Phantoms Weekly
Up Against Top Teams This Week
November 18, 2025
Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-4-2) take on two of the top teams in the league this week as they return to PPL Center for a Wednesday night clash with the Rochester Americans (10-6-0) and then head to Rhode Island for a Friday showdown with the Providence Bruins (12-2-0). Lehigh Valley will wrap up the week with a return visit to Hartford.
The Phantoms recently had their five-game win streak snapped but are still off to one of the best starts in team history. Lehigh Valley stands in third place in the Atlantic Division as they chase after the Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins directly above them.
Wednesday’s home game is Military Appreciation Night presented by Netizen.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for upcoming games here: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST WEEK
Friday, November 14 – Phantoms 7 – Springfield Thunderbirds 3
Saturday, November 15 – Hershey Bears 4 – Phantoms 3
Sunday, November 16 – Hershey Bears 2 – Phantoms 1 (OT)
THE WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday, November 19 (7:05) – Rochester Americans at Phantoms
Friday, November 21 (7:05) – Phantoms at Providence Bruins
Saturday, November 22 (6:00) – Phantoms at Hartford Wolf Pack
WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, November 14, 2025
Phantoms 7 – Springfield Thunderirds 3
The Phantoms racked up a season-high seven goals on Friday night in dispatching of the last-place Thunderbirds at PPL Center. Lehigh Valley extended its win streak to five straight on the strength of a top-notch performance from the top line including Alex Bump (1 goal, 2 assists), Denver Barkey (2 goals) and Lane Pederson (3 assists). Anthony Richard (Goal, Assist) and Carl Grundstrom (Goal, Assist) also had multi-point games as they set each other up for big scores. Alexis Gendron and Zayde Wisdom also found the back of the net while defenseman Christian Kyrou tied an all-time Lehigh Valley record with a +5 rating.
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Hershey Bears 4 – Phantoms 3
Lehigh Valley’s win streak came to a heartbreaking end in front of an energized and raucous sellout crowd at PPL Center. After rallying back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits in the third period, it was former Phantom Matt Strome who took advantage for the winning score on a tip at the net-front with just 12.6 seconds left for the 4-3 decision. Denver Barkey (5th), Cooper Marody (3rd) and Lane Pederson (6th) all scored in the comeback rally that included a pair of helpers from Alex Bump. Pederson evened the score with his power-play goal with just 5:02 left but hopes for a sixth straight win were extinguished by Strome’s second goal of the night.
Sunday, November 16, 2025
Hershey Bears 2 – Phantoms 1 (OT)
The rematch in Chocolatetown didn’t feel much better as the Bears finally broke Aleksei Kolosov’s shutout bid with just 6:48 remaining on an Ilya Protas backhander off a Phantoms defenseman’s skate. Kolosov was magnificent and equaled a season-high with 35 saves including a breakaway denial in the overtime from Brett Leason but newcomer Carson Meyer rifled it home shortly thereafter to provide the Bears with the bonus point. Alexis Gendron (4th) scored for the third time in four games to stake Lehigh Valley to a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Clay Stevenson was equally solid between the pipes for the Bears with 36 saves to thwart the buzzing attack from the Orange and Black.
TRANSACTIONS –
11/15/25 Del Artem Guryev (D) – Reassigned to Reading from LV
11/17/25 Del Dennis Gilbert (D) – Traded by PHI to OTT
11/19/25 Add Max Guenette (D) – Assigned by PHI after Gilbert trade
TRADE – The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired restricted free agent defenseman Maxence Guenette from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenseman Dennis Gilbert. Guenette and the Flyers have agreed to terms on a one-year, two-way contract. Guenette, 24, will be eligible to join the Phantoms on Wednesday afternoon after he clears waivers. The 6’2″, 210-pound defenseman spent the 2024-25 season with the Belleville Senators of the AHL where he represented the club as an alternate captain, collecting 9-14-23 in 58 games. He has registered 27-89-116 total points over 236 career AHL games with Belleville and has also played in eight NHL games with Ottawa.
ETHAN ARRIVES – Defenseman Ethan Samson has been working his way back from a preseason injury and has since been activated from Flyers’ injured reserve and, at long last, made his belated season debut in Saturday’s game against Hershey. The third-year pro is a righty shooting blueliner from Delta, BC who led Phantoms defenseman with 12 goals last season while adding 12 assists for 24 points. He became just the third defenseman in Lehigh Valley history to score 12 or more goals in a season joining T.J. Brennan and Ronnie Attard.
IT’S A RECORD! – Christian Kyrou racked up a massive +5 rating in Friday’s 7-3 thrashing of Springfield. That ties the all-time Leigh Valley record set by Will O’Neill who had a +5 performance in 2016. Kyrou is now +9 in six games since joining the Phantoms and is overall +8 on the season.
WHO’S HOT
Lane Pederson – 5-5-10 in Last 7 games (5-5-10)
Anthony Richard – 2-6-8 on 6 game point streak
Carl Grundstrom – 3-5-8 in Last 6 games
Alex Bump – 2-6-8 in Last 5 games
Alexis Gendron – 3-1-4 on 4 game point streak
Denver Barkey – 4-3-7 in Last 5 games
LEAGUE LEADERS
Alex Bump (4-9-13) is tied for first among rookies in assists and tied for third in points. His 45 shots on goal is most among AHL rookies.
