Phantoms at Penguins: Atlantic Division First Round, Game 1

Never count out the underdog. Philadelphia is a city built on ‘the underdog story,’ and that energy will ‘Rally The Valley.’

On the farm, we’re harvesting playoff hockey. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (32-31-9) visit the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (39-24-8) in the Atlantic Division First Round.

Cal Petersen helped the Phantoms clinch the sixth seed in the AHL Atlantic Division. His shutout performance against the Bridgeport Islanders, along with the game-winner by Elliot Desnoyers, put Lehigh Valley in a position to compete for the Calder Cup.

Joel Blomqvist helped the Penguins clinch the third seed in the AHL Atlantic Division. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton outlasted the Cleveland Monsters in overtime after Radim Zohorna scored the game-winner.

This best-of-three series will determine who advances to battle the Hershey Bears in the Atlantic Division Semifinals. In 2023-2024, the Phantoms are 4-7-1 against the Penguins.

Last Game (Lehigh Valley Phantoms): 4-1 vs. Charlotte Checkers; W
Last Game (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins): 2-0 at Lehigh Valley Phantoms; W
Last Game Between Opponents: 4/20/2024 at PPL Center

Projected Lineup (Lehigh Valley Phantoms), per Bob Rotruck

#28 Olle Lycksell- #9 Tanner Laczynski – #24 Adam Brooks

#20 Cooper Marody – #22 Rhett Gardner – #23 Bobby Brink

#17 Garrett Wilson – #56 Jacob Gaucher – #13 Brendan Furry

#10 Evan Polei – #91 Elliot Desnoyers

#37 Adam Ginning – #12 Ronnie Attard

#6 Emil Andrae – #7 Louie Belpedio

#19 Hunter McDonald – #2 Helge Grans

#98 Victor Mete

#40 Cal Petersen

(#35 Alexei Kolosov)

Tanner Laczynski notched two points (1G, A) to close the 2023-2024 season. In 49 games, Laczynski totaled 44 points (17G, 27A), including five power play goals and three game-winning goals. Laczynski did not compete versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the shutout loss. He did record six points (3G, 3A) in his last three games. Against the Penguins in 2023-2024, Laczynski contributed one assist in five games.

(JustSports Photography)

Adam Ginning and Ronnie Attard are a couple of players the Philadelphia Flyers sent back to Lehigh Valley in the chase of the Calder Cup. At the NHL level, it’s arguable that this pairing was more desirable than Egor Zamula and Erik Johnson. On the Phantoms, they’ve represented the top pair as recently as the finale of the 2023-2024 season. Ginning and Attard each had two assists versus the Charlotte Checkers. In five games this season, Attard accounted for three points (1G, 2A) against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Projected Lineup (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins), per Sam Wismer

#13 Vinnie Hinostroza – #63 Radim Zohorna – #12 Corey Andonovski

#42 Ville Koivunen – #22 Samuel Poulin – #48 Valtteri Puustinen

#23 Jagger Joshua – #36 Tristan Broz – #26 Austin Rueschhoff

#37 Matt Filipe – #44 Jonathan Gruden – #85 Avery Hayes

#61 Xavier Ouellet – #53 Dmitri Samorukov

#78 Isaac Belliveau – #4 Taylor Fedun

#51 Jack Rathbone – #56 Scooter Brickey

#30 Joel Blomqvist

(#45 Ludovic Waeber)

The puck drops at 7:05pm from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

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