Gobble Gobble… It’s a Thanksgiving Hockey Feast at PPL Center!
November 22, 2023
Lehigh Valley, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (8-6-2) return home this weekend following a perfect four-game stretch of away games including three straight wins last week in Canada. The Phantoms have zoomed up to a third-place tie in the Atlantic Division ahead of their upcoming home games against the Providence Bruins and Rochester Americans.
This weekend at PPL Center features Phantoms Ballcaps from Service Electric on Friday, Flyers Night with GRITTY on Saturday and postgame photographs with the players on Saturday. Additionally, the Phantoms will celebrate the 2-millionth fan at PPL Center for all Lehigh Valley Phantoms home games since the inaugural 2014-15 season.
WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, November 17, 2023
Phantoms 3 – Rocket 2
Olle Lycksell scored two goals and Tanner Laczynski had one goal and two assists as the Phantoms hung on at the Laval Rocket 3-2 to open the team’s Canadian road trip. Lehigh Valley led 3-0 in the closing minutes but a five-minute major power play provided Laval the opportunity to score a pair of 6-on-4 goals to make the end result more interesting. Lehigh Valley was forced to contend with nine Laval power plays in the game, the most against a Phantoms team since 2018.
Saturday, November 18, 2023
Phantoms 8 – Senators 1
It was a blowout in Belleville, Ontario as Lehigh Valley celebrated its largest margin of victory ever and fell one shy of the franchise-record eight-goal margin last accomplished by the Philadelphia Phantoms in 1999. Ronnie Attard and Tanner Laczynski each had a pair of goals while Samu Tuomaala tied a Lehigh Valley record by scoring just 10 seconds into the second period. Wade Allison, Emil Andrae and Cooper Mardoy also struck for the Phantoms in the historic night. It was the most goals in a game for the Phantoms since April 7, 2019 when Lehigh Valley reached double digits for the first time ever in a 10-6 win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Phantoms 2 – Marlies 1
The Phantoms knew they were in for a challenge against the best goaltender in the league in rookie Dennis Hildeby who carried a 1.41 goals-against average into the contest. But two goals proved to be enough for a hard-earned victory at the Toronto Marlies while Cal Petersen had a strong game in the Phantoms’ crease. Olle Lycksell scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season and Garrett Wilson struck midway through the third period for his fourth of the year to make it 2-0 shortly after Lehigh Valley’s fifth straight penalty-kill that included a Petersen point-blank stop on Max Lajoie. Former Phantom Kieffer Bellows broke the Petersen shutout bid with less than six minutes left but Lehigh Valley hung on through another penalty kill plus a pulled goalie to pick up a fourth straight win.
TANN THE MAN!
Tanner Laczynski was named the Howie’s Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for his massive performance last weekend which included three goals and two assists in two games. He added another assist on Tuesday in Toronto after he had won the award.
Laczynski was a factor in all three goals in Lehigh Valley’s 3-2 win at the Laval Rocket on Friday with one goal and two assists. Then he racked up two more goals in the 8-1 rout of the Belleville Senators on Saturday.
Laczynski is the second Phantom to win the honor this season as he joins Olle Lycksell who received the honor on October 23 following a five-goal weekend in three games that included a hat trick at Springfield on October 20.
FELIX RETURNS
The Philadelphia Flyers have loaned goaltender Felix Sandström to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Sandström, 26, recently played in two games with Lehigh Valley on a conditioning loan from Philadelphia. But his stint with the Phantoms was cut short due to an upper-body injury in the first period of a home game on Friday, November 3 against Hartford. He was recalled to Philadelphia after that game and placed on injured reserve. Sandström went 0-0-1, 3.68, .857 in his two games with Lehigh Valley. Last season, he played in seven games with the Phantoms in January on a conditioning loan going 4-1-2, 2.39, .911 which came in between stints with the Philadelphia Flyers
PHANTASTIC!
- Lehigh Valley’s streak of four consecutive wins in regulation is the team’s longest since a five-game streak in January, 2020. The Phantoms have had other five-game overall win streaks since 2020 but those streaks were not all regulation wins.
- Olle Lycksell (11-4-15) is tied for second in the AHL with 11 goals. He is also tied for second in power-play goals with 5.
