Phantoms fall 2-1 to Penguins in overtime

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins played to overtime in six of their eight meetings last year and Sunday afternoon they again played to an extra session, with the Penguins coming out on top 2-1 at PPL Center.

The game marked the conclusion of the Phantoms’ opening weekend celebration welcoming fans back to full capacity at PPL Center.

Friday night’s USA vs. Canada women’s game was followed by a whiteout crowd in the Phantoms’ opening night game Saturday against Hartford, a 3-1 loss.

On Sunday, the Phantoms trailed 1-0 in the third period and tied the game with just 46 seconds left on Max Willman’s goal.

But the Penguins’ Valtteri Puustinen scored his second goal in overtime to give Wilkes-Barre the bonus point.

On Willman’s goal to tie the game, Tyson Foerster shot from the top of the circle after a pass from Egor Zamula. Penguins goalie Louis Domingue was handcuffed by the shot and Willman scored on the rebound to tie the game.

The Phantoms almost won with two seconds left in regulation on a scramble in front of the goal but WilkesBarre/Scranton (3-1-0) escaped.

Phantoms goaltender Sam Ersson played very well, particularly through the first two periods when he made a handful of good stops, including a couple of breakaways and two-on-ones.

But Penguins goaltender Louis Domingue was equally sharp, especially in the third-period push by the Phantoms.

Puustinen scored his first goal midway through the first period after the puck squirted out to him alone in the slot after a battle in the corner.

Lehigh Valley (0-3-1) had a pair of power plays in the third period but Domingue came up with timely stops and helped hold the Phantoms to 0-for-6 on the game.

The Penguins outshot the Phantoms 30-29. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was 0-for-3 on the man-advantage.

The Phantoms and Penguins will play Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre before Lehigh Valley travels to Utica to play the Comets on Friday night.

The Phantoms’ next home game is Saturday against the Syracuse Crunch.

Saturday’s home opener marked the first time the Phantoms had played at PPL Center without attendance restrictions.

It was the first home game in 591 days in which the Phantoms did not have attendance restrictions.

The 7,541 in attendance was the largest crowd since March 8, 2020, just before the pandemic forced an early end to the AHL season.