Phantoms Clipped by Penguins, Split Opening Weekend

Grans Scores First of Season

October 12, 2025

Allentown, PA – One day after a thrilling, high-energy season opener, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms couldn’t replicate the magic on Sunday afternoon, falling 4–1 to the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at PPL Center. Defenseman Helge Grans provided Lehigh Valley’s lone goal on the power play late in the second period, while rookie goaltender Connor Bjarnason turned aside 26 shots in his pro debut.

The Penguins jumped out quickly, capitalizing on an early man advantage when Aidan McDonough fired a laser from the left circle just 4:03 into the game to put the visitors ahead 1–0. The Phantoms penalty kill settled in afterward, including a successful kill midway through the first when Lane Pederson was called for hooking, but offense was hard to come by in a balanced opening frame that ended with the shots even at 10-10.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton extended its lead early in the second when Avery Hayes finished a sharp passing sequence on another power play, rifling a shot that glanced off both posts and in to make it 2–0. Lehigh Valley nearly broke through on a 3-on-1 rush midway through the period, but Carl Grundstrom fanned on the feed from his left. Moments later, Bjarnason kept his team in it with a stellar stop on a partial breakaway chance.

The PPL Center crowd finally had a reason to roar at 15:52 of the second when Helge Grans lasered a center-point drive through traffic on the power play to cut the deficit in half. Anthony Richard created the opportunity with his speedy entry splitting the defense forcing Filip Larsson to make a tough left-pad save. Lane Pederson and Carl Grundstrom worked for the loose puck in the crease in the mad scramble but a Penguins defender cleared it further away where Grans rifled a top-shelf blast over the fallen goaltender. The unassisted tally was his first of the season and gave Lehigh Valley much-needed life. Bjarnason then came up big again late in the frame, stoning Sam Poulin on a shorthanded breakaway to keep the score 2–1 heading into the third.

Any hopes of a comeback were halted midway through the final period when Ville Koivunen’s shot deflected perfectly to Tristan Broz between the circles, and the Penguins forward snapped it low past Bjarnason for a 3–1 lead with 14:49 left. Lane Pederson nearly brought the Phantoms back within one on two separate tries — a shorthanded rush that glanced off the post and later a low redirect denied by goaltender Filip Larsson. Lehigh Valley’s late push included three shorthanded attempts from Pederson, Alexis Gendron, and Karsen Dorwart, but Larsson stood tall. With the Phantoms net empty, Broz added his second goal of the night at 17:59 to seal a 4–1 final.

It will be a process to find consistency for a new, young group but head coach John Snowden sees some solid play from his budding young prospects even in the first weekend of the season.

“I think Barkey has had two really good games,” Snowden said. “You can just see his his IQ and his competitiveness. He gets pucks back. He holds on to the puck. He’s a first year guy, and he’s playing like he’s played a couple years in the league, which is a good thing to see. I thought Bump had a little more jump in his game tonight. He was a little bit more physical and got into guys a little more, tried to attack the interior. Created a couple chances overall.”

Despite not getting the win, 20-year-old rookie Carson Bjarnason showed is ready to compete at the AHL level.

“I thought he was good,” Snowden said. “I don’t think we helped him a whole lot, because we gave up a lot of pretty dangerous area chances. He made the saves that he needed to make. Obviously, we were on the penalty kill a lot again tonight, so he has to make some scrambling saves on that and fight through some traffic. They had some guys that are at the net. I was really encouraged with this game tonight,

The Phantoms fell to 1-1-0 on the young season while the Penguins improved to 2-0-0. Despite the result, fans were treated to another spirited afternoon at PPL Center as Lehigh Valley wrapped up Opening Weekend with a split against its first two opponents.

Lehigh Valley heads to northeast Ohio next weekend for back-to-back games against the Cleveland Monsters on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18 before returning home on Friday, October 24 for “Haunted on Hamilton Night” against the Hershey Bears.

Final: WBS 4 – LV 1 | Shots: WBS 30 – LV 27 | PP: WBS 2/5 – LV 1/3

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