January 10, 2017
This Week
Friday, January 13 (7:05 p.m.) – Hershey Bears @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms
(T-Shirt Giveaway to First 8,500 Fans. Presented by Capital BlueCross, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Vince’s Cheesesteaks and Wok Box.)
Saturday, January 14 (7:00 p.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms @ Hershey Bears
Upcoming
Winners of eight of their last 11 games, the red-hot Lehigh Valley Phantoms (23-9-2, 48 pts., 2nd Atlantic Division) return to the frozen surface for a pair of games against the rival Hershey Bears this weekend. The Phantoms currently boast the second-most wins (23) in the American Hockey League and third-highest standings points total (48).
Lehigh Valley’s rivalry weekend begins this Friday, January 13 at PPL Center when the Bears invade downtown Allentown for a 7:05 p.m. showdown. Hershey (18-8-9, 45 pts., 4th Atlantic Division) dropped all three of its games last weekend and enters the week looking to snap a four-game winless skid (0-2-2). After a 5-1 loss at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday, the Bears returned home only to be handed back-to-back overtime setbacks to the Utica Comets (3-2 on Saturday) and Penguins (6-5 on Sunday).
Friday’s game, which is presented by Capital BlueCross, features a T-Shirt Giveaway to the first 8,500 fans in attendance presented by Capital BlueCross, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Vince’s Cheesesteaks and Wok Box. A limited number of tickets remain for Friday’s contest and can be purchased online HERE.
Lehigh Valley and Hershey will then complete their home-and-home weekend series on Saturday, January 14 when the Phantoms invade Giant Center for a 7:00 p.m. tilt. This weekend’s games will mark the seventh and eighth meetings of the 2016-17 season between the Phantoms and Bears with the Pennsylvania rivals having split the first six head-to-head collisions.
- Phantoms By The Numbers
- The Phantoms are currently the highest-scoring team in the American Hockey League averaging 3.59 goals per game. Lehigh Valley also enters the week having allowed the AHL’s third-fewest goals-against (2.56) on a per-game basis.
No team in the AHL has more wins when scoring first this season (18) than Lehigh Valley. The Phantoms are an impressive 18-5 when netting the game’s first goal this year and are tied for the most first goals (23) in the league.- All-Star forward Jordan Weal is currently first among Lehigh Valley skaters and tied for sixth among all AHLers in total scoring with 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) this season. Weal has tallied at least one point in 12 of his last 16 games overall and has produced an impressive 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) during his recent surge.
- All-Star defenseman T.J. Brennan (right) is second among all Phantoms and enters the week second among all active AHL blueliners in scoring with 30 points. Brennan leads all AHL defenders with 11 total goals and is tied for the league lead with six power play markers.
- Forward Greg Carey enters the week leading all Lehigh Valley skaters and is tied for third among all AHLers with 17 goals this season. Carey has found the back of the net in six of his last nine games and the Phantoms are an impressive 12-1-1 when he scores this season.
- Goaltender Alex Lyon currently leads all AHL netminders with 16 wins this season. Lehigh Valley’s starter in 21 of the team’s last 23 games overall, Lyon is second in the league in minutes played (1,443) and third in total saves (650).
Last Week
Friday, January 6: Lehigh Valley Phantoms 1 – Hartford Wolf Pack 2
All-Star Jordan Weal netted his 11th goal of the season and Anthony Stolarz registered 21 saves in his first appearance with the Phantoms following a seven-week stint with the Philadelphia Flyers but the Hartford Wolf Pack were able to hang on for a 2-1 win inside XL Center. Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Brown converted for Hartford while Magnus Hellberg backstopped the Wolf Pack’s victory with 31 saves on 32 Lehigh Valley shots.
Danick Martel and All-Star T.J. Brennan assisted on Weal’s conversion as Lehigh Valley moved to 2-2-1 in five games against Hartford this season.
Saturday, January 7: Albany Devils 0 – Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2
Greg Carey (17th) scored on the power play and Scott Laughton (4th) converted while shorthanded in support of goaltender Alex Lyon who turned in an impressive 31-save shutout as the Phantoms blanked the Albany Devils 2-0 in front of 8,744 fans inside PPL Center. Chris Conner and Jordan Weal collected assists in the game while Lehigh Valley’s special teams (power play: 1-for-5, penalty kill: 7-for-7) played a huge part in guiding the Phantoms past the Devils in the first meeting of the year between the Eastern Conference foes.
Saturday’s capacity crowd marked the fourth standing room-only sellout of the season for the Phantoms and the team’s 51st such regular season crowd since PPL Center opened in the Fall of 2014.
Sunday, January 8: Utica Comets 1 – Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4
The Phantoms received three goals from defensemen and Chris Conner registered a pair of assists as Lehigh Valley outlasted the Utica Comets 4-1 in front of 7,467 fans inside PPL Center. Travis Sanheim (5th), Will O’Neill (2nd) and T.J. Brennan (11th) all converted from the blue line while Taylor Leier (7th) notched his first goal since returning to the Phantoms following a 10-game stint with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Alex Lyon capped an impressive weekend between the pipes with 22 saves on 23 Comets shots in earning his league-leading 16th victory of the season. In a pair of starts last weekend, the first-year netminder allowed just one goal while posting a jaw-dropping 0.981 save percentage.
Broadcast Coverage
Service Electric’s TV2 Sports will be broadcasting live all of the Phantoms’ 21 remaining regular season home games. 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. And don’t miss “Phantoms – Breaking the Ice” every Monday from 7:00 – 7:30 p.m. throughout the season live at Chickie’s & Pete’s at PPL Center!
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! 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 of the Phantoms’ 21 remaining regular season home games are available now online at pplcenter.com, by calling 610-347-TIXX [8499] or in-person at the PPL Center Box Office [7th & Hamilton].
RISE UP! Another thrilling season of Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey at PPL Center is underway! Reserve your season tickets and group outings for the 2016-2017 season of Phantoms hockey today. For more information on how to reserve your seat at PPL Center to the hottest ticket in town, call the Phantoms front office today at 610-224-GOAL [4625].
And for the latest Phantoms news, visit www.phantomshockey.com or follow the team on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lehighvalleyphantoms), Twitter (@lvphantoms), Instagram (@lehighvalleyphantoms) and Snapchat (lvphantoms).
The Phantoms are thrilled to host the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross at PPL Center January 28-30. The AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross includes a Phan Fest during the day on Saturday, January 28 and a Tailgate Party that evening, followed by the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday, January 29 and the 2017 AHL All-Star Challenge on Monday, January 30. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime event. Packages starting at just $67 for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic weekend are on sale now and include admission to Saturday’s Phan Fest & Tailgate Party, Sunday’s AHL All-Star Skills Competition and Monday’s All-Star Game. To purchase tickets, please visit www.phantomshockey.com or www.pplcenter.com .
The Phantoms are coming off their 20th Anniversary Season and are currently in their third campaign in the Lehigh Valley playing at the state-of-the-art PPL Center. Established in 1996, the Philadelphia Phantoms spent their first 13 seasons at the Spectrum before re-locating to Glens Falls, New York in 2009 where the team spent the next five seasons as the Adirondack Phantoms. A new era of Phantoms hockey began in the fall of 2014 when the Lehigh Valley Phantoms began play at the state-of-the-art PPL Center. Through 20 incredibly successful campaigns, the Phantoms have captured two Calder Cup Championships (1998, 2005), two Conference Championships (1998, 2005), two Regular Season Titles (1996-97, 1997-98) and four Division Championships (1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2003-04).
