PREVIEW: Phantoms vs. Belleville, Game 8
Goals by Period
Shots by Period
Goaltenders
Throwback Jerseys Return in Weekend Homestand Finale
TONIGHT – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-3-1) are back at it and looking to shake off yesterday’s setback as the host the Belleville Senators, AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. Award-winning PhanCon returns for a third season and fans are encouraged to stay after the game and join the players on the ice for a Postgame Skate presneted by NJM Insurance.
Lehigh Valley is also bringing back the wildly popular Throwback jerseys. And the chaos in yesterday’s game was certainly reminiscent of some of the more fight-filled contests of the 1990’s era Philadelphia Phantoms.
Belleville (4-3-2) is concluding a three-game Pennsylvania stretch which has included a 7-3 win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday and a 5-2 loss at Hershey on Saturday. This is the only Allentown appearance for the B-Sens.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST TIME – When you go down, go down fighting. A team-record 98 penalty minutes, including several 10-minute misconducts, was the response to a frustrating night of hockey in which the Syracuse Crunch prevailed in a 7-2 final. Former Philadelphia Flyer Jakob Pelletier recorded a hat trick entirely in the second period and Gabriel Sturzc had a pair of goals while Elliot Desnoyers celebrated his first trip back to PPL Center with a goal and an assist against his former team. Zayde Wisdom scored in the opening 30 seconds for an initial 1-0 lead but things went sideways after that as Syracuse took a 4-1 lead in the opening minutes of the second period and made it 6-1 by the time the horn sounded for the intermission. But it was the third period that everyone talking with one scrap and blow up after another. When the dust had settled, six Phantoms players had received misconducts as well as head coach John Snowden. And the team set a new record for PIM eclipsing the 72 penalty minutes Lehigh Valley had in a game on December 21, 2024 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Indeed, the situation harkened back to the early days of the Philadelphia Phantoms and some of their wild, fight-filled contests at the old Spectrum. Certainly an appropriate way to be tribute to the beginning of the franchise on Throwback Jersey night.
THE CAPTAIN IS BACK! – Welcome back, Captain! Veteran forward and team leader Garrett Wilson has been assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by the Philadelphia Flyers.Wilson, 35, has played two games with the Flyers this season. He completed his 15th season of professional hockey in 2025-26, spending time with the Flyers and the Phantoms. He is confirmed to be in the lineup tonight as the Phantoms return to PPL Center to host the Syracuse Crunch. The forward played 54 games with Lehigh Valley before spending the rest of the season with the Flyers. The rugged winger has served as captain or alternate captain for the Phantoms for six seasons and is entering his seventh season with the team as well as his fourth as captain. He holds the Lehigh Valley records for most games (341) and penalty minutes (789).
His unlikely, fairy-tale return to the NHL last season after a nearly seven-year absence garnered national attention. On March 19, 2026, in Los Angeles, Wilson suited up for the Flyers in what was his first NHL action since the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The forward played three total games for Philadelphia. Wilson was nominated by the Philadelphia chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) for the 2025-26 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which recognizes a player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
GAUCHER RETURNS – The Philadelphia Flyers have assigned Jacob Gaucher back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms following his three-game stretch with the big club last week. It is the third consecutive season in which Gaucher has seen NHL action who has played 11 career games with the Flyers. Gaucher, 25, has played in six games with the Phantoms this season scoring 4-4-8. He has played in 204 career games with the Phantoms over the past four seasons scoring 52-46-98.
Gaucher is tied with Olle Lycksell for seventh all-time in goals by a Lehigh Valley player and also recently became the 15th ever to appear in 200 games with Lehigh Valley. In the 2025-26 season, he also became only the third Lehigh Valley player to record 20 or more goals in a season joining Danick Martel and Greg Carey. This year, he became the first player in Lehigh Valley history to score the first goal of the season two different times. He has recorded two hat tricks in his career.
BUMP ACCOLADES – Alex Bump was recognized for his torrid goal-scoring stretch as he was named AHL Player of the Week. It is the 10th time a Lehigh Valley player has received the honor. Bump had five goals on the team’s three-game road trip while extending his goal-scoring streak to five games. Other Lehigh Valley Phantoms to win AHL Player of the Week honors include Aleksei Kolosov, Olle Lycksell (twice), Cooper Marody, Tanner Laczynski, Max Willman, Colin McDonald, Nick Cousins, and Scott Laughton.
TRANSACTIONS –
Oct 18, 2026 – Del Hunter McDonald (D) – Recalled to PHI
Oct 18, 2026 – Add Jack Studnicka (F) – Loaned to Phantoms by PHI
Oct 18, 2026 – Add Helge Grans (D) – Loaned to Phantoms by PHI
Oct 19, 2026 – Del Alex Bump (F) – Recalled to PHI
Oct 19, 2026 – Del Cole Knuble (F) – Recalled to PHI
Oct 19, 2026 – Del Jacob Gaucher (F) – Recalled to PHI
Oct 24, 2026 – Add Garrett Wilson (F) – Loaned to Phantoms by PHI
Oct 25, 2026 – Add Jacob Gaucher (F) – Loaned to Phantoms by PHI
MAKING AN IMPACT – The Philadelphia Flyers have brought up five prospects from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, including four this week, and the youth infusion has helped drive the team’s win streak.
