For the second game in a row, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton handed an in-state rival its first regulation loss of the season.
After defeating Hershey 4-2 on Wednesday, the Penguins took down the Phantoms 4-2 on Friday in the first of a home-and-home series.
Rookie defenseman Will Reilly opened the scoring for the Penguins just 2:38 into the game:
Two quick penalties -- a Jon Lizotte trip at 18:10 and a Reilly slash at 19:11 -- gave the Bears an extended 5-on-3 power play to finish the period, and a power play to open the second period. Wilkes-Barre's penalty killers killed off both minors and would go a perfect 4-for-4 on the night.
"There have been a couple of those this year, those 3-on-5s," head coach J.D. Forrest said after the game. "But we've done a great job. (Assistant coach) Kevin Porter has been excellent with our killers. So 3-on-5, they're pretty comfortable in those situations. We've practiced it, we've gone over it enough. We've got smart players out there who are willing to block a shot, whatever they have to do to get it done. They take a lot of pride in it."
The Penguins' penalty kill now ranks sixth in the AHL with an 88 percent success rate
Wilkes-Barre was outshot 11-4 in the first period, but Forrest thought that the shot totals didn't reflect who controlled the play.
"Although we were outshot, I don't think we were really outplayed," Forrest said. "We didn't feel like we were in any type of trouble at any point tonight, even after that shot total was up there. It didn't really reflect the pace, the play of the game back-and-forth that period. We just stuck with it and we came out on top."
"We got pretty good offensive time," said forward Felix Robert, "But we didn't shoot the puck to the net. The next two periods, that was our mentality. We shot everything, and put some traffic in front of the goalies. That paid off at the end of the game."
Wilkes-Barre outshot Lehigh Valley 13-8, then 7-6 in the next two periods.
Second-year defenseman Lizotte extended the lead early in the second period with his first goal of the season:
Flyers 2020 fourth-round pick Zayde Wisdom (if you recall, was who I advocated the Penguins should pick with their third-round pick), answered 20 seconds later with an incredible individual effort that was reminiscent of T.J. Oshie's goal against the parent club the previous night:
(Wisdom now has five goals and an assist in six games to start the season with the Phantoms. Not to say I told you so, but ... I told you so.)
Midway through the period, Jan Drozg regained the Penguins' two-goal lead with a redirect of Lizotte's shot from the point:
Drozg was elevated to the top line alongside Tim Schaller and Freddy Gaudreau for the game, replacing Anthony Angello on the right wing after Angello was recalled to Pittsburgh's taxi squad.
"It's a feeling-out process with different players in different spots," Forrest said of finding the right combination for the top line. "I thought Janny did a nice job. He's got that skill element, and Freddy Gaudreau is so smart out there, we thought he'd be able to find Janny in different spots and he could work with more room than maybe on some of the other lines. With Schalls bing a big body and hard on pucks, smart, we like that combinations. They had some good looks today."
Robert had the secondary assist on Drozg's goal. Both Robert and Drozg would earn two-point nights when early in the third period, Robert would increase the lead to 4-1 off of a primary assist from Drozg:
"I'm pretty happy to score my first goal," Robert said after the game. "3-on-2, coach told us to take some shots at the net. That's what I did, and I'm pretty happy to score."
It was Robert's first career AHL goal, and fourth AHL point. Robert has been one of the pleasant surprises this season, his first professional season after being signed out of the QMJHL, where he was Samuel Poulin's center.
Robert is short at 5 foot 9, but stocky, listed at 180 pounds. From watching him in these first few games, he plays a much harder and physical game than you might expect for a guy his size, something I asked Forrest about in the preseason.
"He's a little waterbug out there," Forrest said of Robert. "He doesn't give up. He's a guy that has a knack for stealing pucks. Sometimes he has to steal them once or twice. He's undersized, but he's pretty fearless. He's a good guy to have to insert in the lineup for us. We'll see what he can do this season."
Now after Robert has played four games this season, Forrest continues to be impressed with Robert's work ethic.
