Phantoms Weekly
3-Game Homestand Upcoming
February 23, 2026
Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (23-22-4) are back at PPL Center for a three-game homestand this week and are looking to continue momentum following a two-game sweep at the Hershey Bears last weekend. The Phantoms host the first-place Providence Bruins on Wednesday night before a pair of rivalry matchups on Sautrday night and Sunday afternoon against the Hartford Wolf Pack, AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers. Sunday’s matinee contest is meLVin’s Birthday!
Wednesday will mark the 50th game of the season. There are 23 games remaining with less than two months to go before the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Phantoms are playing the next three straight at home as well as five of the next six.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games here: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST WEEK
Friday, February 20 – Phantoms 4 at Hershey 1
Saturday, February 21 – Phantoms 6 – Hershey 4
THE WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday, February 25 (7:05) – Providence Bruins at Phantoms
Saturday, February 28 (7:05) – Hartford Wolf Pack at Phantoms
Sunday, March 1 (3:05) – Hartford Wolf Pack at Phantoms
WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, February 20, 2026
Phantoms 4 at Hershey Bears 1
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.
Saturday, February 21, 2026
Phantoms 6 at Hershey Bears 4
Alex Bump (9th, 10th) capped off a big three-goal weekend while opening the scoring in a chaotic, see-saw rivalry battle at the Hershey Bears with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms eventually hanging on for a hard-fought 6-4 win. Oliver Bonk (3rd) also scored in the three-goal opening frame and Christian Kyrou (8th) tacked on to the advantage in the second period. Lehigh Valley was looking mighty comfortable with a 4-1 lead early in the second period but the Bears rallied for three straight to equalize at 4-4 before Alexis Gendron’s (9th) deflection of a Hunter McDonald blast put the Phantoms back ahead for good. Zayde Wisdom (9th) sealed the win with an empty-netter to finish the milestone 400th win in Lehigh Valley history. The Phantoms had to kill back-to-back Hershey power plays late in the third while Carson Bjarnason was tested in tight inducing several athletic and desperation saves. Kyrou swept one away that was rolling practically on the goal line. And Hunter McDonald made a save of his own on the right-wing side of the crease to deny Henrik Rybinski (8th, 9th) who had already scored twice for the Bears and came perilously close to a hat trick on multiple occasions.
BUMP IT UP – Alex Bump’s second weekend back in the lineup saw the young forward find his top form again with a three-goal outburst in Lehigh Valley’s two-game series sweep at the Hershey Bears. Bump opened the team’s scoring in both contests and scored a pair of goals in the first period on Saturday for his first career multi-goal game although he did have a two-goal performance in Game 1 of the playoffs last year against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Bump has scored 10-13-23 in 32 games in his first full rookie season. 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.
HISTORIC SWEEP – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms swept a weekend set of games from Hershey for just the second time ever. The last time it happened was January 13-14, 2018 when the Orange and Black took both ends of a home-and-home set.
This was also the first time ever for Lehigh Valley to play back-to-back games at Hershey on the same weekend. And it was also only the third time the Phantoms franchise had played consecutive games in Hershey also including two occasions when the Adirondack Phantoms played there on consecutive days in 2014 and 2010.
This was the seventh time for the Phantoms to sweep a weekend series from Hershey with the six previous occasions all taking place in home-and-home sets. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have done it twice and the Philadelphia Phantoms did it five times in November 2008, November 2004, February 2004, November 2000, and January 1998.
BEARS BEAT-DOWN – The Phantoms have now won the last four straight meetings with the Hershey Bears and are 5-2-2 against their Chocolatetown rivals this season. The dominance really began on December 31 at PPL Center with Aleksei Kolosov’s 30-save shutout of the Bears. Tucker Robertson starred in the January 24 win with a third-period goal followed by the overtime winner. Then Alex Bump racked up three goals February 20-21 in a first-ever weekend sweep at Hershey.
Tucker Robertson, Alex Bump and Zayde Wisdom all have four goals against the Chocolate and White this season. Aleksei Kolosov has excelled in the season series going 3-1-1, 2.00, .936 against Hershey.
