WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Joel Blomqvist locked down his first AHL shutout as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 3-0, on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (30-20-7-1) took on their turnpike rival for the third-straight game and took back third place in the Atlantic Division thanks to Blomqvist’s 23-save clean sheet. Jagger Joshua led the team’s offense with his first career two-goal game.
Joshua started the scoring by banging in a rebound nine minutes into the first period.
The Penguins were dealt three penalty kills in the first period, including a five-on-three man advantage. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fended off all three of those opportunities to keep their 1-0 lead intact.
Joshua struck again at 15:18 of the second stanza to put the Penguins ahead by two. Corey Andonovski stared down a big hit in front of the Phantoms bench, but delivered a breakout pass to Joona Koppanen before the impact to create a two-on-one rush. Koppanen touched the puck to Joshua, who rocketed a wrister bar-down for his second goal of the night.
Lehigh Valley brought a heavy press during a third-period penalty kill and generated numerous point-blank chances. Blomqvist was prepared for the barrage, keeping his team ahead by two.
Eventually, Dmitri Samorukov secured the victory with an empty-net goal launched from the Penguins’ goal line.
Phantoms goalie Cal Petersen took the loss with 29 saves on 31 shots faced.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is the first of back-to-back visits to the Cleveland Monsters, starting on Sunday, Mar. 17. Game time for the Penguins and Monsters is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Penguins’ next home game is also their annual Star Wars Night, as they take things into hyperdrive against the Utica Comets. Star Wars Night is Saturday, Mar. 23 with a 6:05 p.m. puck drop at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Individual-game tickets for the remaining contests in the Penguins’ 25th season as well as season-ticket packages for the 2024-25 campaign are on sale now. Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367. Individual-game tickets are also available by visiting Ticketmaster.com, the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office or calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367.
