For a moment on Friday, it looked as if the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins were going to avoid a repeat of last season's first-round Calder Cup playoff loss against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and force the series-deciding Game 3 on Sunday.
But, unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Penguins' AHL affiliate, victory just wasn't in the cards.
The Penguins took a 2-1 lead approaching the midway point of the third period, but Lehigh Valley scored the tying goal a minute and a half later and potted a third goal with two minutes left in regulation to hand WBS its second consecutive first-round sweep.
Goaltender Sergei Murashov - recalled from Wheeling to take the place of an injured Joel Blomqvist - stopped 28 of 31 Lehigh Valley shots and took home the loss.
After a relatively uneventful first period, Phantoms forward Anthony Richard finally broke the scoresheet open with a little more than five minutes remaining in the second. But the Penguins responded before the end of the middle frame, as forward Tristan Broz snapped a wrister from the right circle on the power play to knot things up at 1-1.
Then - six and a half minutes into the final frame - Ville Koivunen took a hit along the wall in the defensive to start a breakout, getting the puck to Broz, who carried the puck up ice and into the offensive zone along the right wall. He fed a perfect pass to defenseman Harrison Brunicke in the slot, and Brunicke backpedaled himself into a fadeaway shot through the left circle, which found the twine and gave him his first goal in professional hockey.
Bruno with an absolute SNIPEEE pic.twitter.com/IxuZ3gHR81
— x - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 26, 2025
The Penguins were feeling pretty good about themselves, but old habits came back to haunt them. Their 2-1 lead didn't last long, as Lehigh Valley forward Jacob Gaucher scored less than a minute and a half later to tie the game again.
Both teams played with a high degree of desperation for the next 10 minutes, but the back-breaking, game-breaking goal came at the hands of Phantoms defenseman Helge Grans, who put Lehigh Valley up 3-2 with only two minutes remaining in the game.
WBS Penguins Drop Crucial First Game Of AHL Playoffs To Phantoms, 5-2Heading into Wednesday's opening-round matchup, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins - AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins - were 8-2-2 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the regular season.
The Penguins pulled Murashov almost immediately, but, unfortunately, they could not muster anything with the extra skater at the end and will go home early again this season.
It is quite the disappointing result for a young team that had higher expectations heading into the Calder Cup playoffs, but several players on the roster are eligible to be sent to the Wheeling Nailers - Pittsburgh's ECHL affiliate - to give the team a boost for their run at a Kelly Cup.
Wheeling will square off against the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday, as a 4-1 win in Game 4 on Friday forced a Game 5. The Nailers trail the Admirals 3-1 in the series.
Wheeling Nailers Snap Shutout Streak, But Now On Verge Of Elimination After Game 3 LossThe Wheeling Nailers not only came back home to WesBanco Arena trailing 2-0 in their first-round playoff series against the Norfolk Admirals, but they were starving for a goal after back-to-back shutouts.
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