The Lehigh Valley Phantoms kicked off the 2024-25 preseason on Tuesday night, playing host to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.
It was a game where it felt like the Phantoms were getting their legs going and meshing together, the ‘Baby Pens’ dominated on both ends of the ice. The Wheeling Nailers contracted forward Matthew Quercia opened up the scoring and fellow Nailers contracted forward Jordan Martel added on with a power play tally in the opening frame. Shots in the first were 15-4 in favor of Wilkes-Barre, they led 2-0 after a period from PPL.
In a similar second period to the first, Wilkes-Barre found twine twice and outshot Lehigh Valley 13-4. Logan Pietilla picked up back in April by the club, picked up a loose rebound and fired it past a diving Makiniemi to extend the lead. Matt Koopman fired a one-timer under the Phantoms’ netminder to go ahead by four.
Lehigh Valley found the back of the net in the final 20 but just as they did in the first two periods the ‘Baby Pens’ scored twice. Zayde Wisdom the lone Phantoms goal scorer, had a nifty toe drag to go inside on the Wilkes-Barre defender and backhanded it past the Penguins goaltender. Justin Lee would score the next two for the Penguins to cap off their 6-1 preseason win in Allentown.
WBS GOALTENDING: Sergei Murashov 12 Saves on 13 Shots
LHV GOALTENDING: Eetu Makiniemi 32 Saves on 38 Shots
1st Star: Justin Lee (2G) – WBS
2nd Star: Logan Pietilla (1G, 1 A) – WBS
3rd Star: Jordan Martel (1G, 1 A) – WBS
GAME TIME: 7:14 P.M. – 9:24 P.M. – 2:10
