AHL Preseason 2021: Lehigh Valley 4 - at W-B/Scranton - 3 (OT) 10/9/21

ALLENTOWN, Pa.  - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back at PPL Center Saturday night in their home preseason opener in a rematch against rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

In a penalty-filled affair that saw a total of 18 (!) power plays handed out, the Phantoms overcame a 3-1 second period deficit and took the win in overtime on the back of Morgan Frost (two goals, assist) who tallied both the game-tying and game-winning goals in what was a strong showing from the recently re-assigned forward in his first game back in the AHL.

Max Willman opened the scoring for the Phantoms, while speedy 18-year-old winger Samu Tuomaala again put his wheels on display with a power play tally in the middle frame.

Samuel Ersson made his Phantoms debut and was tested early and often, picking up the win and stopping 32 of the 35 shots he faced.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Lines/Pairings:

Maksim Sushko - Cal O'Reilly (C) - Gerry Mayhew Max Willman - Morgan Frost - Tyson Foerster Isaac Ratcliffe - Matthew Strome - Samu Tuomaala Brennan Saulnier - Connor Bunnaman (A) - Linus Sandin

Linus Hogberg - Adam Clendening Mason Millman - Wyatte Wylie Jackson van de Leest - Logan Day

Phantoms scratches: Felix Sandstrom, German Rubtsov, Quinn Schmiemann, Charlie Gerard, Ryan MacKinnon, Hayden Hodgson and Nick Master

GAME RECAP

1st Period

The theme of the first period? Penalties. Penalties. Penalties.

Not once, but twice in the opening 10 minutes the Phantoms took a pair of penalties and put themselves down two skaters.

After a strong PK to kill off the first of those 5-on-3's, and some terrific saves from Samuel Ersson in his Phantoms' debut, the skill of Morgan Frost was on full display.

Frost took a puck from Linus Hogberg in the neutral zone, entered the offensive zone on the right wing and used great vision to spot Max Willman  - feeding a perfect cross-ice feed to catch Willman in stride on the left wing before the Phantoms forward sniped Penguins' goalie Louis Domingue from the bottom of the left-wing circle to put Lehigh Valley on top 1-0.

On the next shift following Willman's goal, Samu Tuomaala was whistled for slashing and during the ensuing PK Wyatte Wylie chopped down a WBS forward in the neutral zone - putting Lehigh Valley in their second 5-on-3 PK in the opening 10 minutes.

This one didn't go as well for the home team, as Pierre-Olivier Joseph eventually got open between the circles for a bar-down snipe to even the game at 1-1.

Lehigh Valley got their first crack at a power play with 7:15 to play in the opening period after a Kasper Bjorkvist interference minor, but were unable to convert.

Instead, it was Bjorkvist coming out of the box and finishing off a play at the net-front to put the Penguins ahead 2-1 with 5:01 left in the period.

Things got a little chippy late in the period after Maksim Sushko rag-dolled a WBS forward entering the offensive zone. Sushko had the speed to get by, but the WBS forward attempted to slow him down with a little interference. Penguins' enforcer Jamie Devane negated the would-be Penguins power play by going after Sushko in the corner in a scrum after the whistle for the Phantoms' delayed call.

Second Period

The penalty parade continued in the middle frame as the Phantoms headed back to the PK 1:14 into the period.

After a successful kill, Lehigh Valley looked to even the game up on a power play of their own but it was not to be. A neutral zone turnover saw Filip Hallander spring Nathan Legare on a breakaway, and the Penguins forward converted on a snipe past Ersson to give WBS a shorthanded tally and a 3-1 lead.

Lehigh Valley did cash in on one of their many power plays on the night late in the period, and it was the blazing speed of 18-year-old Samu Tuomaala that was too much for the Penguins' defense to contain.

Tuomaala flew down the right-wing with under four minutes left before the second intermission and, with a defender on his back, fired a hard shot from the circle past Domingue to bring the Phatnoms within a goal heading into the break.

Third Period

The Phantoms went from killing off their THIRD 5-on-3 of the game in the opening minute of the period, to getting a lengthy 5-on-3 of their own at the 5:25 mark. It was just one of those kind of nights.

Although Lehigh Valley was unable to convert on the two-man advantage, they continued to pressure in the offensive zone and tied the game up at 3-3 during a delayed penalty call.

Tuomaala got a puck to Isaac Ratcliffe below the goal line, and the 6-foot-6 forward sent a perfect pass to Frost in the slot where the skilled center toe-dragged before beating Domingue to even things up.

The penalties just seemed to never end. A total of 18 power plays were handed out between the two teams when it was all said and done in regulation, but 60  minutes wasn't enough to decide a winner so the game went to overtime.

Overtime

The three-on-three OT period lasted just 16 seconds, as Tyson Foerster and Frost flew down the ice and converted on a two-on-one chance with Foerster sending a pass across to Frost for a slam dunk to seal the deal on the preseason victory for the home team.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

5:42: LV - (PP) van de Leest, minor (hooking) 6:12: LV - (PP) Clendening, minor (cross-checking) 8:31: LV - Willman (1) - Frost, Hogberg 8:47: LV - (PP) Tuomaala, minor (tripping) 9:58: LV - (PP) Wylie, minor (tripping) 10:11: WBS - PPG Joseph (1) - Reinke, Drozg 12:45: WBS - (PP) Bjorkvist, minor (interference) 14:59: WBS - Bjorkvist (1) - Houde, Robert 16:36: WBS - Devane, minor (roughing) 16:36: LV - Sushko, minor (roughing)

2nd Period

1:14: LV - (PP) Wylie, minor (tripping) 5:31: WBS - (PP) Houde, minor (slashing) 7:07: WBS - SHG Legare (1) - Hallander 8:58: WBS - (PP) Reinke, minor (holding) 13:08: LV - (PP) Willman, minor (roughing) 15:48: WBS - (PP) Drozg, minor (slashing) 16:38: LV - Tuomaala (1) - unassisted

3rd Period

0:24: LV - (PP) Willman, minor (tripping) 0:57: LV - (PP) Sushko, minor (cross-checking) 4:55: WBS - (PP) Houde, minor (high-sticking) 5:25: WBS - (PP) Olson, minor (hooking) 8:01: LV - Frost (1) - Ratcliffe, Tuomaala 9:41: WBS - (PP) Drozg, minor (hooking) 12:24: WBS - (PP) Poulin, minor (roughing) 15:33: WBS - (PP) Bellerive, minor (interference) 16:44: LV - (PP) Mayhew, minor (slashing)

Overtime

0:16: LV - Frost (2) - Foerster, Clendening

BOXSCORE

W-B/Scranton  2 - 1 - 0 - 0 = 3 Lehigh Valley   1 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 4

Shots

W-B/Scranton  16 - 7 - 12 - 0 = 35 Lehigh Valley   7 - 9 - 12 - 1 = 29

Goalies

WBS: Louis Domingue (25 saves - 29 shots) LV: Samuel Ersson (32 saves - 35 shots)

Power Play

WBS: 1-for-9 LV: 1-for-9

Penalty Kill

WBS: 8-for-9 LV: 8-for-9