PREVIEW: Phantoms vs. at Bridgeport, Game 56
Goals by Period
Shots by Period
Goal Scorers
Goaltenders
Three Stars
On the Road for Weekend Finale
TODAY – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (24-25-6) wrap up their busy weekend with a Sunday matinee showdown at the Bridgeport Islanders (23-25-8) in a matchup of two teams battling for playoff position and seeding in the Atlantic Division race.
The Phantoms and Islanders are currently tied for fifth in the division although Lehigh Valley does have a game-in-hand. But Bridgewport currently holds the tiebreaker advantage (regulation wins). Today is Game 56 of the 2025-26 season. There are 17 games to go in the final six weeks before the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Top 6 teams in the division make the postseason and Lehigh Valley’s Magic Number to clinch a Playoff spot is at 31 points. Today is Game 7 out of 8 in the season series between the Phantoms and Islanders. Lehigh Valley is 2-4-0 against Bridgeport.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST TIME – Trailing 4-0 in the first period, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms put together a frenetic and furious rally to earn a valuable overtime standings point but the Charlotte Checkers ended up pulling it off for a 5-4 win at PPL Center on Saturday night. Falling behind 4-0 in the first period is not ideal. But the Phantoms stuck with it and turned their game around to provide a large crowd at PPL Center with an electrifying comeback. David Jiricek made his Phantoms’ debut a memorable one with his tying blast on the power play with just 4:20 left in the third period to bring the crowd to a deafening roar. Adam Ginning (2nd), Jacob Gaucher (13th) and Anthony Richard (16th) also scored in the crazed comeback effort. And Aleksei Kolosov backstopped a perfect relief effort through regulation coming on in relief of Carson Bjarnason to make the incredible rally a possibility. Charlotte raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first including a goal on the first shot of the game by Sandis Vilmanis (9th, 10th) who would also conclude the scoring with the overtime winner for the Checkers.
BUMP’S SPECIAL NIGHT – Alex Bump became the third Lehigh Valley Phantoms player to take his pregame Rookie Lap with the Philadelphia Flyers this season. And he also scored on his first career NHL game as well as on his first career NHL shot while the Philadelphia Flyers rallied for a 4-3 shootout win at the Pittsburgh Penguins. Bump is the third Lehigh Valley player to score in his Flyers’ debut joining Morgan Frost and Hayden Hodgson. He also becomes just the seventh in Phantoms’ franchise history to accomplish the unique feat.
Phantoms Players to Score in NHL Debut with the Flyers
Alex Bump 3/7/2026
Hayden Hodgson 3/24/2022
Morgan Frost 11/19/2019
Jason Akeson 4/27/2013
Harry Zolnierczyk 10/18/2011
David Laliberte 10/31/2009
Mike Richard 10/5/2005
JUMPIN’ JIRICEK – Newly acquired David Jiricek made an immediate impact with his new team blasting home a power-play goal to tie the game with just 4:20 left in the third period on Saturday night. Jiricek, 22, joins the Flyers’ organization from the Minnesota Wild in a trade for Bobby Brink. The #6 overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft has appeared in 84 NHL games with Columbus and Minnesota scoring 2-11-13. He had also spent parts of four seasons in the AHL with Cleveland and Iowa scoring 17-60-77 in 139 games. The 6-foot-5 righty shot has split time this season between Minnesota and Iowa, posting 2-10-12 in 24 games with Iowa.
EDWARD AND HARRISION JOIN VIA TRADE – The Philadelphia Flyers have received defenseman Jackson Edward and forward Brett Harrison from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forwards Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo. Edward and Harrison now join the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Edward, 22, is a 6’2″ defenseman from Newmarket, Ontario who has played in nine games with the Providence Bruins this season recording zero points. He has also played in 21 games with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL this season notching seven assists. In his two-year pro career, the London Knightgs product has played in 40 games with Providence scoring 1-6-7 and also 28 games with Maine scoring 1-8-9. Edward won an OHL Championship in 2023-24 with London where he was teammates with Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk and Sawyer Boulton.
Harrison, 22, is a lefty-shooting center from London, Ontario who has scored 8-9-17 with Providence this season in 40 games played. He has played in 140 career AHL games with Providence over three seasons scoring 19-29-48. Harrison was a third-round selection of the Bruins out of the Oshawa Generals and Windsor Spitfires of the OHL.
TRANSACTIONS –
3/6/26 Del Massimo Rizzo (D) – Traded PHI to BOS
3/6/26 Del Alexis Gendron (F) – Traded PHI to BOS
3/6/26 Add Brett Harrison (D) – Acquired trade from BOS, loaned to LV
3/6/26 Add Jackson Edward (F) – Acquired trade from BOS, loaned to LV
3/6/26 Add Adam Ginning (D) – Loaned to LV by PHI
3/7/26 Add Carson Golder (F) – Recalled by LV from Reading
3/7/26 Del Alex Bump (F) – Recalled to PHI
ISLANDS IN THE STREAM – The Phantoms and Islanders have been trading spots back-and-forth in the Atlantic Division standings with Lehigh Valley most recently leaping ahead of Bridgeport (23-25-8) to snag the fifth-place position. The B-Isles got clobbered at last-place Hartford 6-0 on Friday in a veritable fight fest with almost 200 penalty minutes. Then Bridgeport bounced back to knock off first-place Providence 4-1 on Saturday. Matt Luff (16-28-44) arrived from Springfield two weeks via a trade for Julian Gauthier. Adam Beckman (22-17-39) has scored 6-4-10 against the Phantoms in six previous games including a January 19 hat trick. Liam Foudy (19-14-33) has five goals against the Phantoms this season and Matthew Highmore (9-21-30) also provides additional experienced scoring pop. The Phantoms are 2-4-0 in the season series entering their last visit to Bridgeport including losses of 5-1 and 6-2 in the last two visits to Bridgeport. The two teams will meet once more on April 11 in Allentown. Former Philadelphia Flyers’ assistant coach Rocky Thompson is the first-year bench boss in Bridgeport.
SCORING LEADERS
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Lane Pederson 18-19-37
Anthony Richard 16-20-36
Christian Kyrou 8-23-31
x – Alex Bump 11-15-26
Jacob Gaucher 13-14-27
Tucker Robertson 11-13-24
Bridgeport Scoring Leaders
Adam Beckman 22-17-39
Liam Foudy 19-14-33
Matt Maggio 10-20-30
Matthew Highmore 9-21-30
Alex Jeffries 8-19-27
Special Teams PP / PK
LV 19.5%, 17th / 76.4%, 30th / PP vs. BRI 3-18, 16.7%
BRI 16.7%, 24th / 80.4%, 22nd / PP vs. LV 9-29, 31.0%
Season Series vs. Bridgeport Islanders: (2-4-0)
11/5/25 Away W 6-2
12/19/25 Home L 1-5
1/16/26 Home L 1-3
1/19/26 Away L 2-6
1/31/26 Home W 5-3
2/7/26 Away L 1-5
3/8/26 Away
4/11/26 Home
LOOKING AHEAD – Lehigh Valley has a three-game road trip March 8-14 to Bridgeport, Syracuse and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and then returns to PPL Center for games on Sunday, March 15 in a rematch with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Wednesday, March 18 against the Providence Bruins.
Syracuse Crunch
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
