PREVIEW: Phantoms at Hershey, Game 15
Goals by Period
Shots by Period
Goaltenders
Sunday Matinee to Conclude Home-and-Home Set
TODAY – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-4-1) are back it for a 3:00 p.m. rivalry showdown in Chocolatetown in the finale of their home-and-home weekend series against the Hershey Bears (8-4-1), AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. Hershey won dramatically in the closing seconds of last night’s wild affair before a sellout crowd at PPL Center with a 4-3 decision to end Lehigh Valley’s five-game win streak. The Bears have won three straight and six of their last seven. This is Game 15 overall on the 2025-26 season. Lehigh Valley is 1-1-1 against the Bears entering Game 4 ouf out 10 in the rivalry series.
Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight’s game at www.phantomshockey.com/media/media-materials/
LAST TIME – The Phantoms forged an impressive comeback in the third on goals by Denver Bakrey (5th), Cooper Marody (3rd) and Lane Pederson (6th) with the home team rallying from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 in front of a frenetic and excited sellout crowd in Allentown. But Matt Strome victimized his ex-team via his winning deflection at the net-front with just 12.6 seconds remaining as the Chocolate and White escaped with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night at PPL Center. Strome had a pair of goals for the Bears but it was goaltender Garin Bjorkland who stole the show carrying a shutout into the third period and racking up 38 saves on Lehigh Valley’s season-high 41 shots. Bjorkland also had a stretch-pass assist on a Hershey power-play goal in the second period springing Bogdan Trineyev and Andrew Cristall free on their 2-on-0 against Carson Bjarnason who had his personal two-game win streak snapped.
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 added to the Phantoms roster. Samson made his 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.
STREAKS –
Lane Pederson – 6 game point streak (5-5-10)
Anthony Richard – 6 game point streak (2-6-8)
Carl Grundstrom – 5 game point streak (3-5-8)
Alex Bump – 4 game point streak (2-6-8)
Alexis Gendron – 3 game point streak (2-1-3)
Denver Barkey – 2 game goal streak (3-0-3, and has 4-3-7 in last 4 games)
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 +10 in five games since joining the Phantoms and is overall +9 on the season to tie for the AHL lead among defensemen along with teammate Ty Murchison and others.
LEAGUE LEADERS – Alex Bump (4-9-13) is tied for second in scoring among AHL rookies trailing only Nick Lardios (5-9-14) of Rockford. Bump is also tied for for first among AHL rookies with nine assists and is fourth in shots with 40.
Ty Murchison had a +4 performance on Friday and is +8 on the season to rank fourth among AHL rookies.
MORE MILESTONES FOR THE CAPTAIN – Last night, 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.
PHANTOMS FRANCHISE – GAMES PLAYED
1. Peter White – 431
2. John Slaney – 415
3. Neil Little – 351 (Goaltender)
4. Mark Greig – 348
5. Kirby Law – 309
6. Boyd Kane – 303
7. GARRETT WILSON – 300
8. Greg Carey – 277
WIN STREAK SUCCESS – Lehigh Valley’s five-game win streak was the longest for the team since the 2022-23 season when the Phantoms compiled a pair of streaks that long. The most recent five-game win streak was March 4-12, 2023.
The last time the Phantoms had won six straight was in the 2017-18 season from October 14-27, 2017.
Lehigh Valley’s record was an eight-game win streak in the 2016-17 season from November 2-18, 2016.
The franchise record was a 17-game win streak by the Philadelphia Phantoms which was an AHL record at the time. The Phantoms began that season at 0-2-0 but then cranked out 17 consecutive victories from October 22 through November 27, 2004.
MILESTONES –
– Tucker Robertson, 99 pro games
– Garrett Wilson, 898 pro games
– Garrett Wilson, 300th game with Phantoms (Lehigh Valley record) (Nov 15, 2025 LV vs. HER)
– Lane Pederson, 395 pro games
– Anthony Richard, 192 pro assists
HEY THERE, HERSHEY – Hershey (8-4-1) started slowly for new head coach Derek King but have since been figuring it out with wins in six of seven including a current three-game win streak. The Phantoms and Bears split an earlier home-and-home series October 24-25 with the Phantoms prevailing at PPL Center 5-4 on Zayde Wisdom’s winning strike with 43.6 seconds left followed by Hershey’s shootout triumph in Chocolatetown the next day. But Matt Strome countered with his own late game-winner with just 12.6 seconds left on Saturday. Former Phantom Strome (5-4-9) leads the Bears in offense along with Graeme Clarke (4-3-7) who had a two-goal game in Allentown in the first matchup and previously had back-to-back 25-goal campaigns with Utica in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Corey Schueneman and Sam Bitten have joined from Springfield after a trade for Calle Rosen shortly after the veteran defenseman had scored an overtime winner for Hershey. Clay Stevenson (4-3-0, 2.72, .896) has dipped from his stellar form two seasons ago when he had four shutouts against the Phantoms of his seven total blank sheets on the season. Ryan Chesley (Round 2 2022, Univ Minnesota), Ilya Protas (Round 3 2024, Windsor-OHL), Andrew Cristal (Round 2 2023, Kelowna/Spokane-WHL), and Alex Suzdalev (Round 3, 2022) are among the strong rookie prospects in the Caps’ system. The Phantoms were 5-4-1 against Hershey last year but the Bears took down Lehigh Valley in a Best-of-5 Calder Cup Playoffs second-round series.
SCORING LEADERS
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 1-7-8
Hershey Scoring Leaders
Matt Strome 5-4-9
Bogdan Trineyev 4-5-9
Ilya Protas 4-5-9
Andrew Cristall 2-6-8
Graeme Clarke 4-3-7
Special Teams
LV PP 22.6%, 13th / 76.7%, 28th
HER PP 17.9%, 21st / 81.3%, 16th
LOOKING AHEAD – The Phantoms return to PPL Center on Wednesday, November 19 hosting the Rochester Americans on Military Appreciation Night.
Providence Bruins
Hartford Wolf Pack
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
