GAME STORY: Lehigh Valley - 2 at W-B/Scranton - 4 (2/26/21)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-1-1) were unable to complete another third period comeback, this time falling in regulation for the first time this season in a 4-2 loss at the hands of in-state rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (3-2-1).

Zayde Wisdom tallied a goal on an incredible effort play in the second period, and Max Willman tallied a goal for the third straight game in the loss for the Phantoms.

Jon Lizotte and Felix Robert tallied a goal and an assist each to lead the Penguins' attack, who also got goals from Will Reilly and Jan Drozg.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Lines/Pairings:

Ryan Fitzgerald - Cal O'Reilly - Zayde Wisdom Max Willman - Chris Mueller - Linus Sandin Garrett Wilson - Tanner Laczynski - David Kase Maksim Sushko - Tanner MacMaster - Matthew Strome

Egor Zamula - Wyatte Wylie Mason Millman - Logan Day Linus Hogberg - Derrick Pouliot

Zane McIntyre - Felix Sandstrom

Phantoms' Scratches: Eamon McAdam, Tyler Wotherspoon (inj?), Isaac Ratcliffe (inj), Ralph Cuddemi, Brennan Saulnier, Chris Bigras, Pascal Laberge (inj) and Tyson Foerster (inj)

GAME RECAP

1st Period

The Phantoms definitely had the better of play in the first period, and by a wide margin. Unfortunately, despite a 11-4 edge in shots in the opening 20 minutes, Lehigh Valley found themselves heading to the locker room for the first intermission trailing the Penguins 1-0.

Chase Berger chased down a loose puck in the right-wing corner, and muscled it to Michael Joly. Joly then got it back to the right point where Will Reilly's changeup of a shot through traffic eluded everyone - including Phantoms' goalie Zane McIntyre - to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead just 2:38 into the contest.

From there, the Phantoms largely controlled play. Most of the period was spent in the Phantoms' offensive zone, and if not for some sharp saves from Penguins' goalie Max Lagace or a little puck luck for Lehigh Valley, the game would not have been a 1-0 Penguins lead heading into period two.

In fact, the Phantoms had a glorious chance to tie it up in the final minute of the period - getting a 5-on-3 power play after back-to-back Penguins' penalties. Uncharacteristically, Lehigh Valley lost the ensuing face-off and Berger was able to kill off most of the remaining time in the period.

The Phantoms' PP unit got set up in the final seconds, but just missed on a back-door tap in play as time expired in the opening frame.

2nd Period

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton responded with a much better effort in the middle frame, and they were the beneficiaries of two five-hole goals on McIntyre to extend their lead to 3-1 heading to the third.

First, Penguins' defender Jon Lizotte took a shot from the right-wing wall and it eluded McIntyre to give the Pens a 2-0 lead 4:14 into the period.

On the next shift, an unreal effort from Phantoms' 18-year-old rookie Zayde Wisdom resulted in a big response goal for Lehigh Valley to cut the deficit to 2-1.  With two defenders on his back, Wisdom somehow shielded the puck from them both before flipping backhander past Lagace to the top shelf for his team-leading fifth of the season. Here's the highlight reel play by Wisdom, for those interested (https://twitter.com/TonyAndrock/status/1365437678515335180)

To the Penguins' credit, they went right back to work - later re-taking the two goal lead after Jan Drozg re-directed a Zach Nastasiuk shot past McIntyre with 7:07 left before the second intermission.

The 3-1 score held to the horn, where Mason Millman took a tripping penalty as time expired to give the Penguins a fresh sheet of ice for their second power play of the game.

Third Period

Down by two, the Phantoms needed another third period comeback - certainly not a recipe for success long term. It simply didn't happen tonight.

A bit of a misread defensively by Linus Hogberg allowed Felix Robert to skate down the left wing and snipe McIntyre to the short side top corner to put the game out of reach at a 4-1 Penguins' lead. Hogberg tried to play the pass, but I don't think he saw one of his Phantoms' teammates was actually covering the Penguins' forward heading to the net. In hindsight, Hogberg should have probably played the puck carrier (Robert) but with three rookie blueliners these kinds of miscues are to be expected.

Similar to Wisdom's goal in the second period, Max Willman responded and got the Phantoms back within two on the shift after the Penguins' tally.

After throwing a puck to the corner, Willman headed to the net and Chris Mueller was first to the loose puck - centering for Willman and a quick shot trickled in past Lagace to give Willman goals in three straight games.

Lehigh Valley had a brief power play, then a full two-minute power play in the final eight and a half minutes but were unable to convert.

On the season, the Phantoms' power play is converting at a 4% success rate (1-for-25). While the power play wasn't the reason they lost tonight, it certainly needs to start trending in the other direction - and fast.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

2:38: WBS - Reilly (2) - Joly, Berger 18:10: WBS - (PP) Lizotte, minor (tripping) 19:11: WBS - (PP) Reilly, minor (slashing)

2nd Period

4:14: WBS - Lizotte (1) - Nastasiuk, Gruden 4:34: LV - Wisdom (5) - O'Reilly 12:53: WBS - Drozg (2) - Lizotte, Robert 16:11: LV - (PP) Wisdom, minor (slashing) 20:00: LV - (PP) Millman, minor (tripping)

3rd Period

3:14: WBS - Robert (1) - Drozg, Berger 3:57: LV - Willman (4) - Mueller, Sandin 10:23: LV - (PP) Kase, minor (hooking) 11:04: WBS - (PP) Sohorna, minor (hooking) 15:09: WBS - (PP) Lizotte, minor (holding)

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Lehigh Valley   11 - 8 - 6 = 25 W-B/Scranton  4 - 13 - 7 = 24

Goalies

LV: Zane McIntyre (20 saves - 24 shots) WBS: Max Lagace (23 saves - 25 shots)

Power Play

LV: 0-for-4 WBS: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill

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