Closing a Strong November
November 29, 2022
Lehigh Valley, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have points in seven of their last eight games (6-1-1) entering their last game in the month of November. The Phantoms are coming off a record-setting performance in a Saturday win again Rochester in which Lehigh Valley allowed just 15 shots on goal and the team took three out of four points on the weekend. Lehigh Valley (8-6-2) hosts Hershey on Wednesday as part of Military Appreciation Night presented by Netizen and then will head down south for a pair of games at the Charlotte Checkers this weekend.
WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, November 25, 2022
Penguins 3 – Phantoms 2 (SO)
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had a 2-0 lead on goals by Tyson Foerster and Elliot Desnoyers combined with some great goaltending by Pat Nagle. But Penguins veteran goalie Dustin Tokarski kept his team within striking distance and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored two goals in the last seven minutes to eventually win in a shootout. Drake Caggiula’s shorthanded marker with 2:01 left evened the score at 2-2 for another Lehigh Valley overtime game at Wilkes-Barre. Both of Lehigh Valley’s visits to Northeast Pennsylvania have gone to OT.
Saturday, November 26, 2022
Phantoms 5 – Americans 1
It was a dominating rout over Rochester in a complete performance that has to rate as the team’s best of the year. The Phantoms’ first home game in two weeks saw Olle Lycksell blast home one goal while also contributing three assists to mark the first time this season a Phantom had four points in a game. Artem Anisimov scored twice for his first goals in the AHL since 2009. Tyson Foerster (5th) and Elliot Desnoyers (7th) also found the back of the net while Louie Belpedio and Kevin Connauton each had two assists. Lehigh Valley outshot Rochester 40-15 including by a 35-7 margin in the first 40 minutes. The game set a Lehigh Valley record for the fewest shots allowed and fell one shy of the all-time franchise record held by the Philadelphia Phantoms.
TRANSACTIONS
Nov 28 – Delete Egor Zamula (D) – Recalled to Philadelphia
PHANTOMS RECORD BOOK
Fewest Shots Allowed
14 Philadelphia Phantoms at Toronto, Dec. 18, 2003
14 Philadelphia Phantoms vs. Hershey, Oct. 26, 1997
15 Lehigh Valley vs. Rochester, Nov. 26, 2022
16 Lehigh Valley at Hershey, Mar. 1, 2015
FIRSTS
– Artem Anisimov scored two goals on Saturday. The NHL veteran of 771 games scored his first AHL goals since April 11, 2009 when he was an AHL All-Star with the Hartford Wolf Pack and finished 4th in the league with 37 goals.
– Rookie goalie Nolan Maier recorded the win in his AHL debut on Saturday with 14 saves against Rochester.
– Olle Lycksell’s third goal of the season was his first at home.
– Lycksell’s four-point game was the first of the season for Lehigh Valley and the first since Wade Allison had four points at Springfield on March 19, 2022
– Olle Lycksell’s three-assist game was the first time a Phantoms player had done that since January 29, 2022 when Wyatte Wylie had three helpers at Charlotte
UPCOMING
Wednesday, November 30 at 7:05
PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Phantoms vs. Hershey Bears
Hershey (12-4-2) arrives to PPL Center on a three-game win streak and winners in 10 of its last 12. The Bears recently pushed through in three straight low-scoring goaltenders’ duels including a 1-0 shootout win at Hartford on Saturday. That followed 2-1 wins at Hartford and Springfield. The Bears are 2-0-0 against Lehigh Valley this season as they make their first visit to Allentown. This is Game 3 out of 14 in the rivalry series this season. Hunter Sheppard (5-0-2, 1.69, .940) has snagged the league’s top spot among goalies while Zach Fucale (7-4-0, 2.00, .913) isn’t far behind in fourth. The Bears are a league-best for goals against (2.06) and shots allowed (25.4) per contest and their 87.1% penalty kill is second. Mason Morelli (3-10-13) leads the Bears in scoring while former Phantom, Mike Vecchione (5-7-12), is next and has two goals and two assists against his ex-team.
