PENGUINS WIN FIRST GAME OF BACK-TO-BACK WITH PHANTOMS

BOXSCORE

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins took the first game of a weekend home and home set with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with a 4-1 win on Friday night at PPL Center.

The Penguins (42-17-3-0) scored four unanswered goals, including two during a dominant second period in which they outshot the Phantoms, 15-8.

Lehigh Valley struck first, scoring their only goal of the game with a power play goal 6:11 into the first period. Maxim Lamarche one-timed a cross-ice feed past Tristan Jarry on the first man advantage of the game.

Josh Archibald turned the tables on the Phantoms during the second power play of the night, notching his fourth shorthanded goal of the season to tie the game, 1-1. Goalie Alex Lyon’s pass intended for a teammate bounced to Teddy Blueger who found Archibald for a devastating slap shot that found the back of the net at 8:34 of the second period.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton jumped ahead when Ryan Haggerty corralled a puck that ricocheted off the boards behind the net right to his stick and his shot banked off of Lyon, giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead six minutes after Archibald tied things up.

The Penguins extended their lead to 3-1 after Kevin Porter won a face-off directly to Tom Kostopoulos who blasted it over the glove of Lyon with just under ten minutes to play in the third period.

Dominik Simon put the game away with an empty net goal with 1:12 left in regulation.

Jarry turned away 29 shots in a victory for the Penguins. Lyon recorded 28 saves in the loss for the Phantoms.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is tomorrow, Saturday, Mar. 18, at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Once again, its opponent will be the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Saturday night is also the Penguins’ annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration, for which the team will wear special, one-night-only green sweaters. Puck drop between the Penguins and Phantoms is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Individual tickets for all Penguins home games are available at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza box office, online at TicketMaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.

Penguins ticket packages, including 10-voucher flex packs, are available directly through the Penguins offices by calling (570) 208-7367.