Penguins Victorious in Preseason Opener, 6-1

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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Penguins Victorious in Preseason Opener, 6-1

October 1, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins opened their 2024 preseason schedule by defeating the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 6-1, at PPL Center on Tuesday night.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton received an inspired effort from all 18 of its skaters and last-minute goals in all three periods. The Penguins had four players produce multiple points in the victory, but Logan Pietila led the charge with a game-high three-point outing (1G-2A).

The Penguins drew first blood late in the first period when Matt Quercia broke loose for a breakaway on a feathery feed from David Jankowski. Quercia swiftly moved the puck from his forehand to his backhand and lifted it over the outstretched pad of Phantoms goalie Eetu Mäkaniemi with 2:32 left in the frame.

Jordan Martel quickly doubled the Penguins' lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal 24 seconds before the first intermission.

Shortly after a successful second-period penalty kill, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went to work on the forecheck and came away with another goal. Pietila buried his own rebound at 15:22 of the second after Martel and Matt Koopman stripped Lehigh Valley of the puck below the opponent's goal line.

The Penguins got another late-period tally when Koopman took a perfect pass from Pietila and rifled it behind Mäkiniemi with 50.9 seconds left.

Lehigh Valley earned its first and only goal of the night when Zayde Wisdom took a lead pass after stepping out of the penalty box and sneaking a backhand shot across the goal line midway through the third period. However, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton didn't take long to respond, as a long stay in the attacking zone culminated in a bar-down snipe by defenseman Justin Lee.

Lee added another goal, a power-play goal, in the final minute of regulation.

Sergei Murashov secured the win with 12 saves on 13 shots faced, while Mäkiniemi recorded 32 saves in the less.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's next preseason game is their annual 'Learn With Hockey' School & STEM Day Game on Thursday, Oct. 3 against the Hershey Bears. Puck drop is slated for 10:35 a.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.

Season-ticket packages for the Penguins' 2024-25 season are on sale now. Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.

Every minute of Penguins hockey can be watched online with the league's streaming service, AHLTV on FloHockey. AHLTV on FloHockey provides its subscribers access to not just every regular-season and Calder Cup Playoff game for all 32 AHL teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests from other professional and junior leagues on FloHockey, as well as access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics

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