- Samu Tuomaala (3-10-13) racked up five points last weekend (1-4-5). He is third among AHL rookies in assists and is tied for fifth in rookie points.
- Samu Tuomaala scored the fastest goal to start a period in Lehigh Valley history when he deflected a Ronnie Attard shot into the cage just 10 seconds into the second period on Saturday at Belleville. That ties the Lehigh Valley record set by Pascal Laberge who scored 10 seconds into a game on April 26, 2021 at the Binghamton Devils.
- The Phantoms have won AHL Player of the Week honors twice in the same season for only the second time since the team arrived in Lehigh Valley 10 years ago with Olle Lycksell and Tanner Laczynski both winning the award. Scott Laughton and Nick Cousins won the award in the team’s inaugural season in 2014-15.
- The Phantoms are 7-0-1 when scoring three or more goals
- Lehigh Valley’s power play is fifth in the AHL, and second in the Eastern Conference, at 22.4%. The Phantoms have scored a power-play goal in each game of their win streak and are 5-for-10 during the stretch.
- The Phantoms have sprinted up to 9th in the AHL in penalty kill at 85.7%. Lehigh Valley has allowed just 2/25 in the four-game win streak and both of those were 6-on-4 goals. Lehigh Valley has not allowed a 5-on-4 goal since November 3. In November, the PK has allowed just 4/44 (90.9% PK).
- The Phantoms are one of only four teams who rate in the Top 10 in both power play and penalty kill (also Calgary, Hartford, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
- The Phantoms are tied for the AHL lead for most goals in the second period with 21 (also Texas Stars)
- The Phantoms are also leading the AHL for most shots in the second period with 178
UPCOMING
Friday, November 24, 2023 (7:05 p.m.)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Phantoms vs. Providence Bruins
It’s the first of six meetings this season between Atlantic Division foes Lehigh Valley and Providence (6-7-1). The P-Bruins have dropped three straight including a 3-1 setback at Bridgeport on Sunday ahead of the team’s Wednesday night encounter at Hartford. Chatham, NJ native John Farinacci (5-7-12) leads the team in scoring in his rookie season out of Harvard. First-rounder Fabian Lysell (5-7-12) scored 14 goals as a rookie. Western Michigan product Brandon Bussi (4-4-2, 2.81, .910) was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team last season but seems to be having a slight sophomore slump following his 22-5-4 campaign with .924 save percentage in 2022-23. Georgii Merkolov (4-6-10) also made the All-Rookie Team scoring 24-31-55 last year finishing second in the league among first-year players behind only Tye Kartye of Coachella Valley.
Saturday, November 25, 2023 (7:05 p.m.)
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Phantoms vs. Rochester Americans
Rochester (8-4-2) brings an exciting and fast-paced squad to PPL Center for the Saturday night contest. The Amerks leads the conference, and are second in the AHL, with 3.86 goals per game but they also give up the most in the league surrendering 4.43 goals per contest. A pair of young Buffalo Sabres first-rounders pace the Rochester offense including 20-year-old Isak Rosen (7-10-17) and 19-year-old Jiri Kulich (10-4-14). Former Phantom Dustin Tokarski (3-1-1, 3.56, .882) from the 2017-18 season has been slower to find his top form this season after acquiring his 200th career win last season while with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Phantoms Scoring Leaders
Olle Lycksell 11-4-15
Cooper Marody 5-9-14
Tanner Laczynski 4-10-14
Samu Tuomaala 3-10-13
Garrett Wilson 3-10-13
Phantoms Tickets are available HERE
UPCOMING
Friday, November 24 (7:05 p.m.) – Providence Bruins at Lehigh Valley Phantoms – SECTV Phantoms Ballcaps
Saturday, November 25 (7:05 p.m.) – Rochester Americans at Lehigh Valley Phantoms – Flyers Night with GRITTY! Plus postgame photos with Phantoms players
Friday, December 1 (7:00 p.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Hartford Wolf Pack
Saturday, December 2 (7:00 p.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Hartford Wolf Pack
Sunday, December 3 (3:05 p.m.) – Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Providence Bruins
