Allentown, PA – A day after an exciting, high-energy season opener, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms couldn’t repeat the magic on Sunday afternoon, falling 4-1 to the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at PPL Center. Defenseman Helge Grans scored Lehigh Valley’s only goal on the power play late in the second period, while rookie goaltender Connor Bjarnason deflected 26 shots in his professional debut.
The Penguins jumped out quickly and took advantage of an early man advantage when Aidan McDonough fired a laser from the left circle just 4:03 into the game to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Phantoms’ penalty kill came into its own next, including a successful kill midway through the first when Lane Pederson was called for hooking, but offense was difficult to come by in a balanced opening frame that ended with the shots even at 10-10.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton extended their lead early in the second when Avery Hayes finished off a sharp passing sequence on another power play, throwing a shot that looked in off both posts to make it 2-0. Lehigh Valley nearly broke through midway through the period with a 3-on-1 rush, but Carl Grundstrom fanned the feed from the left. Moments later, Bjarnason kept his team in it with a great stop on a partial breakaway opportunity.
The PPL Center crowd finally had a reason to roar at 15:52 of the second when Helge Grans lasered a center drive through traffic on the power play to cut the deficit in half. Anthony Richard created the chance with his quick entrance, splitting the defense in two, forcing Filip Larsson to make a tough save down the left path. Lane Pederson and Carl Grundstrom worked for the loose puck in the crease in the frenzied melee, but a Penguins defenseman cleared it further out, where Grans fired a top-shelf blast over the fallen goaltender. The unassisted count was his first of the season and gave the Lehigh Valley some much-needed life. Bjarnason then came up big again late in the frame, stoning Sam Poulin after a short breakaway to keep the score at 2-1 heading into the third.
Any hopes of a comeback were halted midway through the final period when Ville Koivunen’s shot deflected perfectly to Tristan Broz between the circles, and the Penguins forward fired low past Bjarnason for a 3-1 lead with 14:49 remaining. Lane Pederson nearly pulled the Phantoms within one on two separate attempts: a short rush that deflected off the post and later a low redirection that was denied by goalkeeper Filip Larsson. Lehigh Valley’s late charge included three short attempts from Pederson, Alexis Gendron and Karsen Dorwart, but Larsson held on. With the Phantoms’ net empty, Broz added his second goal of the evening at 17:59 to seal a 4-1 final.
Finding consistency for a new, young group will be a process, but head coach John Snowden is seeing solid play from his budding young players even in the first weekend of the season.
“I think Barkey had two really good games,” Snowden said. “You can just see his IQ and his competitiveness. He’s getting pucks back. He’s holding onto the puck. He’s a freshman and he’s playing like he’s been in the league a few years, which is good to see. I thought Bump had a little more bounce in his game tonight. He was a little more physical and went into guys a little more, tried to attack the interior. Overall, he created a few opportunities.”
Despite not getting the win, 20-year-old rookie Carson Bjarnason showed he is ready to compete at the AHL level.
“I thought he was good,” Snowden said. “I don’t think we helped him very much because we gave up a lot of pretty dangerous opportunities in the area. He made the saves he had to make. Obviously, we were on the penalty kill a lot again tonight, so he’s got to make some saves on that and fight through some traffic. They had a couple of guys at the net. I was really encouraged with this game tonight,
The Phantoms fell to 1-1-0 on the young season, while the Penguins improved to 2-0-0. Despite the result, fans were treated to another spirited afternoon at PPL Center as Lehigh Valley closed out its opening weekend with a split against its first two opponents.
Lehigh Valley heads to Northeast Ohio next weekend for back-to-back games against the Cleveland Monsters on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18 before returning home on Friday, October 24 for “Haunted on Hamilton Night” against the Hershey Bears.
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