The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back in action at the PPL Center Saturday night to take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The last time the Phantoms played the Penguins was back on March 21st, powering through to a 5-4 overtime win. Earlier this week, the Phantoms had Tanner Laczynski and Linus Sandin called up to the Flyers Taxi Squad. At the same time, they got Connor Bunnaman and Carsen Twarynski.
Scratches for the game were Egor Zamula, Tanner MacMaster, Mason Millman, Ralph Cuddemi, Brennan Saulnier, Pascal Laberge, Felix Sandstrom, and David Kase. Zane McIntyre got the start at goalie and is 7-1-1 in eleven games played this season.
The Phantoms struck first at 4:47 in the first period after Cal O’Reilly shot the puck that hit Penguins center Josh Currie. O’Reilly then rebounded the puck to finish the drive and a 1-0 lead. A minute later, off the face-off, the Penguins tied the game at one apiece when Kevin Czuczman’s shot hit McIntyre before Felix Roberts finished the play for the goal.
The Penguins kept the pressure on the Phantoms and mainly were playing in the Phantoms neutral zone. At 9:26, Chris Bigras was called for interference, sending the Penguins on the power play. The Penguins took a 2-1 lead after Josh Currie found Drew O’Connor, whose shot went upstairs and in for the goal.
A minute later, Max Willman attempted a shot that hit the pad of Zach Trotman. The puck went in the direction of Tyson Foerster. He barely got a piece of the puck before Penguins goalie Alex D’Orio kicked it in to tie the game at two apiece.
Late in the first period, Phantoms defenseman Derrick Pouliot was called for slashing, putting the Penguins on the power play. With twenty seconds left on the powerplay, the Penguins made the Phantoms pay. Pierre-Oliver Joseph’s shot hit McIntyre’s jersey, then went over his shoulder and in for the goal to retake the lead 3-2. The Penguins had a 17-10 shot advantage at the end of the first period.
In the early minutes of the second period, Lehigh Valley had a couple of chances to tie the game up, but both shots went wide. The Penguins continued to pressure the Phantoms, forcing them to turn over the puck. The Phantoms were struggling to keep up. Lehigh Valley had three more chances, two on breakaways, but couldn’t score. Derrick Pouliot made a bad pass with five minutes left in the second period that cost the Phantoms. Jan Drozg intercepted the puck and went upstairs for the goal to extend the Penguins lead 4-2.
Less than a minute later, the Phantoms began to show some signs of life as Cal O’Reilly found Wade Allison. Allison went around Jon Lizotte and shot the puck that went under the glove of D’Orio and in for the goal to make it a one-goal game. The Phantoms now trailed the Penguins 4-3 after the second period, with the shots even at nine apiece.
The third period was a battleground. The Phantoms came close several times to tying the game. With 2:54 left, head coach Scott Gordon took a gamble and pulled McIntyre for the extra man. His gamble paid off with forty-eight seconds left. Tyson Foerster’s shot went into the net to tie the game at four apiece. It was his second goal of the game. Time expired, and the game headed to overtime. The Phantoms had a 9-8 shot advantage.
Neither team scored in overtime, and the Phantoms headed to their first shootout of the season. Tyson Foerster scored first to start the shootout. Then Zane McIntyre made all three saves to send the Phantoms to a 5-4 win. The Phantoms are now on a four-game winning streak.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 31 shots, 0-2 on the power play, and Zane McIntyre made 32 saves. McIntyre earned the third star, Cal O’Reilly earned the second star, and Tyson Foerster earned the first star. Foerster has now scored four goals, two assists in the last couple of games.
In other news, Tanner Laczynski made his NHL debut for the Flyers. He had one shot attempt, a block, and a hit in the Flyers 3-2 loss to the Islanders. Meanwhile, Linus Sandin remains in the Flyers Taxi Squad and should be returning to the Phantoms soon.
Lehigh Valley will now head back to Newark to take on the Devils on Monday, April 5th, at 7 pm on AHL.tv.
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