Game Story: W-B/Scranton - 3 at Lehigh Valley - 1 (10/28/22)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins broke open a 1-1 game in the final three minutes of the third period to extend their season-opening unbeaten in regulation streak to six games in winning their fifth straight on Friday night in Allentown.

Newcomer Tyler Sikura tallied his first as a Penguin to break the 1-1 tie with 2:33 left in regulation, and Corey Andnovoski (one goal, one assist) sealed the deal with 1:19 left to play while goaltender Dustin Tokarski stopped all but one of the 23 shots he faced. Valtteri Puustinen also scored for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, his third straight game with a tally.

Max Willman gave Lehigh Valley a 1-0 lead late in the first period, but that was all the offense the home team was able to muster up. Goaltender Samuel Ersson played strong, stopping 32 of the 35 shots he faced in a losing effort.

The Penguins got off to a strong start, opening up a 6-0 edge in shots on goal to begin the game and not allowing a shot in the opening five minutes. They also held a 10-3 edge toward the middle of the period, but were unable to open the scoring and get one past Ersson.

Instead, it was Max Willman stealing a puck along the left-wing wall late in the opening period and opening the scoring on a great individual effort - making a strong move to the net before being hauled down and firing a puck through the legs of Tokarski with 1:46 left before the first intermission.

The two teams played 12:53 into the middle frame without either team registering a shot on goal.

Later in the stanza, it was the Penguins tying the game up at 1-1 while on their third man advantage of the period thanks to a dazzling display of patience from Puustinen.

Ersson stopped a tough angle shot down low from Filip Hallander and a rebound attempt from Alex Nylander before Drew O'Connor shuffled a puck across to Puustinen. Puustinen, instead of immediately firing the puck, side stepped a defender in the slot and sniped one past Ersson to the top shelf for his third goal in as many games.

After enjoying four straight power plays in the middle frame, it was the Penguins getting into penalty trouble in the third as Jon Lizotte was whistled for penalties four minutes apart in the opening eight minutes of the final frame.

The Penguins were able to kill off both penalties, before later breaking the 1-1 tie with 2:33 left after Hallander stole a puck just inside the offensive zone blue line and flipped it over to Sikura for a quick shot past Ersson. Corey Andonovski added a secondary assist on Sikura's first of the season.

Andonovski completed the scoring with 1:19 left in regulation, accepting a great pass from Jonathan Gruden and converting on a mini-breakaway to seal the deal on the Penguins' 3-1 victory.

Penguins Post-Game EXTRA!

Head coach JD Forrest

On his thoughts on the team's overall performance from start-to-finish

"I just think we stuck with it. And we talked about that being a challenge for any team to do that. You start getting chances, you get shots, you get power plays, you're not scoring as much as you want. And it's easy to stray from the game plan. But I think our guys were disciplined. And sometimes it takes 58 minutes to score the game winner. Sometimes it takes 64. You know, sometimes you gotta go to a shootout. So the teams that stick with it and can stay on to the deepest runs of playing their game. That's usually a team that has a good chance of winning."

On how to keep the win streak going

"Just not get too happy about what we're doing. I mean, the minute it turns midnight here, this one's parked. We got a new challenge tomorrow. And just kind of approach it that each day is a different challenge. Whether it's a game or it's a practice. We don't want to be happy with five in a row. It's kind of nobody cares. They just care about the next one."

Forward Tyler Sikura

On his first goal with the Penguins being a game-winner

"Yeah, definitely. That's something that I definitely try to relish in - the big moments. Maybe it's not the quantity of goals, but the quality of them and the timing of them. So that one felt really nice to be trusted to be out there late in the game. And [Hallander] made a nice play. It kind of squirted through some legs and it opened up. I was thinking it might [and I] was able to get pretty decent wood on it and it deflected off the defender and beat the goalie. That one felt good after a long time waiting."

On playing well, but still being in a 1-1 game into the final minutes of regulation

"Yeah, I was proud of us. We stuck with it. I think when we got some leads early on in the season, we've kind of gotten away from what's gotten us those leads. And tonight, it was an ugly game at times, we didn't really have to make too many skilled plays, just kind of chip and chase and and we waited for opportunities. And we got two in the last couple of minutes. I think that's a good recipe for us. And a good formula we'll want to stick with."

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Dustin Tokarski got the start in net for the Penguins Friday night in Allentown. Filip Lindberg served as the team's backup.

Defenseman Colin Swoyer and forward Jamie Devane made their regular season debuts for the Penguins, while Jack St. Ivany and Kyle Olson (injured in fight Wednesday vs. Cleveland) were scratched from the lineup to make room.

Penguins Scratches: Jack St. Ivany, Mitch Reinke, Jordan Frasca, Raivis Ansons and Kyle Olson

Lines/Pairings:

Alex Nylander - Drew O'Connor - Lukas Svejkovksy Filip Hallander - Sam Houde - Valtteri Puustinen Jamie Devane - Jonathan Gruden - Nathan Legare Ty Glover - Tyler Sikura - Corey Andonovski

Ty Smith - Mark Friedman Jon Lizotte - Taylor Fedun Xavier Ouellet - Colin Swoyer

Dustin Tokarski - Filip Lindberg

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Samuel Ersson got the start in net for Lehigh Valley Friday night. Troy Grosenick served as the team's backup goaltender.

Phantoms Scratches: Adam Karashik, Linus Hogberg, Ryan Fitzgerald, Evan Barratt, Adam Brooks, Cooper Marody and Charlie Gerard

Lines/Pairings:

Garrett Wilson - Elliot Desnoyers - Tyson Foerster Olle Lycksell - Cal O'Reilly - Hayden Hodgson Alex Kile - Jackson Cates - Max Willman Isaac Ratcliffe - Jordy Bellerive - Zayde Wisdom

Cam York - Louie Belpedio Kevin Connauton - Ronnie Attard Adam Ginning - Wyatte Wylie

Samuel Ersson - Troy Grosenick

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

7:14: LV - (PP) Hodgson, minor (interference) 10:01: WBS - (PP) Fedun, minor (interference) 18:14: LV - Willman (2) - unassisted

2nd Period

5:24: LV - (PP) Attard, minor (delay of game) 10:57: LV - (PP) Ratcliffe, minor (holding) 13:44: LV - (PP) O'Reilly, minor (holding) 14:06: WBS - PPG Puustinen (3) - O'Connor, Nylander

3rd Period

4:05: WBS - (PP) Lizotte, minor (interference) 8:03: WBS - (PP) Lizotte, minor (tripping) 11:12: LV - (PP) Bellerive, minor (cross-checking) 17:27: WBS - Sikura (1) - Hallander, Andonovski 18:41: WBS - Andonovski (2) - Gruden

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

W-B/Scranton  14 - 9 - 12 = 35 Lehigh Valley 12 - 3 - 8 = 23

Goalies

WBS: Dustin Tokarski (22 saves - 23 shots) LV: Samuel Ersson (32 saves - 35 shots)

Power Play

WBS: 1-for-6 LV: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill

WBS: 3-for-3 LV: 5-for-6