Friday, December 2 at 7:05 and Saturday, December 3 at 6:05
Bojangles’ Coliseum, Charlotte, NC
Phantoms at Charlotte Checkers
Charlotte (11-5-3) raced out of the gate with a 4-0-0 start and has gone 5-1-1 in its last seven games. Charlotte and Lehigh Valley will play each other four times over nine days from December 2-10. The AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers is coming off a split of OT games against the Utica Comets in which they traded 3-2 decisions. The Checkers lead the league with nine overtime games. NHL veteran Riley Nash (5-11-16) paces the offense. The 33-year-old center has played in 627 career NHL games with Carolina, Columbus and Boston among other teams. Zac Dalpe (10-4-14) leads the Checkers in goals. Nash and Dalpe were teammates in 2010-11 when the Charlotte Checkers debuted in the AHL.
Four former Phantoms or Flyers are on the Charlotte roster including Alex Lyon, Connor Bunnaman, Gerry Mayhew and Michael Del Zotto. Lyon (6-3-1, 2.75, .908) won the Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves last year and is Lehigh Valley’s all-time winningest goalie over parts of five seasons accumulating 85 victories from 2017-21 in 149 career games for the Orange and Black.
PHANTASTIC!
– Lehigh Valley has points in seven of the last eight games with a 6-1-1 mark.
– Rookie Elliot Desnoyers is on a two-game goal streak and leads the Phantoms with seven goals.
– Tyson Foerster has a five-game point streak which is the longest for the Phantoms this season. He also has a two-game goal streak.
– Lehigh Valley’s top five scorers are all rookies or young prospects: Tyson Foerster (5-7-12), Cam York (5-7-12), Olle Lycksell (3-8-11), Elliot Desnoyers (7-2-9), Ronnie Attard (4-5-9)
– The Phantoms are 6-2-2 in one-goal games and 10 of the team’s 16 games have been decided by a single goal.
– The Phantoms have 40 shots or more in three of the last four games. They have 34 or more shots in five consecutive games as well as seven out of nine games in November.
– The Phantoms are 3-2 in decisions after regulation having gone 2-1 in overtime and 1-1 in shotoouts.
Team Scoring Leaders
Tyson Foerster 5-7-12
Cam York 5-7-12
Olle Lycksell 3-8-11
Elliot Desnoyers 7-2-9
Ronnie Attard 4-5-9
Phantoms Tickets are available HERE
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Wednesday, November 30 (7:05) vs. HERSHEY BEARS
Friday, December 2 (7:00) at Charlotte Checkers
Saturday, December 3 (6:00) at Charlotte Checkers
Wednesday, December 7 (7:00) at Hartford Wolf Pack
Friday, December 9 (7:05) vs. CHARLOTTE CHECKERS
Saturday, December 10 (7:05) vs. CHARLOTTE CHECKERS
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
Wednesday, November 30 (7:05) vs. Hershey Bears – Military Appreciation Night Presented by Netizen
Friday, December 9 (7:05) vs. Charlotte Checkers – Berks $1 Hot Dogs!
Saturday, December 10 (7:05) vs. Charlotte Checkers – Phantoms Hat Giveaway Presented by Service Electric
Saturday, December 17 (7:05) vs. Providence Bruins – Teddy Bear Toss Presented by Big Woody’s
Broadcast coverage of all Phantoms games, home and away, is available on the Phantoms 365 app and on Real Oldies 1470-AM in Allentown. Fans can watch on AHLTV.com and can listen on their Smart Speakers at: “Play Phantoms Radio 24/7.” Join the Voice of the Phantoms, Bob Rotruck, for all the action!
Service Electric Network again provides exclusive television coverage of all Phantoms home games with veteran announcer Steve Degler and Phantoms’ alum Steven Swavely on the call from the booth. Kristi Fulkerson reports from ice level and also from the Chickie’s and Pete’s studio with Dan Fremuth for pregame, intermission and postgame show analysis.