Ty Murchison +9 rating is tied for second among rookies and third among all defensemen.
Christian Kyrou +8 rating is tied for 7th among all defensemen. Eight assists is tied for fifth among D-Men.
MORE MILESTONES FOR THE CAPTAIN – Garrett Wilson became the first in Lehigh Valley history to play in 300 games for the team. In his sixth season with the team, Wilson currently stands at 898 career pro games so he is also on the verge of playing in his 900th career pro game. Wilson is also the seventh player in franchise history to reach 300 games with the Phantoms. The top six all did so with the Philadelphia Phantoms (1996-2009).
The rugged 33-year-old winger has played in 713 games in the AHL plus 84 career NHL games with Florida and Pittsburgh. And he began his career in the ECHL where he played in 101 games. He has scored 192 career goals with 227 assists for 419 points while also pulverizing several opponents along the way to rack up 1459 penalty minutes.
UPCOMING –
Wednesday, November 16, 2025 (7:05 p.m.)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Rochester Americans at Phantoms
Rochester (10-6-0) has won two straight to move into a tie with the Laval Rocket for first place in the North Division. First-rounders Isak Rosen and Noah Ostlund have both been recalled to Buffalo. But 19-year-old Konsta Helenius (5-7-12) is still around and he is also a first-round selection. 2023 AHL All-Star with Hartford, Zac Jones (0-13-13), leads all AHL defensemen in points and assists. He’s played 115 career NHL games for the New York Rangers over parts of the last five seasons. Rochester’s 25.3% power play conversion rate is first in the conference and fifth in the AHL. The Amerks are lighting it up for 3.44 goals per game, sixth in the AHL and second-best in the conference behind only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Goaltender Devon Levi (7-2-0, 2.96, .891) is tied for the league lead in wins and was among the best in the AHL last year finishing third in wins (25) and sixth in GAA (2.20). Mike Leone is in his second season at the bench for the Amerks who went 42-22-8 last year and advanced to the third round of the Calder Cup Playoffs before Laval knocked them out.
Friday, November 21, 2025 (7:05 p.m.)
Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, RI
Phantoms at Providence Bruins
Providence (12-2-0) is among the best in the AHL but dropped a 2-0 decision to Jacob Fowler and the Laval Rocket on Sunday for just their second loss of the season. The Bruins are surrendering a league-best 2.0 goals per game with goaltenders Michael DiPietro (7-1, 1.99, .932) and rookie Simon Zajicek (1.65, .943) posting gawdy numbers. Zajicek is a 24-year-old free agent signee out of the Czech Republic who now rates first in the AHL in GAA and save percentage while DiPietro is tied for the tops in wins. Riley Tufte (8-8-16) and former Philadelphia Flyer Patrick Brown (6-10-16) lead the conference in scoring and both are tied for fourth in the league. Matej Blumel (2-10-12) scored 39 goals with Texas last year, most in the AHL. 21-year-old Dans Locmelis (4-6-10) posted a two-goal game on Saturday against Utica including the OT winner. First-rounder Fabian Lysell (6-6-12) and Georgii Merkulov (5-6-11) both had overtime winners against the Phantoms on almost this exact date. Lysell scored an overtime winner against the Phantoms two seasons ago on November 24, 2023 and Merkulov did the same thing last year on November 23, 2024.
Saturday, November 22, 2025 (6:00 p.m.)
PeoplesBank Center, Hartford, CT
Phantoms at Hartford Wolf Pack
No surprise that the Phantoms and Wolf Pack have already developed some bad blood in the rivalry series. Hartford (3-7-4) dropped a pair of overtime contests to the Phantoms over Halloween weekend including a game in which Garrett Wilson found himself dragged inside the Hartford bench in a tie game late in the third in an unusual scene. After that, it was Cooper Marody stunningly stealing the puck from goalie Dylan Garand for the second straight overtime winner after Lane Pederson had slammed home the decisive strike in OT from Alex Bump the night before. The Pack still haven’t won since those games and have now dropped seven straight (0-3-4). First-rounder Gabe Perrault (5-5-10) has since been recalled to the Rangers. Former Cleveland Monsters legend Trey Fix-Wolansky (5-4-9) and 6’7″ center Dylan Roobroeck (5-3-8) are the team’s leading point producers. Dylan Garand (3-5-2, 2.94, .898) is in his fourth season with the Pack and is coming off his best campaign with 20 wins and a .913 save percentage when he represented Hartford at the AHL All-Star Classic.
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Alex Bump 4-9-13
Anthony Richard 4-8-12
Lane Pederson 6-5-11
Denver Barkey 5-5-10
Carl Grundstrom 4-5-9
Christian Kyrou 1-8-9
LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms are back at PPL Center on Wednesday, November 19 hosting the Rochester Americans on Military Appreciation Night presented by Netizen. Lehigh Valley embarks on a three-game road stretch beginning Friday night at the Providence Bruins and will return home for a Thanksgiving Weekend battle with the Laval Rocket on Saturday, November 29 on Gritty Night!
Providence Bruins
Hartford Wolf Pack
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
