The Kids Took Over
Phantoms Rally in Home Finale
April 12, 2026
Allentown, PA – An infusion of young talent came through when it mattered most to propel a thrilling Phantoms comeback win against the Cleveland Monsters in Lehigh Valley’s home finale on Sunday afternoon at PPL Center. Noah Powell gave the Phantoms the lead in the third period with his first career pro goal followed by fellow newcomers Cole Knuble and Jack Berglund who scored in the second and third rounds of the shootout to finish off an incredible 4-3 victory. What a sendoff for our fans with tremendous victories in the last two home games of the season.
Lehigh Valley (30-33-6) also remained relevant in the Atlantic Division playoff race pulling to within two points of the sixth-place Springfield Thunderbirds who lost at Providence 1-0. With three games to go in the regular season, the Phantoms have a chance to tie the T-Birds in the standings in a massive head-to-head showdown at Springfield on Wednesday night. The Thunderbirds lost back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday while Lehigh Valley won two in a row thus opening the door for a Phantoms team that is now coming at Springfield in a hurry.
Trialing 2-0, Jacob Gaucher (20th) got the Phantoms on the board with a power-play goal in the second period. He almost evened the score a few minutes later when he was awarded a penalty shot at the end of the second period but former Flyers’ goaltender Ivan Fedotov denied Gaucher’s backhand attempt. Boris Katchouk (6th with LV) tied the game in the third and, a few minutes later, it was Noah Powell burying the go-ahead goal on an incredible pass from defenseman Jackson Edward.
But it was the young players who finished the comeback for Lehigh Valley. And head coach John Snowden hasn’t been bashful about putting the kids into the important roles in some intense situations.
“I think it’s so good for them, for the organization, for their development,” Snowden said. “They’re not stepping just into games, they’re stepping into extremely meaningful games, right? Like we have to win hockey games right now, and they’re all impactful, every single one of them, all the way up and down. And I thought as a whole group today we had some, obviously, some late changes before the game. Jiricek is gone, and Tomasino is injured. So we have some guys who have to step up, jump in the lineup. And I thought they did an excellent job with that today. And obviously the young guys have been, really, really good since they’ve stepped in.”
The Phantoms largely dominated the game and peppered Ivan Fedotov with 41 shots on goal. But unlike the day before when the Phantoms struck for five goals in the first period against Bridgeport, this time Lehigh Valley wasn’t getting the bounces and couldn’t bury its chances.
Riley Bezeau (5th) turned the corner from the right boards and took it to the house to push the first goal of the game past Carson Bjarnason at 10:21 for a 1-0 lead. And Mikael Pyyhtiä (19th) struck on the power play from the point beating Bjarnason stick side at 18:54 to stretch the lead to 2-0 shortly after Anthony Richard stepped up for his fallen teammate, Tucker Robertson, who had been blasted by Dysin Mayo. Richard was called for an extra roughing penalty much to the dismay of Snowden.
But the Phantoms were largely playing well despite a somewhat improvised lineup in which the Phantoms were without Lane Pederson, Phil Tomasino, David Jiricek, Christian Kyrou and Adam Ginning.
No need to worry. The kids were all right!
But it started with some more experienced players to get the comeback going. Gaucher took a nifty pass from Boris Katchouk and flicked through a power-play goal from the side of the net past the right shoulder of Fedotov for his fourth of the weekend at 15:24 into the second period. Riley Thompson nothcd his fourth assist in just his sixth pro game. Gaucher almost equalized with his penalty shot with just 30 seconds remaining in the period after he was impeded on a breakaway but Fedotov stuffed him with the right pad.
Katchouk scored to the upper-right corner at 7:59 into the third period on a strong set up by Powell as the fourth liners thrived again to forge a 2-2 tie at 7:59 into the third.
It was defenseman Jackson Edward who dazzled at 12:50 into the third when he carried into the zone right-to-left but somehow perfectly connected back behind him to an onrushing Powell who scored the first goal of his pro career to give the Phantoms a 3-2 lead.
“It felt awesome,” Powell said. “I’m not gonna lie. You have everyone come up giving you fist bumps. I can’t lie. It’s a great feeling. And, like I said earlier, just being able to contribute in that sense. I feel like I’ve had a bunch of chances that maybe could have helped push us over the edge other games. It feels really good to have that one tonight. And, you know, have the support of all the guys.”
Cleveland (35-27-8) came back to equalize late in the third at 16:37 when Bezeau got a piece of a clearing try that deflected to James Maletesta (10th) in the left dot for a quick snipe into the net.
Both teams were racing up and down in an energetic and frenetic overtime that featured a pair of shots off the post. Cleveland cranked one off the crossbar past the glove of Bjarnason that stayed out. Anthony Ricahrd hit the post for the second time in the game when his drive with just one second left in overtime found iron.
Cole Knuble scored his first career pro goal last week and then slipped through his first shooutout attempt in a second-round conversion past Fedotov. Jack Berglund capped his first pro hockey weekend in North America with a shootout winner in the third round, guiding a backhander around the left skate of Fedotov to finish a strong weekend for the 20-year-old second-rounder.
Lehigh Valley finishes with a home record of 16-16-4.
The Phantoms have three straight away games to conclude the season beginning Wednesday night at the Springfield Thunderbirds. With a regulation win on Wednesday, Lehigh Valley would pull into a tie for sixth place in the standings and will have meaningful hockey with playoffs on the line going into the final games of the campaign next Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and next Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in a back-to-back at the Charlotte Checkers. If Lehigh Valley crashes the party and busts its way into the playoffs, it would likely result in a 3 vs. 6 matchup at Charlotte immediately after concluding the regular season there.
Goals by Period
Shots by Period
Goal Scorers
Goaltenders
Shootout
Three Stars
Springfield Thunderbirds
Charlotte Checkers
Charlotte Checkers
