ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Joel Blomqvist and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ended their preseason slate by shutting out the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 3-0, on Tuesday night at PPL Center.
Blomqvist denied all 17 shots he faced while backing a Penguins squad that had its special teams firing on all cylinders. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went 2-for-3 on the power play, while a perfect 3-for-3 showing on the penalty kill featured the successful dousing of a five-minute major.
Blomqvist had to be sharp early, tested twice in close quarters on the first shift of the game. Later in the opening frame, Blomqvist turned aside Phantoms newcomer Jack Studnicka on a mini-breakaway to keep the game knotted at 0-0.
Daniel Russell broke the stalemate at 6:45 of the second period, accepting a stretch pass from Tanner Howe, racing past the Phantoms defense and wiring a shot past Aleksei Kolosov.
Shortly thereafter, Kolosov was replaced by Carson Bjarnason in a planned goalie swap for Lehigh Valley, and the second-year pro quickly had to face a Penguins power play. Jake Livanavage launched a cannonading slap shot to the top corner behind Bjarnason during that man advantage, extending Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lead to 2-0.
In addition to the Penguins’ two goals, three fights took place during the second period. First, Max Graham and Andrew Perrott dropped the gloves at center ice, followed by two separate scraps between Finn Harding and Noah Powell.
Mikhail Ilyin notched Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s second power-play goal of the night and his fourth point of the preseason (2G-2A) at 6:40 of the third period.
Blomqvist continued to stonewall the Phantoms through the rest of regulation, extending Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s preseason winning streak against Lehigh Valley to six games.
Kolosov exited the game having made 10 saves on 11 shots faced, while Bjarnason finished with nine stops on 11 shots.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is its 2026-27 season opener, when the Penguins face-off against the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday, Oct. 3. Puck drop for Opening Night presented by AMP Global Strategies is set for 6:05 p.m., but the fun starts at 3:00 p.m. with a pregame party outside of Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
The pregame party will include outdoor games, inflatables, face painters, concessions and live music. Penguins players will also enter the arena through the pregame party with a gold-carpet, “March of the Penguins” greeting from fans.
Every minute of Penguins hockey can be watched online with the league’s streaming service, AHLTV on FloHockey. AHLTV on FloHockey provides its subscribers access to not just every regular-season and Calder Cup Playoff game for all 32 AHL teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests from other professional and junior leagues on FloHockey, as well as access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports.
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