Cole Knuble made his NHL debut and became part of the first-ever father-son combo in Philadelphia Flyers’ history and then followed that up with his two career goals on Wednesday night at the Buffalo Sabres on a rebound at the net front followed by a bank off the goaltender’s skate. The fourth-round selection joined the Phantoms late last season from Notre Dame and has scored 2-5-7 in 13 career games with Lehigh Valley.
Hunter McDonald played in just his second career NHL game and his first since the season finale of the 2025-26 season and then followed that up with a massive hit and a fight against Ulf Samulsson in Buffalo on Wednesday. The hard-nosed 24-year-old prospect from Northeastern University is in his third full season of professional hockey has played in 153 career games with Lehigh Valley scoring 5-25-30.
Jacob Gaucher played at wing in the NHL for the first in his career after beginning the season on left wing with the Lehigh Valey Phantoms providing him additional versatility on such recalls. It was Gaucher’s ninth career NHL game including four last season and four games in 2024-25. The 25-year-old right-shot has played in 204 career games with the Phantoms scoring 52-46-98 and is tied for seventh all-time in Lehigh Valley history in goals scored.
Alex Bump was outstanding in his week-long stint with the Phantoms racking up seven goals in five games and racing up to the league lead while compiling a five-game goal streak. Bump has now played in 22 career games with the Flyers scoring 5-4-9 while also tallying twice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year.
Oliver Bonk has also been a solid contributor since joining the team a week earlier racking up four assists in six games with the Flyers. Bonk played in two games with the Phantoms this season and also 46 games with Lehigh Valley last year where the first-rounder scored 6-13-19.
RETURNING – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have received center Jack Studnicka and defenseman Helge Grans from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Helge Grans, 24, has played in one game with the Flyers this season. He played in 61 games with the Phantoms last year scoring 3-11-14 and has seven career games with the Flyers.Grans has played in 298 career AHL games with Ontario and Lehigh Valley scoring 21-57-78 including 183 games with Lehigh Valley producing 12-33-45 across three seasons with the team.
Jack Studnicka, 27, has played in three games with the Flyers and three games with the Phantoms this season scoring one goal with one assist. He has played in 129 career NHL games with Boston, Vancouver, San Jose, Florida, and Philadelphia recording 6-10-16 as well as 269 AHL games with Providence, Abbotsford, San Jose, Ontario, Charlotte and Lehigh Valley, producing 70-124-194. The righty-shooting center from Windsor, ON was a Round 2 selection of the Boston Bruins in 2017.
SENATORIAL – Belleville (4-3-2) is racking up the offense to the tune of 3.4 goals per game, eighth in the AHL.And watch out for the Senators’ lethal power play clicking at 28.1%, fifth in the circuit. A 7-3 win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opened the weekend with a Kasper Halttunen (5-3-8) hat trick although the Senators dropped a 5-2 decision at Hershey last night. It was a nice recovery for the Senators who blew a 4-1 lead in the third period on a Laval Rocket rally to open the stretch on Friday. San Jose second-rounder 21-year-old Kasper Halttunen (5-3-8) had a hat trick in Saturday’s loss. He came over as part of the William Eklund trade. Former Phantoms from last year, Phil Tomasino (4-7-11) leads the Senators in scoring and All-Star Classic representative Christian Kyrou (0-5-5) is also putting up the points with his new team. Tomasino has 218 career NHL games and played in 38 games with the Phantoms scoring 7-19-26 last season after coming over from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the Egor Zamula trade. Kyrou joined the Phantoms from the Texas Stars in exchange for Samu Tuomaala and scored 10-24-34 in 55 games with the Orange and Black. Ottawa first-rounder Tyler Boucher (3-2-5) is the son of Brian Boucher who is a former Phantoms (Philadelphia and Adirondack) and Flyers goaltender and current Flyers television commentator. 23-year-old Tyler Boucher had two goals on Friday and is in his fourth season with Belleville but his development has been hampered by injuries playing in only 115 games over the past three seasons while scoring 19-22-41.
SCORING LEADERS
Lehigh Valley
x – 20 Alex Bump 7-1-8
x – 56 Jacob Gaucher 4-4-8
77 Jett Luchanko 1-5-6
44 Cam Dineen 2-3-5
x – 22 Cole Knuble 1-3-4
Belleville
53 Phil Tomasino 4-7-11
13 Xavier Bourgault 3-6-9
12 Kasper Halttunen 5-3-8
6 Ryan Suzuki 3-4-7
19 Sammy Blais 3-3-6
SPECIAL TEAMS
LV PP 19.2% (13th) / PK 78.9% (21st)
BEL PP 28.1% (5th) / PK 71.1% (31st)
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 –
The Phantoms will be back at PPL Center Sunday at 3:05 p.m. against the Belleville Senators on PhanCon also featuring a Postgame Skate with the players presented by NJM Insurance.
The Phantoms then travel to Rochester next Friday and return to PPL Center on Sunday, November 1 at 3:05 p.m. againt the Providence Bruins with Haunted on Hamilton including a popcorn bucket giveaway presented by Gruber.
Rochester Americans
Laval Rocket
Belleville Senators