"He just doesn't stop working," Forrest said Friday. "That's what we like so much, he has a great energy that he brings to the rink every day, and he has skill and ability."
Robert on Friday spoke about taking pride in that part of his game.
"I like to play hard, that's for sure," he said. "I used to play middle, so kind of less on the boards. But I like to play winger here, honestly. I'm going to keep tracking those Ds, putting the puck deep and work my ass off."
Robert started the year in Wheeling, playing for the Nailers before AHL training camps began. He found success at the ECHL level, scoring five goals and an assist in 10 games. Through every game in the AHL, he just seems to be getting more and more comfortable playing at this level.
"It's faster, it's stronger," he said of adjusting to the AHL level. "The 10 games I did in the East Coast did me some good to get the season started, touch the puck. I met some pretty great guys there that showed me the professional way. I just try my best here, try to do my best every day to perform."
That early stint in the ECHL, where he played on the Nailers' top line, was good for building his confidence too.
"It helped me a lot," he said. "I got Mark French as a coach, he talked to me a lot, he showed me how the professional (game) works, how to use my strength, how to work on my weaknesses. The two months in Wheeling helped me a lot for when I arrived at the camp here. I'm going to keep working to get even better every day."
These two wins against strong division rivals are a good confidence-builder for the team moving forward, too.
"We know they're going to play them a lot," Robert said. "It's a short season. We've got to be ready, every game."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• This was the first game in which forward Nick Schilkey did not record a point, ending a five-game point streak.
• First-year defenseman Billy Sweezey, signed out of Yale, just seems to be more physical each game.
"That's in his DNA," Forrest said of Sweezey's physicality. "That's what he does so well. He's really hard to play against. Him and (Lizotte) out there as a defense pair, they're heavy. They're hard to go around, they're hard at the net-front, they make solid plays, it's a nice complement with those two out there together. They've been given a tough task on a night-to-night basis with teams' top lines, and Billy's handled it well."
• Max Lagace made 23 saves on 25 shots and took a bit of a beating. He took a shot up high around the collarbone area and was down on the ice for a bit in the first period, then later in the period a Phantoms player barreled over him after being hooked by Radim Zohorna, and Lagace was again down on the ice for a few moments. He stayed in throughout the game.
• With this being the first back-to-back situation of the season, Forrest wouldn't say if backup goaltender Shane Starrett would start on Saturday.
"We'll evaluate tonight, see where everyone is at, and then make that decision," he said.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza:
1. Jan Drozg, Penguins
2. Jon Lizotte, Penguins
3. Felix Robert, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Forward Sam Miletic remains day-to-day recovering from mono, but is back to practicing. Forrest said that they'd like Miletic to be closer to 100 percent strength before he gets back into the lineup.
• Defenseman Zach Trotman underwent right knee surgery Jan. 14 to repair a torn meniscus and is off of Pittsburgh's injured reserve and officially on Wilkes-Barre's roster. He's day-to-day.
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren left the first preseason game after sliding into the boards and underwent successful shoulder surgery this week. He's out indefinitely for the rest of the season.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest’s lines and pairings:
Tim Schaller-Freddy Gaudreau-Anthony Angello
Felix Robert-Radim Zohorna-Nick Schilkey
Michael Joly-Chase Berger-Jan Drozg
Luke Stevens-Zach Nastasiuk-Jonathan Gruden
Jon Lizotte-Billy Sweezey
Cam Lee-Dylan MacPherson
Kevin Czuczman-Will Reilly
And for Scott Gordon's Phantoms:
Ryan Fitzgerald-Cal O'Reilly-Zayde Wisdom
Max Willman-Chris Mueller-Linus Sandin
Garrett Wilson-Tanner Laczynski-David Kase
Maksim Sushko-Tanner MacMaster-Matthew Strome
Egor Zamula-Wyatte Wylie
Mason Millman-Logan Day
Linus Hogberg-Derrick Pouliot
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will play the Phantoms again on Saturday in Lehigh Valley.
THE CONTENT
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