Game 47 Recap: Jarry, Penguins Hold Off Phantoms' Attack

WILKES-BARRE - During the course of the season, there are going to be times when a team runs into a hot goaltender.

That's exactly what the Lehigh Valley Phantoms went through Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Tristan Jarry was sharp from the opening face-off, stopping all but one of the 35 shots he faced as he continues his strong play since being reassigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) from Pittsburgh.

Jean-Sebastien Dea scored on the opening shift of the game, Daniel Sprong extended the lead with his patented one-timer from the circle on the power play and the Penguins rode Jarry to the finish line.

The Phantoms ended Jarry's shutout bid in the third period on a power play goal from Chris Conner, but they were unable - despite five power play opportunities and 35 shots on net - to overcome the early deficit.

Dustin Tokarski picked up the loss, stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced.

Looking Ahead: The Phantoms are approaching a busy game schedule that includes 10 games in a 17-day span beginning on Wednesday against Charlotte.

Phantoms Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)

Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Tyrell Goulbourne Radel Fazleev - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonaldChris Conner - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Oskar Lindblom - Mikhail Vorobyev - Matt Read

T.J. Brennan - Max Lamarche Reece Willcox - Mark Friedman Travis Sanheim - Phil Myers

Dustin Tokarski - John Muse'

Scratches: Sam Morin (injured), Will O'Neill (veteran), Steven Swavely (healthy), Corban Knight (injured), Danick Martel (injured) and Alex Krushelnyski (healthy)

Lineup Notes

Dustin Tokarski drew the start in net for Lehigh Valley, as head coach Scott Gordon said during last night's post-game press conference. John Muse, who stopped 38 shots in Friday's win over Charlotte, was tonight's backup.

Phil Varone was back in the Phantoms' lineup after being a surprise veteran scratch Friday. Will O'Neill was the team's veteran scratch Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.

Mark Friedman took O'Neill's spot on the blue line, while Steven Swavely was a healthy scratch to make room for Varone up front.

POST-GAME REACTION

POST-GAME RECAP

Certainly wasn't the start the Phantoms were looking for Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre. Lehigh Valley surrendered the game's first goal on the first shot of the hockey game on the opening shift.

Just 26 seconds into the contest, Jean-Sebastien Dea took a pass from Garrett Wilson and sniped one over the shoulder of Dustin Tokarski for his ()th of the season to give the Penguins an early 1-0 lead.

From there, the Phantoms got to their game and really took it to the Penguins in the first half of the period - racking up 10 shots and creating several Grade-A scoring chances.

Unfortunately for the orange and black, Tristan Jarry stood on his head during the Phantoms' waves of pressure - gloving a hard Greg Carey shot from the slot, robbing Travis Sanheim when it appeared the Phantoms' defenseman had an empty net to shoot at and coming up big on a sliding stop on a backdoor feed to Mike Vecchione, to name a few.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton weathered the storm, and extended their lead to 2-0 on a power play tally from Daniel Sprong. Ethan Prow got a pass across the top off the circles to Sprong at the right wing, and the Penguins forward stepped into a one-timer that beat Tokarski clean to the spot.

After a rather uneventful middle frame saw the two teams trade unsuccessful power plays, the Phantoms cut the deficit in half by converting on their fifth power play of the night.

Oskar Lindblom fed Chris Conner in the slot, and although Conner appeared to fan on his shot it dribbled along the ice and in through Jarry's five-hole to break the shutout bid.

That's as close as the Phantoms would get, despite buzzing in the final minutes - including in the 90 seconds of regulation with Tokarski pulled for the extra attacker.

One specific play with just under 40 seconds left, Lehigh Valley appeared to be in position to force overtime but a blooping rebound was snagged by Jarry's glove just before it could pass the goal line.

Despite 35 shots and the better of play at even strength (both teams went 1-for-5 on the man advantage) ultimately the Phantoms ran into a hot goaltender in Jarry, and Dea's goal on the opening shift of the night proved to be costly.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

0:26: WBS - Dea (11) - Wilson, Summers 11:14: LV - (PP) Read, minor (tripping) 12:33: WBS - PPG Sprong (20) - Prow, McKegg 15:19: WBS - (PP) Burton, minor (holding) 18:59: LV - (PP) Myers, minor (holding)

2nd Period

0:45: LV - Sanheim, minor (roughing) 0:45: WBS - Di Pauli, minor (roughing) 0:45: WBS - (PP) Di Pauli, minor (slashing) 1:49: LV - (PP) Brennan, double-minor (high-sticking) 16:01: LV - (PP) Brennan, minor (cross-checking) 18:13: WBS - (PP) Prow, minor (high-sticking)

3rd Period

3:34: WBS - (PP) Summers, minor (tripping) 8:25: WBS - (PP) Tinordi, minor (delay of game) 9:00: LV - PPG Conner (11) - Lindblom, Varone

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Lehigh Valley  13 - 10 - 12 = 35 W-B/Scranton  9 - 7 - 5 = 21

Goalies

LV: Dustin Tokarski (19 saves - 21 shots) WBS: Tristan Jarry (34 saves - 35 shots)

Power Play

LV: 1-for-5 WBS: 1-for-5

Penalty Kill

LV: 4-for-5 WBS: 4-for-5

Attendance: 7,591