April 18, 2017
This Week
Friday, April 21 (7:05 p.m.) – Hershey Bears @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms – Game 1
(Rally The Valley Rally Towel Giveaway. Free to First 8,000 Fans in Attendance. Presented by Service Electric Cable TV & Communications.)
Saturday, April 22 (7:05 p.m.) – Hershey Bears @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms – Game 2
Upcoming
The 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs are nearly here.
After a hard-fought 76-game regular season schedule, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (48-23-5, 101 pts.) are set to begin their quest for the 2017 Calder Cup championship. Lehigh Valley closed the regular season with the AHL’s second-highest win total (48) and tied with the Chicago Wolves for the second-highest standings point total (101). What’s more, the Phantoms ended the year in the midst of a four-game winning streak.
Lehigh Valley begins its championship run this weekend as it kicks off its best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals matchup with the rival Hershey Bears. Hershey (43-22-11, 97 pts.) used a late-season surge in which it won five straight games to close the year in claiming the third seed in the Atlantic Division portion of the postseason.
The Phantoms will host the Bears in Game 1 at PPL Center this Friday, April 21 followed by Game 2 in downtown Allentown on Saturday, April 22. The series will then shift to Giant Center in Hershey for Game 3 next Wednesday, April 26.
As part of the team’s efforts to Rally the Valley, Friday’s game will feature a Rally the Valley Rally Towel Giveaway presented by Service Electric Cable TV & Communications where the first 8,000 fans in attendance at this Friday’s series opener will receive a free Rally the Valley rally towel.
A limited number of tickets remain to this weekend’s postseason action and can be purchased online HERE.
In 12 regular season meetings, the Phantoms posted an impressive 7-4-1 mark against their in-state rivals. Lehigh Valley outscored Hershey 40-33 in the regular season series and posted a 3-2-1 record in games played at PPL Center this year. Hershey’s Travis Boyd paced all skaters in scoring in the season series with 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) while Greg Carey led all Phantoms with 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in total scoring head-to-head against the Bears.
- Phantoms By The Numbers
- The Phantoms are in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the 11th time in franchise history. The Phantoms last competed in the Calder Cup Playoffs in 2009 and have captured two Calder Cup championships in franchise history (1998, 2005).
Lehigh Valley was one of four AHL clubs to post 100 or more standings points this season. The last time the Phantoms reached the 100-point mark was during the 2004-05 campaign, which was followed by a Calder Cup championship.- The Phantoms finished the 2016-17 regular season as the highest-scoring team in the AHL with 260 total goals (avg. 3.42 per game). With 106 third period conversions, Lehigh Valley was the only team in the league to compile 100 goals scored in any period this season.
- The Phantoms’ power play finished the year sixth overall at 20.7 percent. With 73 man-advantage markers, Lehigh Valley finished tied with the Toronto Marlies for the most power play conversions in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Phantoms’ penalty kill finished fifth overall at 84.0 percent and closed the year having successfully defended 28 of their last 30 man-down situations.
- Defenseman T.J. Brennan (right) led all Phantoms in regular season scoring with 60 points (21 goals, 39 assists). This marks the third time in Brennan’s career in which the blueliner has paced his club in scoring (Toronto, 2015-16, 2013-14). He led all AHL defenders in goals (21) and power play conversions (12) and finished second in shots on goal (214) and game-winning goals (five).
- Forward Greg Carey led all Phantoms with 28 goals this season. Carey was one of five Lehigh Valley skaters to notch 20 or more goals this season alongside Colin McDonald (25), Chris Conner (22), Brennan (21) and Danick Martel (20). What’s more, Carey was one of four Phantoms to eclipse the 50-point mark this year along with Brennan (60), Andy Miele (57) and Conner (56).
Last Week
Wednesday, April 12: WB/Scranton Penguins 1 – Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2 (SO)
Taylor Leier (12th) scored with less than seven minutes left in regulation to tie the game before Corban Knight netted the shootout winner as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms earned a come-from-behind 2-1 triumph over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. With Wednesday’s result, the Phantoms secured their 11th postseason berth in franchise history.
Maxim Lamarche and Colin McDonald assisted on Leier’s conversion in support of goaltender Alex Lyon who backstopped the victory with an impressive 33-save performance.
Friday, April 14: Providence Bruins 4 – Lehigh Valley Phantoms 5 (OT)
Greg Carey (28th) and Andy Miele (12th) scored in the final 62 seconds of regulation to tie the game before Corban Knight (11th) tallied the winner just 48 seconds into overtime as the Phantoms completed an improbable comeback in earning a 5-4 victory over the Providence Bruins. Colin McDonald (25th) and Scott Laughton (18th) also found the back of the net for Lehigh Valley as the Phantoms clinched the number two overall seed in the Atlantic Division portion of the Calder Cup Playoffs with the win.
Miele and Laughton’s goals were part of multi-point efforts as they each tallied a goal and an assist in the triumph while T.J. Brennan added three assists and Travis Sanheim chipped in a pair of helpers as well.
Saturday, April 15: Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4 – Binghamton Senators 1
The Phantoms closed the 2016-17 regular season in fine fashion with a convincing 4-1 win over the Senators in their final game in Binghamton before the team relocates to Belleville, Ontario next season. Danick Martel (20th), Scott Laughton (19th), Taylor Leier (13th) and Andy Miele (13th) all scored for Lehigh Valley in front of goaltender Martin Ouellette who earned the victory between the pipes thanks to a season-high 45-save performance.
Broadcast Coverage
Service Electric’s TV2 Sports will be broadcasting live each of the Phantoms’ home games throughout the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs. If you can’t make it out to the rink, be sure to catch all the exciting action live in HD quality with Steve Degler, Todd Fedoruk, Doug Heater and Kristi Fulkerson! Pre-game coverage begins with “Phantoms Front and Center” 30 minutes before puck drop.
Be sure to also catch each and every Phantoms game this season live on 1470-AM WSAN, 790-AM WAEB or via the iHeartRadio app and Phantoms365 app! Join Voice of the Phantoms, Bob Rotruck, for all of the heart-pumping action of Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey whether the team is at home or on the road. “Countdown to Faceoff” begins 45 minutes prior to puck drop.
Ticket Information
Tickets for each and every Phantoms home game throughout the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs are available online at pplcenter.com, by calling 610-347-TIXX [8499] or in-person at the PPL Center Box Office [7th & Hamilton].
