Crunch Hold Off Phantoms

Gillies Thwarts Lehigh Valley Attack in 4-1 Decision

January 17, 2026

Allentown, PA – Lehigh Valley’s pressure came in waves and the Phantoms’ power play was buzzing and creating several strong chances. But Jon Gillies held off the Orange and Black long enough for the Syracuse Crunch to eventually emerge with a 4-1 win on Saturday night at PPL Center.

Anthony Richard (10th) registered the lone goal for Lehigh Valley to get the Phantoms on the board late in the second period. But it wasn’t enough. And the Crunch picked up a fluky and momentum-changing goal with less than eight minutes left to make it 3-1 and then an empty-netter at the end of a feisty night.

“I think we would have deserved at least one point tonight to tie the game and maybe go to overtime or something,” Richard said. “We couldn’t really score. I think we still got some good looks. We’re skating well in the third at the end. But when you’re losing by two goals at the end, it’s hard in this league to come back. And so, yeah, that third goal was hard for us. We were close to tying that game. So tough loss for us, for sure.”

Lehigh Valley (19-14-4) racked up 28 shots, including several close-range and Grade-A chances on 31-year-old veteran goaltender Jon Gillies. But the one-time former Phantom (very briefly) was on top of his game and made several sterling denials. Gillies played one game for the Phantoms back in the 2021-22 season. He had just joined for his Syracuse debut on a PTO.

The night also marked the return of two popular Phantoms players skating at PPL Center for the first time as members of the opposing team. Brendan Furry and Ethan Samson were recognized late in the first period. Both had played parts of three seasons for the Phantoms.

Syracuse (21-14-3) scored a pair of goals in the second period to take a 2-0 lead on Dylan Duke’s (18th) power-play deflection of a shot from the top of the left circle by former Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakob Pelletier staked the visitors to a 1-0 advantage at 4:03 into the frame.

And then it was an exercise of holding off one strong push after another, including a couple more power plays. The Phantoms were largely dominating in the second period but it was Tristan Allard (4th) burying his opportunity on a rush up the right wing by Milo Roelens at 14:14 to beat Lehigh Valley goaltender Yaniv Perets making it 2-0.

“I thought we controlled a lot of the game,” Phantoms head coach John Snoden said. “And then the power play goal, we need a block. Rush goal, we’re under a stick but we lose the battle and they shoot it in the net. And then that third one’s a fluky one where we need a block, and it kind of finds its way into the net. So it’s one of those games that we did a lot of good things that I thought gave us a chance to have a game.”

Perets was making his second start for Lehigh Valley and absorbed his first loss with the Phantoms.

Yet another power-play opportunity for the Phantoms at the end of the second period gave Lehigh Valley a chance to take momentum back into the locker room at the intermission. And Richard did not miss. He cranked up his one-timer from the right dot on a feed from Christian Kyrou to beat Gillies with just 26 seconds remaining in the period to get the Phantoms on the board at 2-1. Phil Tomasino also received an assist on the power play that was snapping the puck back and forth and generating strong chances throughout the night.

Syracuse had some strong push-back in the third period and caused Lehigh Valley some fits at times. Eventually, Tommy Miller scored a fluky goal that took the wind out of the Phantoms’ sails when his low drive from the right boards deflected off a Phantoms’ defender in the slot and bizarrely into the upper-corner and out. The lucky break for the Crunch was confirmed on video-review with 7:17 remaining and Syracuse was back up by a pair at 3-1.

Nick Abruzzese (8th) from Conor Geekie connected for an empty-netter to finish the night. Alexis Gendron expressed his displeasure with their point-building antics on the 2-on-0 walk to the empty cage and found himself with an early ejection. But the result was in hand for the Crunch who improved to 2-0 against the Phantoms this season.

The loss ended Lehigh Valley’s streak of five consecutive Saturday wins. The Phantoms are a still-impressive 10-2-2 in Saturday contests.

The Phantoms look ahead to a road rematch against Bridgeport on Monday, January 19 at 1:00 p.m. They’re back at PPL Center Friday, January 23 against the Charlotte Checkers and Saturday, January 24 against the Hershey Bears.

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