PREVIEW: Phantoms vs. Springfield, Game 26
Home for the Holidays Begins Tonight!
TONIGHT – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (13-9-3) have played the fewest home games (9) and most away games (16) of any team in the AHL. That changes beginning tonight with the start of a six-game homestand as Lehigh Valley hosts the Springfield Thunderbirds (7-11-5), AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues.
Tonight is Game #26 of the season and also Game 2 out of 6 between the Phantoms and T-Birds this year. Lehigh Valley won the initial encounter in a 7-3 thrashing on November 14. The Phantoms are now in fourth place in the Atlantic Division after Charlotte’s victory at Wilkes-Barre last night.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST TIME – Tucker Robertson made it look easy. But, apparently, it was anything but that. His shootout goal in the eighth round was the ONLY one scored by 16 combined skaters as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms eventually emerged with a 2-1 marathon shootout win at the Rochester Americans on Saturday night. Carson Bjarnason was 8-for-8 in the shootout which naturally included some point-blank denials of some of the skilled Amerks’ forwards. Devon Levi was phenomenal for the Americans with 38 saves on 39 shots through 65 minutes to keep his team in the game. Jacob Gaucher (5th) stuffed in the tying goal partway through the second period on a set up by Oscar Eklind and Garrett Wilson. The marathon shootout was the longest of the season for the Phantoms in nine years.
MURCH RETURNS! – The Philadelphia Flyers have returned defenseman Ty Murchison to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, according to General Manager Daniel Briere.
Murchison, 22, made his NHL debut last week on December 9 for the Philadelphia Flyers against the San Jose Sharks and played in three games with the team while impressing throughout his stint. He has scored one goal with three assists while accumulating 30 penalty minutes with the Phantoms this season in 21 games played. He became the 48th Lehigh Valley Phantoms player to be recalled for an NHL debut with the Philadelphia Flyers and the first to do so this season. He also became the fifth Lehigh Valley Phantoms player to receive a recall to Philadelphia joining Aleksei Kolosov, Jacob Gaucher, Emil Andrae and Carl Grundstrom.
CARSON CRUSHING IT – Rookie goaltender Carson Bjarnason has thrived at the pro level in his debut season. The 20-year-old from Carbury, Manitoba has gone 6-2-2, 2.52, .911. Bjarnason currently ratesd 10th in the AHL in GAA. And he’s been even better in his last four games going 3-0-1, 2.15, .920. Since October 31 he has only one regulation loss going 5-1-1, 2.51, .911.
Bjarnason has also been an ace in the shootout this season playing in four shootout games this year and going 2-2. Following his stellar 8-for-8 performance on Saturday, he has now allowed just two shootout goals on 16 total shooters which is the most shootout attempts seen for any goaltender in the league. Six of his 10 starts have gone to overtime or shootout including the last three straight. The 6’4″ netminder out of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL was a Round 2 (#51 overall) selection of the Flyers in the 2023 NHL Draft.
GAUCH GETS IT GOING – Jacob Gaucher has a three-game goal streak which includes both games last weekend on the road when he scored Lehigh Valley’s lone goal of the game. The 24-year-old right-shooting center from Longueuil, Quebec tied for the team lead (with Alexis Gendron) with 20 goals last season and also earned an NHL contract midseason leading to his NHL debut on February 2, 2025 with the Philadelphia Flyers. He played four games with the Flyers last year and then received an early recall this season as well when he played three more games with the big club. Gaucher has now played 151 career games with the Phantoms as well as seven games with the Flyers and 74 games with the Reading Royals for a combined 233 professional games in the Flyers’ organization over four seasons.
HOME SWEET HOME – The Phantoms have played nine home games and 16 away games. That’s the fewest home games in the AHL and also the most away games. At last, that changes this week with a 6-game homestand beginning Wednesday and also including a Holiday Break in between. It is tied for the longest homestand in Lehigh Valley history. Lehigh Valley has no more away games in 2025 and will play its next away game on January 3, 2016 at Belleville. The Phantoms are 6-2-1 at home. Only the Grand Rapids Griffins (12-1-0) have fewer regulation losses on home ice).
SHOOTOUT FUN – Lehigh Valley’s eight-round marathon shootout win on Saturday at Rochester was one of the longest in team history. The Phantoms have not had a shootout go that long since November 1, 2016 when the Phantoms won in 10 rounds at the Hershey Bears on a goal by Kevin Sundher who had just been added and was making his Phantoms’ debut.
The longest shootout in franchise history was an incredible 15-round shootout on April 13, 2013 when the Adirondack Phantoms outlasted the Binghamton Senators. Mark Alt scored the winner in the 15th round which was also the second-longest in AHL history. The only longer shootout was Cleveland vs. Utah who played 16 rounds in 2002. The Phantoms outscored Binghamton 7-6 in the crazy 15-round affair that was made possible when Garrett Roe tied the game with just 0.3 seconds left in regulation. Brian Boucher was the winning goalie.
TAMING THE T-BIRDS – Springfield (7-11-5) is showing rapid signs of improvement since the last time the Phantoms saw the T-Birds when they had the worst record in the league. Lehigh Valley clobbered Milan Lucic and Company 7-3 at PPL Center on November 14 and made it look easy on two goals by Denver Barkey and three-point performances by Alex Bump and Lane Pederson. But the T-Birds have gotten it going with points in eight of their last nine (5-1-3) including a current three-game point streak. The NHL veteran Lucic has since been released from his tryout contract. Goaltender Vadim Zherenko (4-5-3, 3.10, .905) has found his game and most recently had a 45-save masterpiece in a 3-1 win against Utica last weekend. Veteran captain Matthew Peca (3-12-15) is in his fifth season with the team and leads in scoring. Rookie Juraj Pekarcik (5-8-13) is a third-round selection from Slovakia. But Matt Luff and Nikita Alexandrov are up with St. Louis. Hugh McGing and Aleksantari Kaskiamki have been returned from St. Louis. McGing’s 275 career games are the most in T-Birds history. Reknowned and notorious enforcer Kale Kessy now has over 1,000 career penalty minutes. He was dropping the gloves with many a Phantoms player when he patrolled the ice for Hershey for four seasons from 2019-23.
SCORING LEADERS
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Alex Bump 6-13-19
Anthony Richard 8-10-18
Lane Pederson 7-10-17
x – Carl Grundstrom 6-9-15
Denver Barkey 7-8-15
Christian Kyrou 4-10-14
Springfield Scoring Leaders
Matthew Peca 3-12-15
x – Matt Luff 7-7-14
x – Nikita Alexandrov 3-11-14
Juraj Pekarcik 5-8-13
Chris Wagner 6-6-12
Special Teams PP / PK
LV 19.3%, 15th / 76.9%, 29th
ROC 17.9%, 19th / 86.4%, 3rd
LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms host the Bridgeport Islanders on a Berks Dollar Dog Friday and also featuring the Service Electric Network Warm-Up Drive as part of a big six-game homestand from December 17 through December 31.
Saturday, it’s the annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by Big Woody’s against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
