PREVIEW: Phantoms at Hershey, Game 49
Looking for the Sweep in Chocolatetown
TONIGHT – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (22-22-4) aim for a sweep of the two-game weekend series at the rival Hershey Bears (22-19-8) at Giant Center in Hershey. The sixth-place Phantoms took Game 1 of the weekend set in a 4-1 verdict. The Phantoms are 4-2-2 against the Bears this season including wins in the last three straight encounters.
Tonight is Game 49 of the 2025-26 season and also Game 9 out of 10 in the season series against the Bears. This is Lehigh Valley’s last visit to Chocolatetown this season. There are 24 games to go in the final two months of the regular season before the Calder Cup Playoffs. Lehigh Valley is also in search of its milestone 400th all-time win since the team arrived in downtown Allentown in 2014.
Lehigh Valley’s overall record now is deuces across the board at 22-22-2-2.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST TIME – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms put it all together in an impressive 4-1 win on Friday night in Chocolatetown in the first of a two-game weekend series. Alex Bump (8th) opened the scoring in just his third game back from his return from injury and Cooper Marody (5th) followed that up with his goal just 33 seconds later. It was Bump’s first goal since December 17. Aleksei Kolosov (31/32) was excellent. But it was a combined team effort filled with winning board battles and getting to pucks first that drove John Snowden’s contingent to its first victory in Hershey this season. Tucker Robertson (11th) and Phil Tomasino (3rd with Lehigh Valley) also found the back of the net. Meanwhile, a frustrated Bears team took out its frustrations on its rivals to the tune of three fights and some early dismissals thus potentially setting the stage for a feisty and spirited rematch.
GINNING AND KOLOSOV RECALLED – The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled defenseman Adam Ginning and goaltender Aleksei Kolosov as the Philadelphia Flyers continue practices before resuming play on Wednesday against Washington.
Ginning, 26, has played in 29 games with the Phantoms this season scoring 1-3-4 and has played in 224 games with the Phantoms scoring 8-47-5. The 2018 second-rounder from Linkoping, Sweden has also played in 16 games with the Flyers in his career including five this season.
Kolosov, 24, has gone 10-13-1, 2.65, .905 this season and is coming off a strong 31-save performance in Lehigh Valley’s 4-1 win at Hershey on Friday. He has appeared in four games with the Flyers going 0-2-0, 4.00, .830. The 6’1″ netminder has appeared in 38 career games with Lehigh Valley over parts of three seasons going 16-20-2, 2.82, and .898.
BUMP IS BACK! – Last Saturday marked the return to the lineup of young prospect Alex Bump who had missed 16 of the previous 17 games due to injury as well as the previous 13 in a row. In his third game back in the lineup, Alex Bump scored his first goal of 2026 on Friday night in Hershey burying a rebound in tight following a Chrsitan Kyrou blast on the power play. It was bump’s first goal since December 17. His injury that sidelined him for nearly two months came in the December 19 game. Bump has scored 8-13-20 in 31 games in his first full rookie season. But the Prior Lake, Minnesota product also played for the Phantoms at the end of last season when he joined the club shortly after a Frozen Four appearance and NCAA Championship with Western Michigan.
GETTING A LOOK – The Philadelphia Flyers have returned goaltender Carson Bjarnason and defensemen Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The three young prospects received the call to join the Flyers for practices this week while the NHL’s Olympic Break is ongoing. Bjarnason and Bonk both enjoyed their first-ever NHL recalls. McDonald was called up to the Flyers for a second time but has yet to appear in a game. He was also with the Flyers from January 17-28. The opportunity to skate with the NHL players and coaches in Voorhees will be an invaluable midseason experience they can bring back with them to the Phantoms.
ROCKIN’ ROBERTSON – Tucker Robertson (11-10-21) has enjoyed a resurgence in his career since arriving to the Phantoms. The energetic and versatile forward has a three-game goal streak as well as four goals in the last five games in a stretch that has included two shorthanded markers. His recent surge of six goals in the last nine games began on January 24 with a two-goal performance against the Hershey Bears which he capped with a speedy rush down ice for an overtime winner. Robertson arrived on September 5 from the Seattle Kraken organization in a trade for J.R. Avon and his new environs and fresh start have provided a spark and resurgence in his career. Robertson’s 11 goals this season eclipses his total number of lamplighters from his two previous seasons combined with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He’s moved all around the lineup for Lehigh Valley. From fourth-line center to first-line winger or anywhere in between, head coach John Snowden has enjoyed the Swiss-Army Knife style flexibility the hard-nosed skater has consistently provided to the lineup.
MILESTONES –
– Anthony Richard, 198 pro assists
– Phil Tomasino, 201 points (Recorded 200th career point on Feb 20 at Hershey)
– Max Guenette, 98 pro assists
– Lehigh Valley, 399 wins all-time
THAT’S BEARY INTERESTING! – Hershey (22-19-8) has had an especially busy schedule upon the return from the AHL All-Star Break and went 2-2-0 in a four-game Canadian road swing that concluded on Wednesday afternoon in Toronto with a 3-2 win over the Marlies. The Bears were led by surging first-rounder Ivan Miroshnichenko (11-16-27) who struck for a pair in that Wednesday win. 19-year-old talent Ilya Protas (19-21-40) is second among AHL rookie scorers and second-rounder Andrew Cristal (9-29-38) is third. Protas has scored 3-5-8 against the Phantoms and Cristal has 1-5-6 in the season series. Former Phantom Louie Belpedio (7-19-26) paces the blueliners. It has been a juggling act among the goaltenders with Garin Bjorkland, Mitch Gibson, and Clay Stevenson all receiving recalls at various times to the Washington Capitals.
The Phantoms are 4-2-2 against their familiar I-78 foes and six of the eight contests have been decided by one goal while three of the matchups have gone to overtime or shootout. Lehigh Valley won the last three meetings including an Aleksei Kolosov 30-save shutout on December 31 and a 4-3 overtime win on Tucker Robertson’s strike on January 24. Robertson has scored 4-3-7 against Hershey. This is Lehigh Valley’s last visit to Chocolatetown this season.
SCORING LEADERS
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 16-16-32
Anthony Richard 13-15-28
Christian Kyrou 7-19-26
Tucker Robertson 11-10-21
Alex Bump 8-13-21
Hershey Scoring Leaders
Ilya Protas 19-21-40
Andrew Cristal 9-29-38
Ivan Miroshnichenko 11-17-28
Louie Belpedio 7-19-26
Brett Leason 9-16-25
Special Teams PP / PK
LV 18.3%, 18th / 75.6%, 31st (PP vs. HER 4/22, 18.2%)
HER 18.5%, 17th / 81.0%, 19th (PP vs. LV 5/22, 22.7%)
SEASON SERIES vs. HERSHEY: (4-2-2)
10/24/25 Home W 5-4
10/25/25 Away SOL 3-4 (SO)
11/15/25 Home L 3-4
11/16/25 Away OTL 1-2 (OT)
12/7/25 Away L 2-3
12/31/25 Home W 3-0
1/24/26 Home W 4-3 (OT)
2/20/26 Away W 4-1
2/21/26 Away
3/28/26 Home
LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms return to PPL Center on Wednesday, February 25 against the Providence Bruins before closing out the month with consecutive home tilts against the Hartford Wolf Pack on February 28 and March 1.
Hershey Bears
Utica Comets
