{"id":107619,"date":"2026-02-07T03:53:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T03:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107619\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T03:53:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T03:53:06","slug":"phantoms-battle-hard-but-lose-to-wilkes-barre-scranton-6-5-on-friday-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107619\/","title":{"rendered":"Phantoms battle hard but lose to Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton 6-5 on Friday night"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had a season-high 41 shots and scored five times, but Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton were one better thanks to Matt Dumba\u2019s hat trick and a sensational night from goaltender Joel Blomqvist for an entertaining 6-5 victory over the hosts Friday night.<\/p>\n

The basics<\/p>\n

First period: 1:14- Matt Dumba (Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz) 4:11- Ville Koivunen (Tristan Broz, Melvin Fernstrom), 15:34- Lane Pederson (Unassisted) (SHG)
Second period: 1:40- Maxence Guenette (Anthony Richard, Adam Ginning), 4:09- Matt Dumba (Melvin Fernstrom, Tristan Broz), 19:02- Phil Tomasino (Devin Kaplan, Oliver Bonk)
Third period: 3:57- Aidan McDonough (Atley Calvert), 7:32- Rafael Harvey-Pinard (Matt Dumba, Aidan McDonough), 9:21- Matt Dumba (Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz), 10:49- Lane Pederson (Christian Kyrou, Cooper Marody) (PPG), 18:24- Jacob Gaucher (Maxence Guenette)
SOG: 41 (LHV) \u2013 23 (WBS)<\/p>\n

Some takeaways<\/p>\n

Special teams show some pop but not enough<\/p>\n

The Phantoms went to the power play five minutes and change into period one. And with a middle-of-the-pack unit, Lehigh Valley got some traffic in front of Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist but couldn\u2019t bury it. They also had a decent second half to the first power play, finding a few seams but Blomqvist stood tall for Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton. After a strong start by the Penguins, Lehigh Valley responded with the next seven shots. <\/p>\n

The Phantoms\u2019 second power play of the first didn\u2019t have much oomph as defenseman Oliver Bonk had his shot from the point blocked. Meanwhile, Lehigh Valley\u2019s penalty kill was put to the test after blueliner Helge Grans went to the sin bin. The Penguins, as horrid in the American Hockey League as the Flyers are with the man advantage, coughed up the puck with a bad cross-ice pass at the Phantoms blue line. Tucker Robertson intercepted the pass and dashed up the ice, beating Blomqvist with a nifty move to give Lehigh Valley a much-needed boost. <\/p>\n

That is Tucker Robertson \ud83d\ude42\u200d\u2195\ufe0f #LVvsWBS<\/a> | #LVPhantoms<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/P9rQjXZ6zR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Seconds later, the Phantoms had an almost comical four-on-one but couldn\u2019t tie things up. Lehigh Valley scored a power play goal midway through the third, making it a 6-4 game and giving the Phantoms a puncher\u2019s chance at a comeback. In the third, the Phantoms had a few chances to make it a one-goal game in the dying minutes but just couldn\u2019t cash in on their numerous opportunities. They did score seconds after their last power play of the night when Maxence Guenette made a great pass to Jacob Gaucher who redirected it in quickly. <\/p>\n

Flyers brass in attendance<\/p>\n

With Philadelphia not doing much of anything for the next little while, Flyers general manager Danny Briere and Philadelphia\u2019s President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones took in the game Friday evening. And they couldn\u2019t been pleased with Lehigh Valley\u2019s start. The Penguins hemmed the Phantoms in early and often, opening the scoring just over 70 seconds into the contest when veteran NHLer Matt Dumba fired a one-timer in the slot beyond Bjarnason. <\/p>\n

Dums from the top of the slot! pic.twitter.com\/h4AqzgMngd<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The Penguins didn\u2019t let off on the gas. Lehigh Valley again were caught in their own zone when Ville Koivunen beat Bjarnason who had some traffic in front for a quick 2-0 lead. <\/p>\n

Koivy sends another one to the back of the net for us, and Fernstrom collects his first AHL point with the assist! pic.twitter.com\/PrYkyYE4yG<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The Phantoms nearly cut the deficit in half when Hunter McDonald beat Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist but couldn\u2019t beat the iron.<\/p>\n

