Wilson Strikes First, But Phantoms Edged by Checkers

Three-Game Weekend Concludes Tomorrow

November 14, 2026

Allentown, PA – Garrett Wilson opened the scoring for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but the Charlotte Checkers responded with three unanswered goals in the second period to take a 3-1 decision on Saturday night at PPL Center on Hockey is for Everyone Night.

Wilson (1st) provided a physical presence throughout the opening period, delivering several big hits and creating scoring opportunities for his teammates before the captain found the back of the net himself. Ty Murchison assisted on the first-period tally. Carson Bjarnason was also outstanding early, stopping all 10 shots he faced in the opening frame, including a spectacular backdoor save on the Charlotte’s first power play.

BOX SCORE

The Phantoms (6-8-1) and Checkers played a scoreless opening 10 minutes before Lehigh Valley broke through at 10:37. Wilson finished a play set up by Murchison to put the Phantoms ahead 1-0. Lehigh Valley carried its advantage into the first intermission with an 11-10 edge in shots.

“Those are those are effort-based goals,” said head coach John Snowden regarding Wilson’s first period tally. “It’s effort before offense on those. You know, we win puck battles, we stay on the puck, we end up getting a shot through, and we have traffic at the net front, which we need to do a better job of scoring around the net…[Wilson] gets a good stick on it and gets rewarded, as you should on that shift. I thought that line was good tonight. They were hard to play against. They set up a lot of O-zone shifts for us to get some guys out there for some O-zone opportunities. So they did their job.”

“We just try to bring some energy,” Wilson added regarding his line’s role. “You know, forecheck hard. That’s our game right now. Forechecking, turning pucks over, and making hard plays. With [Gruden] there, Powell last night. [Gruden] tonight, he fits our style of play, and they’re easy guys to read off of. They both got juice; they can skate well, so I enjoy playing with them.”

Charlotte (10-6-1) answered back early in the second period with a quick three-goal outburst.

Nate Smith (8th) evened the score at 1-1 just 1:21 into the frame, finishing a 3-on-1 rush from the right circle off feeds from Jack Devine and Brian Pinho.

Donovan Sebrango (3rd) put the Checkers in front at 4:10, collecting the puck off a faceoff win before unleashing a heavy slap shot into the top corner to make it 2-1. John Beecher assisted on the go-ahead tally.

The physicality picked up as both teams exchanged big hits and traded delay-of-game penalties. Charlotte successfully killed off its opportunity, but Lehigh Valley was unable to return the favor.

Sam Lafferty (5th) capped the second period scoring with a power-play goal at 17:12, firing a laser from the right circle into the top corner to extend Charlotte’s lead to 3-1. Devine and Aaron Crookshank assisted on the tally.

The Phantoms entered the final frame trailing by two despite holding a 23-18 advantage in shots and continuing to battle hard through 40 minutes.

By the final horn, Wilson’s opening period goal remained the lone tally for Lehigh Valley as the Checkers protected their advantage through the remainder of the contest.

Bjarnason turned aside 23 of 26 shots including multiple scoring chances to keep the Phantoms within striking distance, but in the end, Charlotte prevailed behind Cooper Black’s 25-save performance.

Lehigh Valley finished 0-for-2 on the power play, while Charlotte converted once on four opportunities.

The Phantoms conclude a three-in-three weekend on Sunday evening at 6:05 p.m. with a visit to their Atlantic Division rivals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Lehigh Valley returns to PPL Center for a pair of contests next weekend beginning on Friday, November 20 (7:05) for a rematch with the Penguins featuring free hot dogs for children ages 14-and-under presented by Berks Foods and again on Saturday, November 21 (7:05) against Hershey as a part of Balboa Night!

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