Pens drop 4-3 decision to Phantoms after penalties

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins fell in a shootout, 4-3, to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday afternoon at PPL Center.

Facing a rash of injuries to its blue line coming into the game, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (22-7-1-2) started strong and secured a standings point despite the adversity. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard posted a three-point game (2G-1A), but Lehigh Valley scored on both of its shootout attempts to steal the win.

The Penguins jumped on the Phantoms and notched the game’s first goal three minutes in. Valtteri Puustinen swerved around the offensive zone and snapped a perfect pass to Harvey-Pinard, who was parked atop the crease for the finish.

Harvey-Pinard tacked on his second tally of the afternoon at 3:24 of the middle frame. After Joel Blomqvist made a blocker stop on the Phantoms, Harvey-Pinard scooped up the rebound, carried it coast-to-coast before rifling the puck past Aleksei Kolosov.

Lehigh Valley rallied to tie the game with a pair of second-period, power-play goals. First, Lane Pederson banged in a one-timer at 6:54 of the stanza, followed by Pederson setting up Tucker Robertson for a tying strike.

Oscar Eklind gave the Phantoms their first lead of the day 2:50 into the third period, but the Penguins answered 31 seconds later. David Breazeale lobbed a shot through traffic and found the back of the net for his first AHL goal and tied things up, 3-3.

Blomqvist made six saves in overtime, including a jaw-dropping denial midway through the extra frame. After a turnover right at the Penguins’ crease, Blomqvist deftly shuffled side-to-side and then stretched his left leg as far as possible to rob Lehigh Valley on the doorstep.

However, Blomqvist was beaten by both Robertson and Cooper Marody in the shootout. Puustinen hit the post on his attempt, and Phil Tomasino was denied by Kolosov.

Blomqvist made 35 saves across regulation and overtime. Kolosov snapped a six-game losing streak with 26 saves in his 65 minutes of work.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is its last contest before the New Year, Tuesday, Dec. 30. The Penguins host the Charlotte Checkers for a New Year’s Eve Eve Bash with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.