PREVIEW: Phantoms at Hartford, Game 18
Road Trip Continues at Wolf Pack
TODAY – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (10-5-2) head to Hartford, Conn. for a 6:00 p.m. engagement with the Hartford Wolf Pack, AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers. The Phantoms lead the season series 2 games to 0 with back-to-back overtime wins when they last visited PeoplesBank Arena over Halloween weekend.
Hartford (5-7-4) is stepping it up with a two-game win streak including a 5-2 thrashing of the formerly first-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last night. The Pack have moved into a tied for sixth-place in the Atlantic Division with Bridgeport.
Meanwhile, the Phantoms are holding strong at third place in the division ahead of the surging Hershey Bears.
This is Game 2 of a three-game road trip and is Game 18 on the season. Tonight is also Game 3 out of 6 in the season series and represents Lehigh Valley’s final visit to the Insurance City this season.
The Phantoms are 5-3-2 on the road while Hartford holds a 4-3-3 record in home games.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST TIME – Anthony Richard (5th) pulled the Phantoms to within a goal with just over two minutes to go but the Providence Bruins rode the goaltending strength of Simon Zajicek (30 saves) to barely hang on for a 3-2 win on Friday night at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Lehigh Valley (10-5-2) racked up 16 shots in the third, half of their game total. Zajicek was simply too good. Karsen Dorwart (4th) also scored for the Phantoms while Alexis Gendron’s assist on the play pushed his point streak to six games. Alex Bump had eight shots on goal and was denied on a pair of breakaways while Carl Grundstrom and Ethan Samson were both robbed back-to-back right on top of Zajicek in the third. Aleksei Kolosov had 20 saves in the loss. Former Philadelphia Flyer Patrick Brown (7th) scored for Providence while veteran defensemen Victor Soderstrom racked up a pair of assists.
GINNING IS BACK – The Philadelphia Flyers have assigned defenseman Adam Ginning to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on a conditioning loan. Ginning, 25, has played in five games with the Flyers this year and also has 15 games of NHL experience in his career. After two games with the Phantoms this week, he has now played in 197 games with the Phantoms over the last three seasons scoring 7-44-51. Last year, the left-handed shooting defenseman from Linkoping, Sweden scored 2-15-17 in 69 games with Lehigh Valley.
THE 900 CLUB – It’s another milestone for the Captain. Just one week after Garrett Wilson became the first in Lehigh Valley history to play in 300 games for the team, the rugged 34-year-old winger played in his 900th pro game on Friday. The Barrie, Ontario product has played in 715 games in the AHL plus 84 career NHL games with Florida and Pittsburgh. And he began his career in the ECHL where he played in 101 games. He has scored 192 career goals with 227 assists for 419 points while also pulverizing several opponents along the way to rack up 1461 penalty minutes.
WHO’S HOT –
Denver Barkey – 5-3-8 in Last 7 games. 4 goals in last 5 games
Alex Bump – 2-7-9 in Last 7 games
Alexis Gendron – 3-3-6 on 6 game point streak
Carl Grundstrom – 3-8-11 in Last 8 games
Christian Kyrou – 2-9-11, +11 rating in 9 games since joining Phantoms on Oct 30
Lane Pederson – 5-7-12 in Last 7 games
Anthony Richard – 3-6-9 last 8 games
LEAGUE LEADERS –
Alex Bump (4-10-14)
Tied 4th in Rookie Points
1st in Rookie Assists
1st in Rookie Shots (55)
Ty Murchison +11 rating
Tied 2nd for Rookies and 2nd all defensemen
Christian Kyrou (2-9-11, +11 rating)
Tied 2nd for defensemen in plus-minus
Tied 3rd for defensemen in assists
IT HAPPENS IN HARTFORD – No surprise that the Phantoms and Wolf Pack have already developed some bad blood in the rivalry series. Hartford (5-7-4) dropped a pair of overtime contests to the Phantoms over Halloween weekend including a game in which Garrett Wilson found himself dragged inside the Hartford bench in a tie game late in the third in an unusual scene. After that, it was Cooper Marody stunningly stealing the puck from goalie Dylan Garand for the second straight overtime winner after Lane Pederson had slammed home the decisive strike in OT from Alex Bump the night before when Lehigh Valley rallied from a 3-1 deficit.
The Pack recently shook out of a seven-game winless slide with back-to-back wins including a 5-2 thrashing of formerly first-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last night. First-rounder Gabe Perrault (5-5-10) is back from his recall to the New York Rangers and has two goals against the Phantoms. Former Cleveland Monsters legend Trey Fix-Wolansky (6-4-10) leads the Pack in scoring and had a big goal in their win over the Baby Pens. 6’7″ center Dylan Roobroeck (5-3-8) is a difficult obstacle too. Dylan Garand (3-5-2, 2.94, .898) is in his fourth season with the Pack and is coming off his best campaign with 20 wins and a .913 save percentage when he represented Hartford at the AHL All-Star Classic.
Last year, the Phantoms went 3-1-2 against Hartford. Eight of the last 12 meetings over the last three seasons have gone to overtime or shootout.
SCORING LEADERS
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Alex Bump 4-10-14
Anthony Richard 5-8-13
Lane Pederson 6-7-13
Denver Barkey 6-5-11
Christian Kyrou 2-9-11
Alexis Gendron 4-6-10
Hartford Scoring Leaders
Trey Fix-Wolansky 6-4-10
Gabe Perreault 5-5-10
Justin Dowling 4-5-9
Brett Berard 2-7-9
Dylan Roobroeck 5-3-8
Special Teams PP / PK
LV 20.6%, 13th / 16.4%, 22nd
HFD 16.4%, 22nd / 79.1%, 22nd
SEASON SERIES
Hartford Wolf Pack: (2-0-0)
10/31/25 Away W (OT) 4-3
11/1/25 Away W (OT) 4-3
11/22/25 Away
12/20/25 Home
2/28/26 Home
3/1/26 Home
LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms next play on Black Friday at the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Phantoms return to PPL Center on Saturday, November 29 against the Laval Rocket featuring the return of Gritty!
Hartford Wolf Pack
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
