The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (34-25-6) returned to the PPL Center to close out the month of March on Friday night against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (25-28-12) for the final time of the season. Coming into this game, the Phantoms were 6-4-1 against the Penguins this season.
Since the Phantoms’ last game, the Flyers recalled goalie Sam Ersson (22-14-2, 2.68 GAA, .904 SV%) and he backed up Felix Sandstrom for a couple of games. Then, the Flyers returned him to Lehigh Valley, and started in goal with Nolan Maier backing him up.
There were some minor lineup changes as Olle Lycksell moved up to the first line, Garrett Wilson went to the second line, and Cal O’Reilly and Jackson Cates switched lines with O’Reilly on the third line and Cates on the fourth line.
Furthermore, Ronnie Attard returned from an illness and Adam Karashik was a healthy scratch. In addition to Karashik, Troy Grosenick, Zayde Wisdom, Cooper Marody, Will Zmolek, Wyatte Wylie, Hayden Hodgson, and Alex Kile were out for this game.
Thirty-four seconds into the first period, Garrett Wilson took an interference call that put the Penguins on the power play. The Phantoms killed the power play.
Eight minutes and twelve seconds into the game, the Penguins scored. Jonathan Gruden (11) had Kevin Connauton on him and he made a backhand pass to Valtteri Puustinen (29). As Puustinen cut across the ice, he drew Ersson away from his net, found Drake Caggiula (19) right there, and made the pass to him. Ersson spotted him but it was too late as Caggiula went five-hole and into the net. The Penguins led 1-0 with 12:48 left.
The Phantoms’ coverage early in the first period was terrible. Ersson was exposed several times but luckily made some saves to keep it a 1-0 game. The Penguins had six shots in the first eight minutes of the first period, while the Phantoms had three shots.
Midway through the first period, the Phantoms started to turn things around. They started to take chances inside the Penguins’ zone. Anytime the Penguins were able to get to the puck, the Phantoms quickly forced turnovers and continued to pound the Penguins’ zone.
With under four minutes left, the Phantoms went on their second power play of the game after Jon Lizotte took down Olle Lycksell and was called for interference. A minute and fifty-eight seconds later, the Phantoms tied the game.
Louie Belpedio (18) led the way to get the team set up for a shot opportunity. Then, he passed the puck to Egor Zamula (18). Furthermore, Zamula found Tyson Foerster (20) and he took his time to find the right shot from near the Penguins’ blue line and rifled it through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 1-1 with 2:46 left.
After allowing the first goal, the Phantoms had a 9-3 shot advantage. They tighten up coverage on defense and the game remained tied 1-1 after one period. The Phantoms led the shots 12-11.
The two teams engaged in a heated battle for the puck in the second period. The Phantoms had six shots in the first ten minutes of the second period. Lehigh Valley’s coverage held up but a Ronnie Attard (holding) and Kevin Connauton (hooking) put the Penguins on a five-on-three power play for a minute and forty-eight seconds.
The Penguins took the lead a minute and fifty-one seconds after the Connauton penalty. Tyler Sikura (23) made a pass to Valtteri Puustinen (30). Then, Puustinen rescinded the puck to Ty Smith (5) and he zipped the puck through the five-hole and into the net. It was now 2-1 Penguins with 6:33 left.
The Phantoms killed the other power play. Lehigh Valley had four shots for the remaining period and trailed the Penguins 2-1 after two periods. The Phantoms had ten shots in the second period and 22 shots overall.
Lehigh Valley got to Dustin Tokarski several times but Tokarski stopped them, including robbing Artem Anisimov’s shot late in the second period. The Penguins had five shots in the second period and 17 shots overall.
Before the third period started, Egor Zamula was not on the ice. He talked to Service Electrics Kristi Fulkerson after the second period ended. It is unknown why he left the game. However, it is likely he is getting called up again by the Flyers.
Six minutes and 37 seconds into the third period, the Phantoms tied the game. Adam Brooks (17) led the Phantoms’ attack inside the Penguins’ zone. He passed the puck to Jackson Cates (12) who almost had a goal. Just before Dustin Tokarski could cover the puck, Jordy Bellerive (7) stayed with the play by getting the puck away from Tokarski and had an open net in front of him for the goal. It was now 2-2 with 13:23 left.
Four minutes later, the Phantoms took the lead. Kevin Connauton (11) skated toward Tokarski and attempted a shot but it was blocked. Ronnie Attard (19) wrestled the puck away and drew Tokarski away from his net. Then, Attard found Bobby Brink (9) and quickly put the puck into the net. The Phantoms led 3-2 with 9:23 left.
The Phantoms did a good job covering their guys and the Penguins did not register a shot until two minutes left in the game. With a minute and fifty seconds left, the Penguins pulled Tokarski but the Phantoms put the game away with an empty net goal by Bobby Brink (10) for a 4-2 lead with 1:19 left. Elliot Desnoyers (19) assisted with his goal. The Phantoms defeated the Penguins by the final score of 4-2. They now have won three straight games and are 7-3 in their last ten games. Furthermore, the Phantoms win the season series 7-4-1.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 29 shots, 1-3 on the power play, and Sam Ersson made 17 saves. On the other side, the Penguins had 19 shots, 1-3 on the power play, and Dustin Tokarski made 25 saves.
The Phantoms host the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday at 7:05 pm on AHL.TV. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
