By Michael Heilman
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms returned from Christmas break to take on the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza Friday night. The Phantoms were looking to start fresh after splitting the weekend series against the Charlotte Checkers last week.
The Phantoms got off to a hot start thirty-one seconds into the first period as Gerry Fitzgerald (3) scored the first goal of the game to put the Phantoms up 1-0 with an assist from Maksim Sushko (5). The Phantoms controlled the puck throughout the first period. The Phantoms had a couple of opportunities on the power play to extend the lead but could not take advantage of either of them. The Penguins almost tied the game as the puck went over Alex Lyon’s shoulder and into the net, but after the referees reviewed the replay, the head official called a no goal and the Phantoms remained in the lead 1-0 as the first period ended.
As the second period started, the Phantoms looked to add to their lead until they started to run into trouble when at three minutes and thirty-one seconds, Penguins right-winger Anthony Angello (10) tied the game 1-1 with assists from Andrew Agozzino (15) and Pierre-Olivier Joseph (3). Momentum had shifted to the Penguins side as their offense was now pushing through the Phantom’s defense. The Phantoms had an opportunity to regain the lead on the power play but could not convert and the game remained tied 1-1. The Phantoms cost themselves a penalty late in the second period as a slashing call on Nate Prosser sent the Penguins on the power play. The Penguins would remain on the power play still tied 1-1 at the end of the second period.
With the Penguins still on the power play as the third period started, the Phantoms knew they had to step up on defense to not allow the Penguins to score a goal. While they did manage to stop the Penguins on the power play, they had no answer for Anthony Angello (11) who scored his second goal of the game shortly after the power play expired one minute and twenty-six seconds in the third period to give the Penguins the lead 2-1 with assists from Andrew Agozzino (16) and Kevin Roy (11). Ten seconds later, the Penguins committed a penalty by Andreas Martinsen for high-sticking, putting the Phantoms on the power play.
Despite being short-handed, less than a minute later, the Penguins extended the lead 3-1 on a goal by Jake Lucchini (4) with an assist from Pierre-Oliver Joseph (4). The Phantoms capitalized on the power play as Matthew Strome (2) scored to cut the Penguins lead to one 3-2 with assists from Pascal Laberge (2) and Chris Bigras (4). With time running out in the third period, the Phantoms pulled goalie Alex Lyon for the extra attacker, but the Penguins put the game away on an empty-net goal by Anthony Angello (12) to complete the hat trick and a two-goal lead 4-2 with assists from Andrew Agozzino (17) and Sam Miletic (14). The Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-2.
The Phantoms won the shots on goal total with twenty-nine to the Penguins twenty-seven. The Phantoms went one for four on the power play while the Penguins went zero for two. Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon made twenty-three of twenty-six saves allowing three goals while Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith made twenty of twenty-one saves, allowing one and backup goalie Dustin Tokarski made seven of eight saves allowing one goal.
The three stars of the game were Penguins left-winger Andrew Agozzino with three assists, Penguins left-winger Jake Lucchini with one goal, and Penguins right-winger Anthony Angello with three goals. The Phantoms return to the PPL Center Saturday at 7:05 pm against the Utica Comets.
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