounced off of Ersson before Tyler Sikura (5) whisked it into the net. It was now 4-1 Phantoms with 10:06 left. Former Flyers draft pick Jack St. Ivany (5) got the secondary assist.
A minute and thirty seconds later. The Penguins made it a two-goal game when Corey Andonovski (7) fired the puck over Ersson’s glove and into the net. It was now 4-2 with 8:29 left. Taylor Fedun (3) and Raivis Ansons (3) assisted with his goal.
The Penguins pulled Gauthier twice for a man advantage but luckily, the Phantoms held them off to win the game by the final score of 4-2. The Phantoms had five shots in the third period, while the Penguins had 14.
The Phantoms almost gave this game away by not staying aggressive as they did in the first two periods. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton threw everything they had at the Phantoms. With this win, the Phantoms now take over sole possession of fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
The Phantoms finished the night with 26 shots, 2/5 on the power play, and Sam Ersson did a great job with 34 saves. On the other side, the Penguins had 36 shots, 0/5 on the power play, Filip Lindberg made 14 saves and Taylor Gauthier made eight saves.
The Phantoms continue their homestand on Saturday night. They take on the first-place Hershey Bears at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub.
