Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — When Teddy Blueger scored in second period of Saturday’s game against Lehigh Valley, stuffed animals poured onto the ice for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ Teddy Bear Toss.
For the rest of the period, it rained goals.
And punches.
Both teams combined for five goals in the second period, with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scoring three. And at the end of the frame, a pair of fights broke out that saw rookie Sam Lafferty take on two Phantoms and Will O’Neill pummel Taylor Leier.
In the end, Ryan Haggerty’s hat trick gave the Penguins a 5-2 win for their fifth straight victory. Saturday’s game also marked the annual “dad’s trip” for the Penguins, and it also was the second time that Haggerty notched a hat trick during the yearly visit from players’ fathers.
“I liked the competitive spirit of our team. The guys were sticking together and playing hard,” Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli said. “A big win for us in front of a big crowd. The guys were pumped up, but a lot of controlled emotion.”
Lehigh Valley got on the board two minutes into the second period, but Blueger evened things up with a shorthanded breakaway minutes later.
After that, Haggerty went to work. He teamed up with Adam Johnson on a two-on-one rush and finished with a shot under the crossbar to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
Four minutes later, Haggerty scored a second when he tucked home a loose puck in front for a 3-1 lead.
The Phantoms cut the Penguins’ advantage to 3-2 later in the period, and then the gloves came off.
After jawing with Brennan earlier in the night, Lafferty had enough when the two crossed paths again late in the second period. Lafferty dropped his gloves and landed a few shots before Brennan ducked to the ice. At the same time, Phantoms defenseman Mark Friedman rushed to Brennan’s aid, and Lafferty greeted him with several punches.
“It was going back tot he first period and it just kind of escalated,” Lafferty said. “Brennan didn’t really want it, so Freidman came in and I guess it was nice to actually get a real fight in.”
As the refs tried to separate players, O’Neill dropped the gloves with Leier and pounded him to the ice, following it up with a celebration for the home crowd.
Leier and O’Neill were ejected for a secondary altercation, and the Penguins entered the third period clinging to a 3-2 lead.
“We made a couple little mistakes in the first few minutes of the second period, but from the fight to the goals, everyone was going,” Haggerty said.
The Penguins gave the Phantoms a chance to tie it in the third period by putting Lehigh Valley on the power play four times, but it was Lafferty who notched a shorthanded tally followed by Haggerty’s third goal — into an empty net — to seal a 5-2 win for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.