Phantoms' Inaugural Season Ends With Loss

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Sticks raised at center, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms skated somberly off into the offseason, falling to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins 5-1 at the PPL Center on Sunday evening.

Three Penguins power play goals proved to be the difference in a very chippy affair. The Phantoms' penalty kill, which had been around the middle-of-the-pack all season long, failed them on this night. The unit killed off the final two man-down situations, but the first two did the team in early.

"We gave up some goals that we usually don't," Phantoms defenseman Oliver Lauridsen said after the game. "Our penalty kill kind of fell apart."

It all started (and ended) with two straight penalties within the first two minutes of the contest. For starters, Scott Laughton was flagged down for a holding call. Almost immediately after that, Kevin Goumas closed his hand on the puck during a faceoff, leading to a delay of game penalty.

The Penguins took advantage of both of those opportunities, as Jean-Sebastian Dea stashed a rebound off of a point shot, and Tom Kuhnackl emerged from a board battle and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Phantoms starter Rob Zepp to make it 2-0.

"[If] they get a lead, it's very, very hard to get back into the game," head coach Terry Murray said. "I thought we stayed competitive, but it's very hard to score against them."

"We didn't get the job done."

Lauridsen injected some momentary life into the Lehigh Valley faithful with a goal of his own in the second period. He took a pass from fellow defenseman Robert Hagg and broke down the left wing, beating Penguins starter Jeff Zatkoff with a shot along the ice.

Zatkoff, who got the start in place of folk hero Matt Murray, performed just as admirably as Murray did all season long—he just didn't get the shutout like his goaltending partner did three previous times against this Phantoms team.

As it stands at season's end, the Phantoms will not be a playoff team. That had been decided for several weeks leading up to this game. That now extends a dubious streak without a Calder Cup playoff berth for the Flyers' AHL affiliate to six seasons.

Yet in the midst of all of this, development proved to be the number one priority, and according to Murray, it was accomplished.

"I thought guys overall improved," Murray said. "We've got young guys that are seeing more minutes, more critical situations. We have players that were called up this year and I thought handled themselves pretty well at the next level. It's a process, and this is year one of it."

"The process is to play games at the pro level," he added. "This is exactly what you have to do. They're going to be twice the players they are next year because of this first year of pro hockey for a lot of these guys. It was a real good year for that."

And so another journey ends, and the opportunity for many of these players to make the parent club presents itself in just a few months' time. A player like all-star defenseman Brandon Manning, who recently signed a one-year deal, will be the most notable Phantom to get a chance.

"I really like to see what he has done," Murray said of Manning. "To me, he's ready to make the next step. He contributes in all parts of the game."

"I think each level you play at you want to get better and improve," Manning said. "I think being an all-star this year and the numbers I put up speak for themselves. It's obviously a big step for me."

The Phantoms ended the season with 33 wins—their highest total since 2011-12, where they won 37 games under then-head coach Joe Paterson.

Phantoms Shut Out By Penguins, Again

ALLENTOWN - The legend of 20-year-old Penguins goaltender Matt Murray continues to grow even crazier and more improbable. He notched his 24th win, and his league-leading 12th shutout in a 3-0 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday night at the PPL Center.

That win effectively knocked the Phantoms out of the playoff race, and punched the Penguins' ticket to the Calder Cup playoffs for the thirteenth straight season. Most of this run for Wilkes-Barre Scranton has been on the back of Murray, who, according to AHL PR, has amassed 13 wins in 15 games with a 0.80 goals-against average and a .970 save percentage since February 3.

Rookie Kasperi Kapanen got the party started for the Penguins early, scoring his first pro goal on his first pro shot about five minutes into the contest. Kapanen, son of former Flyer Sami, intercepted a Petr Straka pass at the blue line and ripped a shot over the glove of Phantoms starter Rob Zepp.

Zepp, making his eighth straight start, suffered his third straight loss after stopping 29 shots.

Murray held the fort against an impressive Phantoms foray in the first period. His best stop came on Andrew Gordon, who took a Taylor Leier pass on the goal line. He also denied that first line on a late flurry of action, and got a little lucky when Scott Laughton just missed the target on a clear-cut shorthanded chance with four seconds left.

As impressive as the Phantoms were in the first period, the second period was all Penguins. They outshot the homestanding Phantoms 20-6 in the middle frame. Those numbers were aided by four Penguins power plays, including a 5-on-3 power play opportunity, and an extended man advantage thanks to a Jay Rosehill double minor penalty.

"Those numbers add up pretty quickly," head coach Terry Murray said. "I don't want [penalties] to haunt us for the remaining six games."

"We need to show better composure in those situations."

The Penguins connected during the Rosehill series of penalties. Kapanen, the first star of the game, dished a shot pass from the left wing, finding the stick of Tom Kuhnackl to tap the puck past Zepp. It proved to be one of two tallies by the German forward, who put the game away with a late empty net goal.

Up 2-0 after two periods of play, the Penguins turned to their frustrating style of defense. That defensive structure has led to a 29-2-2 record when leading after the second period coming into the contest.

Agonizing defense aside, the Phantoms ended the game with 30 total shots on goal, and 11 in the third period. But to the players' admission, the chances needed an extra element—traffic.

"We had 30 shots, but I think we gotta create five or seven more rebound opportunities off of those 30 by getting guys in the dirtier areas and finding a way to sort of bang home an ugly [goal]," Phantoms forward Andrew Gordon said.

"It was up to par. It needs to be better," Murray said of his team getting to said dirty areas. "When you're playing against one of the the premier goalies, maybe the premier goalie in the league, you've gotta be better. Average is not good enough."

Now out of the playoff picture, the Phantoms still have six games left this season, with all of them against divisional opponents.

"You have to build on something," Murray said. "You have to build on your game, to take to it to training camp, to take it into next year. That's what his is all about."

"We got a bunch of young guys that need to continue to stay focused and just play. Play hard, competitive hockey. Play between the whistles, and go from there."

The march to April 19, and to a brighter tomorrow, begins Friday, when the Phantoms welcome the Norfolk Admirals to town for a back-to-back.