GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 2 at W-B/Scranton - 4 (10/27/21)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -  The Lehigh Valley Phantoms got off to a solid start in the opening period, taking a 2-1 lead late into the period, but two late goals by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the final 1:15 of the period - including one with 2.4 seconds left before the first intermission - flipped momentum that the Phantoms weren't able to fully regain in a 4-2 loss Wednesday night.

The loss sees the Phantoms dip to 0-4-1, their winless streak extended to five games. The Penguins, on the other hand, won a pair of OT games over the weekend and Wednesday's win moved them to 4-1-0 through five games.

"We had a pretty good first period. It was better than the last two games, but obviously it's not good enough," head coach Ian Laperriere said after the game. "It's not an easy league to win in and we just have to put a 60 minute effort in. And we didn't tonight."

While goaltending and the penalty kill have been the lone bright spots for Lehigh Valley coming in, the Penguins were able to score on their first two power plays of the contest and Felix Sandstrom was tagged for four goals against on 25 shots.

"I think we were just hard. We were pretty direct, north-south game. And I think we did that for most of the night, which is kind of frustrating," Adam Clendening told Inside AHL Hockey after the game. "It's getting to the point where it's just one of those things where you got to keep working. It'll come but it sucks when you're in it like this. We'll work through it, we're fine."

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Felix Sandstrom got the start in net on opening night, with Samuel Ersson serving as the backup.

Phantoms' Scratches: Cooper Zech, Mason Millman (lower body), Linus Sandin (upper body), Samu Tuomaala, Ryan MacKinnon and Hayden Hodgson

Lines/Pairings:

Max Willman (A) - Cal O'Reilly (C) - Tyson Foerster Garrett Wilson (A) - Morgan Frost - Gerry Mayhew Isaac Ratcliffe - German Rubtsov - Maksim Sushko Brennan Saulnier - Connor Bunnaman - Jackson Cates

Cam York - Wyatte Wylie Egor Zamula - Adam Clendening Linus Hogberg - Logan Day

Felix Sandstrom - Samuel Ersson

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Roster Notes

Filip Lindberg got the start in net for the Penguins Wednesday night with Louis Domingue serving as the team's backup.

Lines/Pairings:

Sam Poulin - Michael Chaput - Valtteri Puustinen Filip Hallander - Radim Zohorna - Felix Robert Jordy Bellerive - Sam Houde - Nathan Legare Jamie Devane - Jonathan Gruden - Kyle Olson

P.O. Joseph - Taylor Fedun Niclas Almari - Matt Bartkowski Chris Bigras - Cam Lee

Filip Lindberg - Louis Domingue

GAME RECAP

1st Period

With goals being hard to come by for both teams entering Wednesday night's contest, it was only fitting that two teams combined for FIVE first period goals.

The Penguins started the scoring 6:04 into the contest after enforcer Jamie Devane pulled out from behind the Phantoms' net and right to the top of the crease as Niclas Almari fired a hard shot from the center point. Devane was in perfect position, uncontested in front, and was able to re-direct Almari's point shot past Phantoms' netminder Felix Sandstrom to put the Pens ahead 1-0.

Lehigh Valley responded with a goal of their own just over two minutes later, while on their first power play opportunity of the night.

Adam Clendening was boarded by a Penguins' penalty killer on the Phantoms' offensive zone entry, but Egor Zamula was able to dig the loose puck free from the left-wing wall - starting a tic-tac-toe passing sequence that included Garrett Wilson and Morgan Frost. Frost, from down low in the left-wing circle, floated a pass to the net-front where Gerry Mayhew lifted a puck past Penguins' goalie Filip Lindberg to even the game at 1-1 with 12:37 left in the first frame.

The Phantoms took the lead just over five minutes later after some hustle from Maksim Sushko to push a puck ahead to Isaac Ratcliffe at the left-wing on the far blue line. Ratcliffe broke into the offensive zone 2-on-1 with Clendening, sending a pass across that the Phantoms' veteran defenseman was able to put in past Lindberg despite being hooked on his shot attempt.

The goal scoring didn't stop there, as the Penguins tied the game back up at 2-2 on a power play of their own with Tyson Foerster in the box for tripping for Lehigh Valley.  Pierre-Olivier Joseph got a puck to Michael Chaput at the top of the right-wing circle, and the Pens' forward sniped one to the far-side top corner on Sandstrom with 1:15 left before the first intermission.

Then, disaster struck for the Phantoms in the final five seconds of the period. Valtteri Puustinen was stood up just inside the Phantoms' offensive zone, and the loose puck was gobbled up by Pens' forward Radim Zohorna. Phantoms' defenseman Egor Zamula was in solid position and was able to mostly break up Zohorna's shooting bid, but the puck blooped up and then under Sandstrom's outstretched right arm and into the net to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead with just 2.4 seconds left on the first period clock.

2nd Period

It appeared to be quite a deflating goal allowed by the Phantoms, as they were a little sluggish to begin the middle frame - and it cost them.

On the penalty kill, a Phantoms' forward starting a forecheck wiped out - essentially giving the Penguins a 5-on-3 rush up ice. Credit to the Pens for the awareness and capitalizing on the opportunity. Puustinen got a pass to the middle for a trailing Zohorna in the slot for Zohorna's second of the game to extend the Pens' lead to 4-2 just 4:32 into the middle frame.

The Phantoms had a few strong shifts with a new-look second line of Garrett Wilson, Morgan Frost and Gerry Mayhew, drawing a power play near the midway mark of the period, but were unable to do much with ensuing power play chance.

Lehigh Valley was much better in the second half of the period, actually out-shooting the Pens 8-7 in the middle frame, but headed to the second intermission trailing 4-2.

3rd Period

The Phantoms once again had their chances in the third period to get back into the game, but were unable to close the gap any further Wednesday night despite three third period power play opportunities.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

6:04: WBS - Devane (1) - Almari, Gruden 7:51: WBS - (PP) Hallander, minor (delay of game) 8:23: LV - PPG Mayhew (2) - Frost, Wilson 13:27: LV - Clendening (1) - Ratcliffe, Sushko 17:05: LV - (PP) Foertser, minor (tripping) 18:45: WBS - PPG Chaput (1) - Joseph, Houde 19:57: WBS - Zohorna (1) - Puustinen, Poulin

2nd Period

3:17: LV - (PP) Clendening, minor (tripping) 4:32: WBS - PPG Zohorna (2) - Puustinen, Lee 8:01: WBS - (PP) Bigras, minor (hooking)

3rd Period

0:55: WBS - (PP) Robert, minor (delay of game) 6:14: LV - (PP) Willman, minor (hooking) 7:23: LV - (PP) Frost, minor (tripping) 9:48: WBS - (PP) Devane, minor (tripping) 15:00: WBS - (PP) Legare, minor (hooking) 18:29: LV - (PP) Mayhew, minor (tripping)

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Lehigh Valley   8 - 8 - 6 = 22 W-B/Scranton  13 - 7 - 5 = 25

Goalies

LV: Felix Sandstrom (21 saves - 25 shots) WBS: Filip Lindberg (20 saves - 22 shots)

Power Play

LV: 1-for-5 WBS: 2-for-5

Penalty Kill

LV: 3-for-5 WBS: 4-for-5