Phantoms Weekly

Season Underway

October 6, 2026

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (0-1-0) began their 2026-27 season on Saturday night before a raucous crowd at PPL Center. Jacob Gaucher scored the first goals of the season but Lehigh Valley couldn’t maintain its initial lead in a 5-2 decision against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The Phantoms continue their season-opening homestand this weekend with a pair of games against the Cleveland Monsters. Sunday’s game could get Whackadoo on Bluey Day!

Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games here: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/

LAST WEEK
Saturday, October 3 – Hartford 5 – Phantoms 2

THE WEEK AHEAD
Saturday, October 10 (7:05) – Cleveland Monsters at Phantoms
Sunday, October 11 (1:05) – Cleveland Monsters at Phantoms

WEEKLY RECAP
Saturday, October 6, 2026
Hartford Wolf Pack 5 – Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2
Jacob Gaucher became the first player ever to score Lehigh Valley’s first goal of the season on two different occasions. But the Hartford Wolf Pack rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to snag a 5-2 win on Opening Night at PPL Center. Spencer Gill and Ilya Pautov celebrated their North American pro debuts by securing their first career assists. Hartford rookie Cole Beaudoin cranked out a three-point performance in his pro debut with one goal and two assists. Gabriel Carriere stymie the Phantoms with 26 saves on 28 shots.

OPENING NIGHT HISTORY – Lehigh Valley’s all-time record in season openers is now 8-5-0. The Phantoms franchise is 20-9-2 in home openers dating back to the beginning of the Philadelphia Phantoms in 1996.
Jacob Gaucher became the sixth Lehigh Valley Phantom to score two goals in a season opener.
And Gaucher also became the first player in Lehigh Valley history to score a first goal of the season TWICE!

Lehigh Valley Phantoms with multiple goals in first game of season:
Chris VandeVelde – Oct 11, 2014 – Lehigh Valley 5 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2
Danick Martel – Oct 15, 2016 – Lehigh Valley 4 – Springfield 2
Danick Martel (3 Goals) – Oct 7, 2017 – Lehigh Valley 7 – Hershey 2
Nicolas Aube-Kubel – Oct 6, 2018 – Lehigh Valley 6 – Bridgeport 3
Greg Carey – Oct 6, 2018 – Lehigh Valley 6 – Bridgeport 3
Devin Kaplan – Oct 11, 2025 – Lehigh Valley 5 – Belleville 2
Jacob Gaucher – Oct 3, 20126 – Hartford 5 – Lehigh Valley 2

MILESTONE – Jacob Gaucher has played in 199 games with the Phantoms. Now in his fourth season with the team, Gaucher can become the 14th player in Lehigh Valley history to reach the 200-game milestone. Gaucher is one of just three players to post consecutive 20-goal campaigns for Lehigh Valley joining Danick Martel and Greg Carey.

ROOKIE ARRIVALS – Seven rookies jumped into the lineup on Saturday, including defenseman Spencer Gill and forward Ilya Pautov who both recorded assists in their pro debuts. The other five rookies had all played for the Phantoms previously but retain rookie status entering the 2026-27 season: Alex Ciernik, Cole Knuble, Jett Luchanko, Noah Powell, Riley Thompson. The Phantoms have nine rookies on their season-opening roster.

MORE PHANTOMS DEBUTS – Five free-agent signees joined the Lehigh Valley lineup to provide valuable depth and experience led by veteran Zach Aston-Reese who has played in 416 NHL games. Also bolstering the lineup are Cam Dineen, Nolan Foote, Danila Klimovich, and Jack Studnicka.

Aston-Reese was a long-time Pittsburgh Penguin who spent the last two seasons with Columbus and Cleveland.

Dineen is a Tom’s River, NJ native who played 38 NHL games with Arizona and Edmonton on various recalls from Tucson and Bakersfield.

Foote has 42 career NHL games with New Jersey and Florida and scored a career-high 20 goals with Utica in 2022-23.

Klimovich has played 280 AHL games with the Abbotsford Canucks over the last five seasons.

Studnicka has 126 career NHL games with Boston, Vancouver, San Jose and Florida.

TRANSACTIONS –
Oct 1, 2026 – Jonathan Gruden (F) – Signed to AHL contract
Oct 2, 2026 – David Goyette (F) – Acquired from Seattle/Coachella Valley via trade for Devin Kaplan
Oct 6, 2026 – Yaniv Perets (G) – Loaned to Reading Royals (ECHL)

UPCOMING –
Saturday, October 10 (7:05 p.m.)
and
Sunday, October 11 (1:05 p.m.)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Lehigh Valley Phantoms vs. Cleveland Monsters
It’s a back-to-back weekend set against the Cleveland Monsters, AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Cleveland (1-1-0) split a season-opening series with the Grand Rapids Griffins including a 5-4 ovetime win on Sunday courtesy of Tate Singleton. The Blue Jackets named former Hershey assistant Nick Bootland as new head coach upon Trent Vogelhuber’s departure to Columbus as assistant coach. 34-year-old goaltender Pheonix Copley adds 312 games of AHL experience. Copley played for the Hershey Bears and Washington Capitals for six seasons but spent the last four year with the Ontario Reign and Los Angeles Kings.
21-year-old Luca Pinelli is the top returning scorer from last year’s team with 14-32-46 as a rookie. Additional top prospects include defenseman Corson Ceulemans (Rd. 1 2021) and forward Jordan Dumais (Rd. 3 2022). Veterans Adam Clendening and Colton White shore up the blueline. Clendening has 512 career AHL games and played for the Phantoms in the 2021-22 season while White has played in 107 career NHL games spending most of his career with New Jersey and affiliates in Binghamton and Utica. 30-year-old center Stephen Lorentz is an NHL veteran of 381 games with Carolina, San Jose, Florida and Toronto who is back in the AHL for the first time since 2019-20. Lorentz won the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024.

Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Jacob Gaucher 2-0-2
Spencer Gill 0-1-1
Jett Luchanko 0-1-1
Ilya Pautov 0-1-1
Jack Studnicka 0-1-1

Atlantic Division Standings:
1. Hartford Wolf Pack 2-0-0 = 4
2. Springfield 2-0-0 = 4
3. Charlotte 1-1-0 = 2
4. Hershey 1-1-0 = 2
5. W-B/Scranton 0-1-1 = 1
6. Lehigh Valley 0-1-0 = 0
7. Providence 0-2-0 = 0

NEXT UP –
After this weekend’s series against Cleveland, the Phantoms are on the road for the first time this year with a three-game swing to Hartford and Springfield from Wednesday, October 14 through Saturday, October 17.

The Phantoms will be back at PPL Center on Saturday, October 24 against the Syracuse Crunch and Sunday, October 25 against the Belleville Senators on PhanCon also featuring a Postgame Skate with the players presented by NJM Insurance.

Oct

Sat 7:05 PM