ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A late goal by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms cut the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins playoff run short, as the Phantoms took Game 2 by a 3-2 score at PPL Center on Friday night.
Lehigh Valley wins the best-of-three series, 2-0, eliminating Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from the postseason for the second year in a row.
The first period finished in a 0-0 deadlock thanks to the stellar goaltending of the Penguins’ Sergei Murashov and the Phantoms’ Parker Gahagen.
Gahagen continued to stymie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton despite a blitz in the first half of the second period. Eventually, Lehigh Valley broke the scoreless tie 14:33 into the second period, as Anthony Richard finished off a set-up pass from Jett Luchanko.
Tristan Broz tied the game, 1-1, with 26.4 left before the second intermission. Broz released a wicked wrist shot that deflected off a Phantoms defender in front of Gahagen and into the back of the net for a power-play goal.
Six minutes and 26 seconds into the final frame, Harrison Brunicke tallied his first professional goal to give Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the lead. Broz picked up his second point of the game with the primary assists, while Ville Koivunen notched his second helper of the night, as well.
However, just a minute and a half later, Jacob Gaucher knotted the score, 2-2.
With two minutes remaining in regulation, Helge Grans tallied the game-winner and series-clincher.
Murashov stopped 28 shots in his Calder Cup Playoffs debut. Gahagen made 31 saves for the Phantoms.
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