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Thanks to a nasty streak of injuries in Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was preparing for the season with a patchwork blueline.

But as February winds down, players are getting healthier and the defense is coming together for the Penguins at both ends of the ice. And a group that had just one goal between them in the first five games of the season figured in prominently on the first three scores of Friday’s 4-2 win over first-place Lehigh Valley at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Defensemen Will Reilly and Jon Lizotte opened the scoring for the Penguins, and Lizotte then had his point shot tipped in by Jan Drozg for the eventual game-winner midway through the second period.

Forward Felix Robert added his first career AHL goal for some insurance in the third as the Penguins (3-2-1-0) handed the Phantoms (4-1-1-0) their first loss in regulation in the young season.

Max Lagace stopped 23 of 25 shots in net to help Wilkes-Barre/Scranton win its second game in a row, beating NHL regular Ilya Samsonov and Hershey on Wednesday before besting AHL stalwart Zane McIntyre (24 shots, 20 saves) on Friday.

The Penguins were able to get to McIntyre early, as Reilly scored just 2:38 into the contest, sending a seeing-eye shot from almost outside the blue line through traffic and into the net. Michael Joly’s primary assist on the goal was his first point in a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton uniform.

Up 1-0 after one, the Penguins struck again 4:14 into the second when Lizotte pinched into the offensive zone and took a nice feed from Zach Nastasiuk before whipping one past McIntrye from the right dot.

Lehigh Valley responded just 20 seconds later when Zayde Wisdom scored his fifth goal in six games. The Penguins restored the two-goal lead at the 12:53 mark when a long-range shot from Lizotte was altered just enough by Drozg to make it 3-1.

Drozg then set up Robert 3:14 into the third for his milestone goal. The Phantoms got another quick answer on a Max Willman marker 43 seconds later, but the Penguins shut the door from there and only allowed six shots in the final frame.

Lizotte, Drozg and Robert all finished with a goal and an assist while Chase Berger had two helpers.

NOTES

• In a quirk of the pandemic era, the Penguins now have a two-game win streak over the Phantoms that spans nearly a full year.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 2019-20 season ended with a 2-1 overtime win at Lehigh Valley last March 11. The AHL suspended play the next day before canceling the rest of the season later in May because of the pandemic.

The Penguins will have a chance to make it three in a row when they head to Allentown for Saturday’s 7:05 p.m. start.

• Just as the Penguins were getting ready to drop the puck on Friday, Pittsburgh announced that it was returning forward Jordy Bellerive to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Bellerive was one of the few players on the AHL roster who returned from last season, and he scored two goals in the first three games before being recalled.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton captain Josh Currie remains with Pittsburgh on the team’s taxi squad.