GAME STORY: W-B/Scranton at Lehigh Valley 3/11/20

ALLENTOWN, PA --  The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (24-28-9) kick off the final five weeks of their regular season schedule with a Wednesday night rivalry matchup with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (28-26-8) in what is the first of two games between the Atlantic Division foes this week at the PPL Center. The two teams will reconvene Friday night for a 7:15 p.m. ET face-off.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Lines/Pairings

Carsen Twarynski - Morgan Frost - Isaac Ratcliffe Andy Andreoff - Cal O'Reilly - David Kase Max Willman - Mikhail Vorobyev - Maksim Sushko Greg Carey - Gerry Fitzgerald - Kurtis Gabriel

Chris Bigras - Nate Prosser Tyler Wotherspoon - Reece Willcox James de Haas - Eric Knodel

Alex Lyon - Kirill Ustimenko'

Scratches: Andy Welinski, German Rubtsov and Chris Stewart

GAME STORY

1st Period

There was some uneventful back-and-forth action in the opening half of the period, before a bit of a broken play in the neutral zone led Penguins forward Adam Johnson in alone from blue line. Alex Lyon came up big on the breakaway, getting a piece of Johnson's backhamd attempt and keeping the game scoreless.

The Phantoms got the game's first power play chance just past the midway mark of the period, but were unable to generate much of anything with the opportunity. The season-long trend of being unable to cash in on the man advantage continued, as Lehigh Valley entered Wednesday night's game dead last in the American Hockey League (AHL) in power play efficiency, converting with a success rate of just 10.8%.

Ex-Phantoms goalie Dustin Tokarski made all the necessary stops in the first frame for the Penguins, most notably flashing the glove on a chance from Kurtis Gabriel in the right-wing circle late in the period.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had a late perirod surge, tallying the final five shots of the period to take a 12-8 edge in shots on goal, but the two teams entered the first intermission in a scoreless tie behind the strong play of both goaltenders.

2nd Period

The Penguins picked up where they left off at the tail end of the first period, generating scoring chances in dangerous ares and putting Lyon to work.

Thankfully for Lehigh Valley, Lyon was the best player on the ice wearing an orange jersey in the opening half of regulation. The Phantoms' netminder had two seperate flurries of pressure toward his net in the opening minutes of the period, but was able to make the necessary stops to keep the game scoreless.

Lehigh Valley began to generate some offensive pressure toward the middle of the period, but Tokarski was equal to the task as well - turning the game into quite the goaltender's duel. Tokarski was pressed into action after a defensive zone turnover saw Isaac Ratcliffe pick up a loose puck and center for Morgan Frost, but the Penguins goalie stopped Frost's one-timer from the slot.

Penguins' forward Kevin Roy broke the scoreless tie with 4:40 left in regulation, but not before hitting the post on a breakaway attempt moments prior. Roy was visibly upset that a Phantoms' defender wasn't whistled for a slashing penalty, but didn't have to wait long for redemption as he weaved his way from the right-wing circle to center point before flinging one past Lyon.

The Phantoms had a glorious opportunity to tie the game in the final 2:36 of the period, getting a power play chance that turned into a brief 5-on-3 advantage in the final minute of the middle frame, but Tokarski and the Penguins shut things down and headed to the third period with the one-goal lead.

3rd Period

The two teams continued to keep it tight in the final period, as both goalies continued to make timely save after timely save.

It wasn't until there was 7:06 left in regulation that another goal was scored, and it came with a good second effort after an initial shot attempt was blocked down.

Lehigh Valley cycled the puck in the offensive zone after a face-off win, and Chris Bigras fired a shot from the left point that Kurtis Gabriel was able to tip past Tokarski to even the game at 1-1 and eventually force overtime.

Overtime

The Penguins avoided disaster and continue their last ditch effort toward a postseason spot after former Phantom Phil Varone set up Riley Barber for a quick one-timer past Lyon for the game-winner.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

10:13: WBS - (PP) Cassels, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

15:20: WBS - Roy (14) - Johnson, Cassels 17:24: WBS - (PP) Bellerive, minor (slashing) 18:59: WBS - (PP) Scarfo, minor (high-sticking)

3rd Period

8:15: LV - (PP) Gabriel, minor (slashing) 12:54: LV - Gabriel (5) - Bigras, Vorobyev 17:08: LV - (PP) Gabriel (hooking)

Overtime

0:55: WBS - Barber (16) - Varone

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

W-B/Scranton  12 - 12 - 10 - 1= 35 Lehigh Valley  8 - 11 - 6 - 0 = 25

Goalies

WBS: Dustin Tokarski (24 saves - 25 shots) LV: Alex Lyon (33 saves - 35 shots)

Power Play

WBS: 0-for-2 LV: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill

WBS: 3-for-3 LV: 2-for-2