Phantoms Fall in Weekend Finale
Wisdom Breaks Late Shutout Bid
March 29, 2026
Wilkes-Barre, PA – Zayde Wisdom (12th) broke a shutout bid for Joel Blomqvist to get the Phantoms on the board late but that would be all for the Orange and Black in a 5-1 setback at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the closing game of the weekend. 20-year-old rookie talent Tanner Howe (6th) paced the Baby Pens’ attack with a four-point performance on a goal and three assists while Blomqvist was tested early and often en route to a 30-save win.
Lehigh Valley (28-31-6) couldn’t continue the momentum from Saturday’s 4-2 win over Hershey on Boris Katchouk’s hat trick. But for a little while, it looked like the Phantoms might do exactly that. The Phantoms were off and running to a 7-1 shots advantage including back-to-back power plays to begin the game. But Blomqvist was on top of his game and held off the Phantoms while the Penguins eventually found their game.
A three-goal outburst in just an eight-minute stretch of the first period turned a 0-0 contest into a 3-0 score at the first intermission. Joona Koppanen (8th) scored on a 2-on-1 with Tanner Howe at 10:28 on just the second shot of the game for the Penguins. Chase Pietila (2nd) followed that up at 13:13 with his seeing-eye shot from center point that eluded Carson Bjarnason to the glove side. And Howe completed his three-point period knocking in a spinning pass from the right circle from Rafael Harvey-Pinard at 18:05.
The Phantoms had enjoyed an 11-6 shots advantage in the first but the Penguins were opportunisitc on their chances while Lehigh Valley was unable to bury anything against Blomqvist.
Lehigh Valley kept up there pressure in the second period as well and had more strong chances repelled by Blomqvist with 24 consecutive saves in the first two period.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (41-16-8) really wasn’t getting much at all and the Phantoms had a 13-7 shots advantgage. But the Penguins would get rolling at the end of the frame with 11 consecutive shots on goal in the three minutes including a power-play snipe from Aidan McDonough (20th) from the left dot at 18:24 as the Black and Gold put on an impressive display of passing and interior chances that Bjarnason and the penalty killers scrambling. McDonough’s goal made it 4-0 and the Penguins ended up outshooting the Phantoms in the second period 18-13.
Rafael Harvey-Pinard (18th) took advantage of a rebound off an odd-man rush and scored into a mostly open net at 4:20 of the third period to make it 5-0. Harvey-Pinard has scored seven goals against the Phantoms this season.
Adam Ginning’s long drive from the point was deflected in mid-air by Zayde Wisdom between the circles glancing the puck over the glove of Blomqvist to break the shutout bid with just 1:14 remaining.
Lehigh Valley’s Magic Number to clinch a fourth consecutive berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs stands at 17 points with just seven games remaining in the regular season.
The Phantoms and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton continue their unusual three-game series on Friday, April 3 back at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre. The Phantoms have gone 2-8-0 against second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as the rivalry tone has mostly replicated the last two seasons in which the Penguins have largely dominated in the regular season only to eventually be swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Phantoms.
The next home game is Saturday, April 4 when the Phantoms again take on the Penguins on Star Wars Night.
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