The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins need to force a game three if the team wants to continue its Calder Cup playoff run.
The Penguins lost 2-1 to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The divisional rivals face off again Friday at PPL Center in Allentown. If necessary, the series returns to Northeast Pennsylvania for a decisive game three.
WBS Penguins head coach J.D. Forrest said the club will try to turn things around in game two.
"That’s playoff hockey. It’s a series for a reason, it’s not one-and-done,” Forrest said. “So we’re just gonna regroup and we have full confidence that we’ll come up with a better performance on Friday."
'Gotta flush the toilet'
It was the first game as a Penguin for the team’s lone goal scorer, Ville Koivunen, whose rights were acquired by the team in March. The club announced four newcomers would start, including Koivunen, in the playoff series.
The quick turnaround for several starters may have led to the team’s rocky start, Koivunen said in a post-game interview. "We gotta get our recovery, flush the toilet and try not to dwell on it," he said.
“Team cohesion is obviously such a big thing, so you try to get just acquainted with the guys as quickly as possible,” said Koivunen, a 20-year-old Finnish forward who was playing in his home country just one week ago. “It’s a little difficult, especially coming into the playoffs when your season’s on the line.”
"We didn't get a lot of reps together" with new teammates, said Sam Poulin, a Pens forward with the team since the 2021-22 season. "Hopefully we'll get some chemistry going for the remainder of the series."
![Pens forward Sam Poulin, on the team's loss in a post-game interview: "It's a matter of who wants it more and I think [the Phantoms] wanted it a little bit more the first part of the game."](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b160e50/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3275x2017+0+36/resize/880x542!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F59%2F25%2Fe28ab0ab4337bde2e8b7bb57ee74%2Fsampoulin-pens.jpg)
The Phantoms had positive words post-game about the Penguins. Out of 12 games during the regular season, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went 8-1-3 against the Allentown club.
"That's a good team over there," said Phantoms head coach Ian Laperrière. "They have a hell of a goalie, but we play a disciplined road game." Pens goalie Joel Blomqvist had 30 saves on 32 shots.
Phantoms forwards Adam Brooks and Rhett Gardner scored the team's two goals. Lehigh Valley goalie Cal Petersen had 22 saves on 21 shots.
Game three, if necessary, will return to Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday. Puck is expected to drop at 5:05 p.m.
