The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (32-25-6) started a two-game road trip on Saturday evening against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (25-26-7) from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Coming into this game, the Phantoms were 5-4-1 against the Penguins this year.
Since the Phantoms’ last game, the Philadelphia Flyers recalled defenseman Egor Zamula. After the Flyers’ 3-0 win on Saturday afternoon, Zamula and Tyson Forester are headed back to Lehigh Valley as announced by head coach John Tortorella.
There were some minor lineup changes. First, Ronnie Attard was out due to an illness, and Alex Kile was recalled from the Maine Mariners (ECHL) in place of Cooper Marody. Kile did not play tonight.
Furthermore, defenseman Emil Andrae made his Phantoms debut. In addition to Attard and Kile, Troy Grosenick, Cooper Marody, Will Zmolek, and Hayden Hodgson were out of the game. Sam Ersson (20-14-2, 2.69 GAA, .903 SV%) started in goal with Nolan Maier backing him up.
Three minutes and twenty-two seconds into the first period, the Penguins struck first. After Adam Brooks’ shot was blocked, Drake Caggiula (18) took the puck for a breakaway and sniped it over Ersson’s right pad and into the net. It was 1-0 with 16:38 left.
Four minutes and forty-five seconds later, the Phantoms tied the game. Garrett Wilson (16) led the Phantoms inside the Penguins’ zone up against the right boards. Then, he took a shot that went off of Drake Caggiula’s stick and into the net. The game was tied 1-1 with 12:53 left. Adam Brooks (16) and Wyatte Wylie (7) assisted with Wilson’s goal.
The Phantoms dominated the first period with 12 shots on goal. Late in the first period, Adam Ginning and Nathan Légaré traded punches while Jackson Cates went to the penalty box for holding. The Penguins had a minute and 37 seconds of power play time to begin the second period. The game remained tied 1-1 after one period.
The Phantoms killed the power play to begin the second period. However, four minutes and twenty-two seconds in the period, newcomer Emil Andrae went back to the penalty box for the second time on a holding call.
A minute and twenty-two seconds later, the Penguins regained the lead. Both teams were fighting for the puck at the right corner of the boards. Jonathan Gruden (9) dug the puck out and passed it to Josh Maniscalco (1). Maniscalco’s shot hit Adam Ginning’s back leg and went into the net for a power play goal. The Penguins led 2-1 with 14:16 left.
Later in the second period, Jonathan Gruden took a cheap shot at Elliot Desnoyers. Adam Karashik took no exceptions and fought him. Afterward, Karashik was issued a ten-minute game misconduct for instigating. Gruden, who was responsible for taking out Cooper Marody last Sunday, served a five-minute penalty for fighting.
The officials missed several calls in this game that should’ve gone the Phantoms way and after what happened last Sunday, you can’t blame the Phantoms for going after Gruden.
None of this would’ve happened if the officials did their job correctly. Heck, if the AHL suspended Gruden for what he did to Marody last week, none of this would’ve happened. Karashik did not return until the third period. The Phantoms had five shots in the second period and trailed the Penguins 2-1 after two periods.
Fifty-three seconds into the third period, the Phantoms went on their third power play of the game when Kyle Olson interfered with Emil Andrae. A minute and fifty-nine seconds later, the Phantoms tied the game. Emil Andrae (1) made a pass to Bobby Brink (12). Brink started to cut across the ice when he found Artem Anisimov (17) and Anisimov flipped the puck over Taylor Gauthier’s left pad and into the net for a power play goal. The game was tied 2-2 with 17:08 left.
The Phantoms had five shots on goal in the third period. The Phantoms’ defense allowed an odd-man rush for the Penguins but Sam Ersson made the save that kept the game tied. After 60 minutes of play, the game remained tied 2-2 heading to overtime.
Thirty-seven seconds into overtime, Artem Anisimov (14) won the faceoff inside the Penguins’ zone. He flipped the puck over a diving Penguins defenseman toward Adam Brooks (9) and he riffled it over Gauthier’s left shoulder and into the net to give the Phantoms a 3-2 win. The win snapped the Phantoms’ three-game winless streak, and they now take sole possession of fifth place in the Atlantic Division.
This was a hard-fought win for the Phantoms to keep their playoff hopes alive. Lehigh Valley finished the night with 24 shots, 1-3 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 19 saves. On the other side, the Penguins had 21 shots, 1-4 on the power play, and Taylor Gauthier made 21 saves.
The Phantoms visit the Giant Center on Sunday against the Hershey Bears at 5 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