There is one game remaining in the regular-season series on March 28 at PPL Center. But it is entirely possible the I-78 foes could meet in the Calder Cup Playoffs for a third consecutive season. Lehigh Valley currently holds the fifth-place position while Hershey is hanging on to fourth place potentially setting up a potential 4 vs. 5 series in April.
MILESTONES –
– Anthony Richard, 199 pro assists
– Phil Tomasino, 200th pro point (Feb 20, 2026 at Hershey)
– Max Guenette 100th pro assist (Feb 21, 2026 at Hershey)
– Lehigh Valley, 400th win all-time (Feb 21, 2026 at Hershey)
TRANSACTIONS –
2/21/26 Del Aleksei Kolosov (G) – Recalled to PHI
2/21/26 Del Adam Ginning (D) – Recalled to PHI
2/21/26 Add Aleksei Kolosov (G) – Loaned to LV by PHI
2/21/26 Del Carson Golder (F) – Loaned to Reading
2/21/26 Del Yaniv Perets (G) – Loaned to Reading
2/22/26 Del Massimo Rizzo (F) – Reassigned to Reading from LV
UPCOMING –
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Providence Bruins at Phantoms
Providence (38-10-1) was dominating a racked up a franchise-record 13 consecutive wins to blow past the rest of the pack in the Atlantic. But the weekend ended on a sour note as their win streak was snapped at seventh-place Springfield on Saturday and then they stumbled again in an uninspired 5-2 loss at last-place Hartford on Sunday. Patrick Brown (15-30-45) is the veteran captain of the Bruins who also served as the captain for the Eastern Conference at the AHL All-Star Classic. The 33-year-old veteran leader also played two seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2021-23 and has a pair of goals against the Phantoms in the season series. Rookie Dans Locmelis (13-15-28) represented Latvia at the Olympics. Michael DiPietro (22-6-0, 1.76, .938) is the top goaltender in the league and is the front-runner to win the Baz Bastien award for a second consecutive season. Providence is second in the AHL in team defense at 2.04 goals per game and is also second best on the penalty kill at 85.4%. Providence won the first two rounds of the series in Rhode Island. This is the first PPL Center visit for the Bruins.
Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1, 2026
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Hartford Wolf Pack at Phantoms
It has largely been a struggle for last-place Hartford (19-25-6) but the Wolf Pack have potentially snapped out of their losing ways with back-to-back wins over Belleville and first-place Providence as they attempt to make a push up the standings. Pretty impressive turnaround for a team that got shellacked 9-0 at Charlotte a week earlier. The Pack are 29th in total offense at 2.56 goals per game and rate only 28th in team defense allowing 3.4 per game. Former Cleveland Monsters legend Trey Fix-Wolansky (18-13-31) leads the offense for Grant Potulny’s gang. Veteran Justin Dowling (10-18-28) played for the New Jersey Devils last year. Gone to the New York Rangers are first-rounder prospects Gabe Perrault and Brennan Othmann. Lehigh Valley has gone 4-0-0 against the Wolf Pack including a Teddy Bear Toss 2-1 win in the last meeting on December 20. The Phantoms won back-to-back overtime decisions at Hartford over Halloween weekend via Lane Pederson and Cooper Marody victory strikes. Three of the four games have gone to overtime and three of of Lehigh Valley’s wins have included rallies from third-period deficits.
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 16-17-33
Anthony Richard 13-15-28
Christian Kyrou 8-20-28
Alex Bump 10-13-23
Tucker Robertson 11-11-22
Atlantic Division Standings:
1. Providence 38-10-1 = 77
2. W-B/Scranton 35-13-5 = 73
3. Charlotte 29-17-3 = 61
4. Hershey 22-20-8 = 52
5. Lehigh Valley 23-22-4 = 50
6. Bridgeport 21-23-7 = 49
7. Springfield 20-25-6 = 46
8. Hartford 19-25-6 = 44
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 Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1 including meLVin’s Birthday in Sunday’s game.
The Phantoms travel to the Utica Comets on Tuesday, March 3 and then return to PPL Center for two more home games against the Charlotte Checkers on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7.
Utica Comets