Tomasino has his chances<\/p>\n

Former Penguin Phil Tomasino had his share of opportunities to score, none better than late in the second period when he was alone in front. However his wrister was quickly gloved by Blomqvist without much hassle. The second period didn\u2019t feature a lot of chances after Dumba\u2019s second goal of the night, as both teams seemed to lock things down a bit more than they did in the opening 20 minutes. Late in the second, the Phantoms started taking it to the Penguins with a few prime chances from Jacob Gaucher and Alexis Gendron. Both shots were in close but were denied by the netminder. <\/p>\n

Finally, after more pressure from Lehigh Valley \u2014 with two Phantoms basically blinding Blomqvist, \u2014 Tomasino put a tap-in behind Blomqvist to tie things up with just under a minute before the second intermission. Tomasino led all forwards on both teams with five shots through 40 minutes.<\/p>\n

Snuck that one right in \ud83e\udd29#LVvsWBS<\/a> | #LVPhantoms<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/2c2iaXYgii<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Warm-up Olympic-inspired jerseys<\/p>\n

During the pre-game warm-up, the Phantoms could be seen wearing Olympic-inspired jerseys with each Phantom wearing the colors of their respective nations. Whether it was Adam Ginning wearing the yellow and blue of Sweden, or Zayde Wisdom and Phantoms starting goaltender Carson Bjarnason sporting Canada\u2019s colors, the jerseys were well-timed with the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics which took place earlier in the afternoon in Italy.<\/p>\n

Max-imum effort<\/p>\n

Phantoms defenseman Maxence Guenette (who had a helper late in the game) was having a rather so-so game after the first period but tied things up for Lehigh Valley early in the second. Guenette\u2019s goal was his first of the year against a goaltender as his other tally was an empty-netter.<\/p>\n

Anyyywaayyy, that was a SNIPE!#LVvsWBS<\/a> | #LVPhantoms<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Xb7zSp7pZa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

They nearly took the lead seconds later but a shot hit the post, much to the surprise of fans who thought they had scored. No dice. Sadly, minutes later Dumba\u2019s howitzer of a shot beat Bjarnason to give Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton the lead again.<\/p>\n

A \ud83c\udfaf for Dums\u2019s second of the night! pic.twitter.com\/3oyRWSSmRA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Dumba also earned a point on the Penguins\u2019 fifth goal of the night. But that was before he put the game on ice with his third of the night for the hat trick. The third goal was similar to his first of the night where he snuck in without much difficulty to put the puck behind Bjarnason.<\/p>\n

Bjarnason has bumpy ride<\/p>\n

After giving up the first two goals of the game, Bjarnason (who has the Phantoms mascot Melvin on the back of his goalie helmet which has new artwork) composed himself and made a very solid save in the first against Rafael Harvey-Pinard in close. It could\u2019ve been a game-changing goal given how well Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton have played against the Phantoms. But by keeping it a two-goal deficit, it game his team a chance to cut the deficit in half. Late in the first, the goalie thought he had the puck covered but it looked to be loose. The Penguins weren\u2019t able to bang the puck home fortunately.<\/p>\n

Although Bjarnason didn\u2019t stop both Dumba goals, he was able to settle down through much of the second when he stopped a similar shot from the point courtesy of Penguins defenseman Owen Pickering. The goalie also made a key save early in the third when he fought through some traffic to stop Alexander Alexeyev and swallowing up the rebound. The biggest concern with Bjarnason was minutes after the Alexeyev stop when he collided with an falling opposing player. He took some time to get up but remained in the game after being pushed deeply into his net.<\/p>\n

Bjarnason didn\u2019t have much puck luck in the third when he made a strong save but could get across to stop the rebound as Aidan McDonough buried it behind a diving Phantoms goalie. That seemed to open the floodgates for Wilkes-Barre as they began distancing themselves from Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n

Hunter has some hits<\/p>\n

Phantoms defenseman Hunter McDonald was his usual churlish self on this night. In the second he delivered a heavy hit on a Penguin but seemed to take as much punishment as he delivered. He got up okay but was holding his neck briefly after the collision. McDonald\u2019s game mirrored Lehigh Valley\u2019s heavy approach most of the night. With about 13 minutes to go in regulation, the Phantoms had 17 hits compared to Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton\u2019s eight.<\/p>\n

With the game not technically over, Phantoms\u2019 Garrett Wilson nailed Ryan McAllister up high and near the head region. The hit resulted in Zach Gallant fighting Wilson and Wilson dropping him with a right hook. Wilson\u2019s hit on McAllister was deemed to be legal, resulting in the Phantoms forward getting just five minutes for fighting.<\/p>\n

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