PREVIEW: Phantoms vs. Monsters, Game 3
Sunday Matinee Rematch in Series Finale
TODAY – It’s a quick turnaround for both teams with a 1:05 p.m. rematch in the finale of a two-game weekend series between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (0-1-1) and Cleveland Monsters (2-1-0), AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Monsters dramatically rallied in the third period, held off a late Lehigh Valley 5-on-3 and then snagged an overtime victory at PPL Center on Saturday night in a feisty and scrum-filled battle that sets the stage for a potentially tasty clash today.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST TIME – Alex Bump scored a power-play goal in his return to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after beginning the season with the Philadelphia Flyers, but the Cleveland Monsters rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the Phantoms 5-4 in overtime on Saturday night at PPL Center. Luca Pinelli scored the winner just 30 seconds into overtime after Owen Sillinger won the opening faceoff and Cleveland controlled possession. Pinelli fired home the deciding goal from the right-wing circle before Lehigh Valley could gain possession in the extra session.
Jacob Gaucher scored in his 200th game with the Phantoms, becoming just the 14th player in franchise history to reach that milestone. Gaucher has now scored three goals in Lehigh Valley’s first two games of the season after recording both tallies in last Saturday’s opener against Hartford. Nolan Foote and Cam Dineen also scored for Lehigh Valley (0-1-1), which earned its first standings point of the season. Steven Lorentz scored a hat trick for Cleveland (2-1-0), while Pinelli delivered the overtime winner.
BUMP IS BACK – The Philadelphia Flyers have assigned forward Alex Bump to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Bump, 22, has played in three games with the Flyers this season and also played in 17 games with Philadelphia last year scoring 5-4-9 while also registering two goals in six postseason games. He made his NHL debut on March 7, 2026 and scored his first goal in that same game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Bump thrived in his rookie season with Lehigh Valley scoring 11-15-26 in 36 games. He had joined the Phantoms at the end of the 2024-25 season immediately after winning the National Championship at the Frozen Four with Western Michigan. The Prior Lake, Minnesota native was a fifth-round selection of the Flyers in 2022.
TRANSACTIONS –
Oct 7 – Add Alex Bump (F) – Assigned to Lehigh Valley by Philadelphia
Oct 7 – Del Brett Berard (F) – Loaned to Reading (ECHL) by Lehigh Valley
Oct 7 – Del Yaniv Perets (G) – Loaned to Reading (ECHL) by Lehigh Valley
MILESTONE – Jacob Gaucher played in his 200th career game with Lehigh Valley on Saturday and celebrated the occasion with his team-leading third goal of the season and second consecutive multi-point performance. Now in his fourth season with the team, Gaucher became the 15th 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. His 50 career goals ranks 8th in Lehigh Valley history.
Lehigh Valley Most Goals:
1. Greg Carey – 103
2. Chris Conner – 71
3. Danick Martel – 68
4. Garrett Wilson – 62
5. Colin McDonald – 60
6. Taylor Leier – 56
7. Olle Lycksell – 52
8. JACOB GAUCHER – 51
9. Nic Aube-Kubel – 50
THE MONSTER MASH –
It’s the finale of a back-to-back weekend set against the Cleveland Monsters, AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Cleveland (2-1-0) split a season-opening series with the Grand Rapids Griffins including a 5-4 ovetime win on Sunday courtesy of Tate Singleton and then followed that up with another 5-4 overtime win in Allentown on Saturday off Luca Pinelli’s winner. 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 one of the top returning scorers 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). Colton White shore up the blueline. 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.
COACHING STAFF – John Snowden enters his second season as head coach of the Phantoms and his fourth season on the team’s coaching staff. NHL veteran defenseman Nick Schultz is back for his second season as an assistant coach as is Yardley, PA native Terrence Wallin. Brady Robinson enters his 11th season as goaltending development coach for the Phantoms.
SCORING LEADERS
Lehigh Valley
56 Jacob Gaucher 3-1-4
42 Spencer Gill 0-2-2
59 Oliver Bonk 0-2-2
77 Jett Luchanko 0-2-2
20 Alex Bump 1-0-1
25 Nolan Foote 1-0-1
44 Cam Dineen 1-0-1
Cleveland
18 Steven Lorentz 3-1-4
17 Luke Tuch 2-1-3
14 Josh Eernisse 2-1-3
26 Guillaume Richard 1-2-3
20 Oiva Keskinen 0-2-2
53 Luca Pinelli 1-1-2
SPECIAL TEAMS
LV PP 2-8, 25.0% (4th) / PK 2-8, 75.0% (23rd)
CLE PP 2-16, 12.5% (24th) / PK 5-19, 73.7%% (27th)
SEASON SERIES
Oct 10 – CLE 5 at LV 4 (OT
Oct 11 – at Lehigh Valley
Mar 26 – at Cleveland
Mar 27 – at Cleveland
ON THE AIR – Catch the Phantoms, home and away, on the Phantoms 365 app and on Real Oldies 1470-AM, WSAN and also on FloHockey.TV.
Also available via the Listen Live link at the Phantoms website and on your Smart Speaker system at “Play Phantoms Radio 24-7.”
Bob Rotruck has the play-by-play action all season long.
Service Electric Network is the exclusive home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, providing extensive coverage of all home games. Steve Degler and Steven Swavely call the action from the booth, while Kristi Fulkerson and Dan Fremuth host pregame, intermissions, and postgame coverage, beginning with “Front and Center” live from Chickie’s and Pete’s at PPL Center.
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.
Hartford Wolf Pack
Springfield Thunderbirds
Springfield Thunderbirds
